There was mixed Caribbean reaction to three separate...

There was mixed Caribbean reaction to three separate decisions handed down by the London-based Privy Council in death penalty. The British Law Lords ruled that the mandatory death sentence for murder in Trinidad and Barbados was constitutional, while, in the third judgement, the court ruled that the use of the death penalty in Jamaica was illegal. The ruling in Bridgetown and Port of Spain meant that there were no longer any legal impediments barring the two countries from carrying out hangings.
In welcoming the decision handed down in the appeal of convicted murder Charles Matthew, Trinidad and Tobago's Attorney-General John Jeremie said, in a statement, that the Privy Council had no licence to read its own moral values into the country's constitution.
His Barbados counterpart Mia Mottley has also welcomed the dismissal by the Law Lords of two appeals brought by convicted murderers Jeffrey Joseph and Lennox Boyce, saying it was a "victory" and "triumph" for the constitution of Barbados.
However, at least three regional human rights lawyers have expressed disappointment over the two ruling. Reacting to the Bridgetown decision, attorneys Robert Clarke and Alair Shepherd argued that the death penalty should be outlawed in Barbados since it conflicted with human rights practices.
"Throughout this whole judgement you see the problem the judges faced on deciding on the morality and legality of the death penalty. Having gone to the Inter-American Commission, Barbados should recognize their feelings and pass legislation, if not to abolish, to give the judges of the High Court discretionary power to deal with the penalty of death," Clarke said.
"We welcome the unanimous confirmation that the mandatory death penalty is inhuman and degrading and contrary to international human rights law," Shepherd added.
Trinidad-based attorney-at-law Douglas Mendes, who was part of the team that represented Matthew, also described the judgement as a "bit perplexing".
The reaction in Barbados and Trinidad conflicts with that in Jamaica where the Privy Council, in handing down its ruling, found that the 1992 Offences Against the Person Act, which introduced the mandatory death sentence for capital murder was inconsistent with section 17(1) of the constitution. The Law Lords said any death sentence passed since the Act was introduced in 1992 must be held to be illegal.