DEATH PENALTY IN TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Early day motion 350, tabled 16 June 2005 by Mark Oaten (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 71 members.

That this House expresses its dismay that the government of Trinidad and Tobago has announced its intention of hanging every one of the 78 men and five women who are currently on death row in their prisons; regrets, in particular, that government ministers sought on Monday 13th June last, until stayed by legal action, with only three days notice, to have death warrants read to four men, Ramsingh Jairam, Andrew Dottin, Kevin Dial and Mark Teeluck, with a view to their immediate execution, that they have decided to ignore the ruling of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Matthew v The State [2005], acting as the Final Court of Appeal for Trinidad and Tobago, that it would be a cruel punishment, and therefore in violation of the Constitution, to execute anyone who had been sentenced to death prior to 7th July 2004, the date on which their Lordships delivered their opinion and that they have decided to ignore the principles of Pratt and Morgan v AG of Jamaica (1994) that no one should be executed after five years on death row; and believes that if the government of Trinidad and Tobago gets its way, these executions will be a permanent stain upon the State, its government and its legal system, in the eyes of the international community.

Signatures by party: Liberal Democrat 34, Labour 27, Scottish National Party 5, Conservative 2, Respect 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1, UUP 1.