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When Trinidad and Tobago became a republic on August 1, 1976, the country did more than replace a Governor-General with a President. It formally ended the constitutional link to the British Crown as the country’s Head of State and established a republican system of government under a new Constitution.
The Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, enacted as Act No. 4 of 1976, remains the country’s supreme law. It establishes the institutions of the State, defines their powers and relationships, protects fundamental rights and freedoms, and sets out the rules governing how the Constitution itself can be changed.
From Independence
to republicanism
The 1962 Independence Constitution provided the framework for Trinidad and Tobago’s independence on August 31, 1962. The country was independent, but remained a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as Head of State, represented locally by a Governor-General.
The 1976 Constitution changed that fundamental arrangement. The monarch was replaced by a President of Trinidad and Tobago, while the country retained its parliamentary system and remained a member of the Commonwealth.
Importantly, the Republican Constitution did not discard everything contained in the Independence Constitution. Much of the Westminster-style parliamentary structure remained. Parliament continued to comprise a House of Representatives and Senate, the Prime Minister remained Head of Government and the Cabinet retained executive responsibility.
The Parliament’s historical account notes that much of the 1962 constitutional framework was retained, but the 1976 Constitution replaced the monarchy with a republic and expanded the constitutional framework governing State institutions. It also established offices and institutions including the Ombudsman and Integrity Commission.
The people behind the Constitution
The Republican Constitution emerged from a lengthy constitutional reform process.
In 1971, the Government appointed a Constitution Commission chaired by Sir Hugh Wooding, the former Chief Justice. Its members included Justice Philip Telford Georges, Mitra Gokhale Sinanan, QC, Michael de la Bastide, Gaston Benjamin, Julius Hamilton Maurice, Solomon Lutchman, Reginald Dumas and Dr Anthony Maingot. Dr Selwyn Ryan subsequently joined the Commission, while Cecil Haig Dolly served as secretary.
The Commission was charged with reviewing the Constitution, making recommendations and preparing a draft Constitution. It conducted extensive public consultation and produced its report in 1974.
The Constitution eventually adopted in 1976 was not simply the Wooding Commission’s draft, since it proposed significant changes that were not ultimately adopted, including a different electoral arrangement and a single National Assembly rather than the bicameral Parliament that exists today. The process therefore involved consultation, competing constitutional ideas, Government decisions and parliamentary consideration.
Another central figure was Sir Ellis Clarke, who was a lawyer, diplomat and constitutional expert at the time. Clarke was one of the principal architects of the 1962 Independence Constitution and served as Attorney General before Independence. He subsequently became Governor-General in 1972. When Trinidad and Tobago became a republic, he was unanimously elected its first President by the Electoral College.
What changed in 1976?
The most visible change was the creation of the presidency.
Under the Independence Constitution, the Governor-General represented the monarch. Under the Republican Constitution, the President became Head of State and Commander-in-Chief.
The President, however, is not elected directly by the population. An Electoral College consisting of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives meets to elect the President by secret ballot and serves a five-year term.
The Constitution also strengthened the institutional architecture of the State through bodies such as the Public Service Commission, Teaching Service Commission, Electoral College, Ombudsman and Integrity Commission.
Rights and freedoms
One of the Constitution’s most important features is Chapter I, which recognises and protects fundamental human rights and freedoms.
These include the right to life, liberty and security of the person; equality before the law and protection of the law; equality of treatment by public authorities; freedom of conscience and religious belief; freedom of thought and expression; freedom of association and assembly; freedom of movement; and the right to join political parties and express political views.
The Constitution also protects the enjoyment of property and provides safeguards concerning criminal proceedings and due process.
These protections are enforceable. Section 14 provides that a person who alleges that a constitutional right has been or is likely to be contravened may apply to the High Court for redress.
The rights, however, are not entirely absolute. Section 13 provides a special mechanism allowing Parliament, in defined circumstances, to pass legislation that operates notwithstanding inconsistency with sections 4 and 5. Such a Bill must receive at least a three-fifths majority of all members of both the House of Representatives and Senate at the final vote and must contain the required declaration. The legislation remains subject to the constitutional test of whether it is reasonably justifiable in a society that has proper respect for individual rights and freedoms.
How can the Constitution itself be changed?
The Constitution deliberately makes constitutional amendment more difficult than passing ordinary legislation.
Section 54 establishes different levels of constitutional protection.
For provisions that fall within the less deeply entrenched category, a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority of all the members of each House at the final vote.
For more deeply entrenched provisions, the requirement is higher: three-fourths of all members of the House of Representatives and two-thirds of all members of the Senate.
The often-mentioned three-fifths majority is not the general requirement for amending the Constitution. It is associated with section 13 legislation that seeks to operate despite inconsistency with specified fundamental rights. Constitutional amendments themselves are governed by section 54 and its different thresholds.
The Constitution has therefore been deliberately designed so that its fundamental provisions cannot easily be changed by a simple parliamentary majority.
The Constitution after 1976
The Republican Constitution has continued to evolve.
Constitutional reform commissions followed the Wooding exercise, including the Hyatali Commission, established in 1987. Its work was interrupted by the attempted coup of July 1990.
Among the later constitutional thinkers who became important to the continuing debate was political scientist and constitutional scholar at The University of the West Indies, Dr Hamid Ghany.
Ghany was not a drafter of the 1976 Constitution and did not serve on the Wooding Commission but served on later Constitution Commissions, including the 1988–1990 and 2013–2014 exercises. He was also a member of Principles of Fairness, a constitutional reform initiative that included figures such as Dr Marjorie Thorpe, Archbishop Edward Gilbert, Ken Gordon, Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie, Tajmool Hosein, Arthur Lok Jack, Dr Patricia Mohammed, Satnarine Maharaj and Noble Khan.
What becoming
a republic meant
Ultimately, becoming a republic in 1976 meant that Trinidad and Tobago became responsible for its own constitutional Head of State while retaining the parliamentary democratic system inherited from the Westminster tradition.
The significance was therefore both symbolic and institutional.
In 1962, the country achieved political independence but retained the British monarch as Head of State. Fourteen years later, it established its own presidency and a Constitution expressing the authority of the sovereign Republic.
The Constitution’s significance today extends beyond the office of President. It is the framework that determines how Parliament, the Executive and Judiciary operate; how constitutional offices function; how citizens’ fundamental rights are protected; and how difficult it must be for a government to alter the country’s basic constitutional arrangements.
Almost five decades after 1976, that Constitution remains the legal foundation of the Republic and the framework within which the continuing debate over what Trinidad and Tobago should become, takes place.
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