Massa Day Done: The Republican Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago: Origins and Issues

By Lennie M. Nimblett

This book describes the transition of Trinidad and Tobago from a British crown colony to an independent republic. Divided into two parts, the first sketches the constitutional developments from the Spanish capitulation of Trinidad in 1797 to changes associated with a British crown colony. It describes in greater detail the move, after 1956, towards republicanism and the debate about the 1976 constitution. Part I ends with a review of that debate. The second part examines some of the issues generated by the new constitution and, in particular, looks at problems associated with the president, the Privy Council, and representation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jan 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781504996242

Lennie M. Nimblett

The author is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and was educated in Trinidad (Tranquillity Boys’ Intermediate School and St Mary’s College) and in Scotland (University of St Andrews). He was a frequent contributor to the Trinidad and Tobago Review on matters of politics, economics, and finance. He has spoken on radio on the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago. In 2002, the Tapia House Movement, a political organization that published the Trinidad and Tobago Review, honoured him as democrat and philosopher. In 2012, he published Tobago: The Union with Trinidad 1889–1899, which deals with the constitutional arrangements of two British colonies to form the united Crown Colony of Trinidad and Tobago.

Book preview

© 2015 Lennie Nimblett. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 07/24/2019

ISBN: 978-1-5049-9622-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-9623-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5049-9624-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015920100

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Author’s Note

Prologue

PART 1: THE ORIGINS

1. Foundations

2. The Transition towards Self-Government

3. The Social and Economic Background

4. The Wooding Commission

5. The Government’s Response

6. The Debate in Retrospect

PART 2: ISSUES

7. The Office of the President

8. Presidential Discretion

9. Presidential Prerogative

10. Representation

11. The Privy Council – Two Judgements

12. The Constitutional Court

13. Honour

14. Miscellaneous Issues

Epilogue

List of Laws

Bibliography

Image Credits

Maps

Tables

Table 1 Ethnic Composition of the Population 1968

Table 2 Religious Composition of the Population. 1968

To be great a nation need not be of one blood it must be of one mind.

—John R. Commons, Races and Immigrants in America, 1907

In Memory of

Neave Ithnel Beckles

Acknowledgements

The book has been enhanced by the generosity of a number of persons and organizations. The image of Queen Elizabeth II by Ricardo Suckert, is reproduced with the permission of the Agencia Brasil. The image of Sir Hugh Wooding is reproduced with the kind permission of the executors of his estate. The image of Mr Reginald Maudling (later Sir Reginald Maudling) is reproducd with the permission of Wikipedia Commons. The image of Cleisthenes of Athens is a photograph of the bust located in the Ohio Statehouse, Ohio, USA and is reproduced courtesy the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board. The image of Dr Patrick Solomon is reproduced with the kind permission of his son, Dr. Denis Solomon. The painting of the University of Woodford Square 1956, is by Adrian Camps-Campins, Hon LLD, and is reproduced with his kind permission. The Title Page of Free Mulatto (1824) is reproduced with the kind permission of Professor Selwyn Cudjoe.

The author is grateful to Dr Terence Farrell and Mr Mickey Matthews for reading the draft and for their comments and suggestions.

Author’s Note

In January 2000, I received a telephone call from Lloyd Best, leader of the Tapia House Movement, inviting me to participate in a seminar to be held a few days later. The purpose was to discuss the stand-off between the president, Mr A. N. R. Robinson, and the prime minister, Mr Basdeo Panday, over the appointment of certain persons whom the latter had nominated to the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago. As a result, the Senate was not properly constituted for Parliament to be reopened after the recent general election. This was a constitutional crisis. The mood throughout the country was that the president was wrong in obstructing the prime minister.

The invitation placed me on a panel that would debate the constitutional crisis at the Tapia House in Tunapuna, moderated by Mr David Abdullah and broadcast live on one of the many radio stations. The other panellists were Dr Denis Solomon, Dr Kirk Meighoo, Mr Mickey Matthews, and Mr Lloyd Best. Best, Solomon, and Matthews were former candidates for Tapia in the general elections of 1976, Solomon and Best had served short stints as Senators between 1971 and 1976; Meighoo was then editor of the Trinidad and Tobago Review, the Tapia newspaper.

Given that list of distinguished panellists, I was surprised that I was asked to speak first. It turned out to be an advantage to me, as I took a contrarian view of the crisis. Against the widespread opinions that the president had no authority to refuse, I argued that there were three reasons for doing so; firstly, if the advice by the prime minister was contrary to law; secondly, if there was uncertainty about the law applicable; thirdly, if the action would be clearly against the spirit of the constitution. The response was surprising, and the meeting ended on a conciliatory note, acknowledging, in the process, the de facto action of the president.

Before that contretemps, my political writing was concerned mainly with electoral politics. The event changed my focus, and thereafter I periodically wrote letters to the press on constitutional matters. It was my intention to publish those letters as a booklet, but when the opportunity arose in January 2015, I decided to expand them to include the making of the 1976 constitution

The title of the book, Massa Day Done, is taken from a philippic of Dr Williams, made in December 1960. The words resonate with deep feelings among the descendants of slaves, if not all people throughout the English-speaking Caribbean, and are simply a metaphor for the end of colonialism. The title of the book, therefore, has been chosen to depict the major transition from colonialism to republicanism made possible by the 1976 constitution.

This book is dedicated to the memory of Dr Neave Ithnel Beckles, who was a constant source of inspiration and who passed away before giving his valuable comments.

Lennie M. Nimblett

St Ann’s

2015-09-30

Prologue

When Trinidad and Tobago adopted a new constitution in 1976, it was only fourteen years after the nation, with a new constitution, had celebrated its independence from Britain and shed its status as a Crown Colony.¹ The move entailed more than taking on the veneer and responsibility of a republic; quite apart from the new celebratory mood that accompanied the political act, there was a gigantic change in the structure of executive authority of the state. Under the independence constitution, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom remained the head of state and the third component of the Parliament; her legislative and executive functions were exercised through her local representative, the governor-general, Sir Solomon Hochoy. The change to a republic meant that, for the first time in nearly four hundred and fifty years², the source of executive and legislative authority over the nation was located within the islands. The decision to retain the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the final appellate court was an indication that the nation was prepared to proceed with caution.

Constitutions are legal documents or aggregations of rules and laws³ that aim to achieve three abstract goals: liberty, justice, and security – and the concrete institutions that look after them – the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary. These three goals apply equally to individuals, to corporate bodies, and to the institutions of the state. But in particular, liberty is the concern of individual entities, justice ensures fairness of one individual in relation to all others, and security ensures the safety of the state and all of its elements. Liberty includes the rights of individuals, the freedom of association of individuals or groups of individuals, and the rights and authority of the state including its territorial jurisdiction. The rules that apply to the relationship between those institutions are known as the doctrine of the separation of powers. Insofar as constitutions treat with laws governing the state and its powers, the constitution is regarded as supreme law.

The 1976 constitution had its precursors in 1831, when the wholly nominated Legislative Council was established; in 1889, when Trinidad and Tobago were united as one colony; in 1899, when Tobago was made a ward of Trinidad and Tobago; in 1925, when elected members were introduced to the legislature; in 1946, with the introduction of universal adult franchise; in 1951, with ministers introduced in the executive; in 1956, with Cabinet government, and in 1962, with internal self-government. Those earlier developments had a legacy of political, social, and economic problems. The main political issues were the vast power wielded previously by the governor and later by the prime minister, the extending of the influence of the state into the remote areas and its reach to all citizens, and a large looming identity crisis that was a concomitant of its diverse population. There was no question about the legitimacy of the government or of participation in the political processes.

In June 1971, in his Throne Speech at the ceremonial reopening of Parliament, the governor-general indicated the government’s intention of establishing a commission to examine the constitution. Its terms of reference were

To consider the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago and matters related thereto and to make recommendations for the revision of the said Constitution and for matters of constitution reform in Trinidad and Tobago.

The commission, with Sir Hugh Wooding as chairman, met, held a national convention, and presented its report⁴ and draft constitution to Parliament in January 1974. The report was debated in Parliament in December 1974. A joint select committee, comprising members of both houses of Parliament, met to consider the draft in detail. In March 1976 the Constitution (Republic) Bill was passed through all its stages in Parliament and passed into law. The nation became a republic in September 1976.

This book relates the rapid but bloodless transition from Crown Colony to independent republic and is divided into two parts. The first sketches the constitutional developments from the Spanish Capitulation in 1797 and their changes as a British Crown Colony. It describes in greater detail, after 1956, the transition to republicanism and the debate about the 1976 constitution. Part I ends with a review of that debate. The second part examines some of the issues generated by the new constitution and, in particular, looks at problems associated with the president, the Privy Council, and representation. The book gives no comprehensive treatment of the Judiciary in the development of the constitution, simply because in the colonial era, that responsibility rested with the Crown. Very noticeable is the small role the courts have played in the development of the constitution apart from the sphere of human rights. The concerns of the local courts were criminal and civil law, while the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was the final court of appeal. The decision to keep Trinidad as a Crown Colony emerged from the need of the British Parliament to regulate the authority of the legislature, and the local courts were not required to adjudicate on matters of the separation of powers and had no influence on the development of the executive and of Parliament. The law of the constitution was reserved for the Crown.

This process of reviewing the fundamental laws of the country is not unique to Trinidad and Tobago. It is an opportunity for deep introspection. If properly done, as the founding fathers of the United States did in 1787, the benefits could endure for a long time and may even produce a valuable legacy as we saw with the Federalist Papers.

trinidad_and_tobago.jpg

Map of Trinidad and Tobago

Part 1: The Origins

1. Foundations

2. The Transition towards Self-Government

3. The Social and Economic Background

4. The Wooding Commission

5. The Government’s Response

6. The Debate in Retrospect

FreeMulatto.jpg

Title Page of Free Mulatto (1824)

1. Foundations

Introduction

In small and primitive societies, as in a family, the functions of deciding what is to be done, of making the rules and of passing judgment, fall on a single person. As societies grow, the functions are differentiated and formalized as executive, legislative, and judicial functions. This evolution is observable in the early Spanish and English colonies of the New World. Originally, the governor was a viceroy with plenipotentiary powers. By the time of the British