''Matthew v S'' is a 2004 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) case which upheld the law that sets out a mandatory sentence of death for

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

Background

In this case, the appellant was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Upon conviction, the appellant appealed the mandatory arguing the death penalty charges were against the Constitution and international law. The JCPC held in some cases, the law that makes capital punishment mandatory for murder will violate the prohibition on "inhuman or degrading punishment" in the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago. (This principle is consistent with the 2002 JCPC cases of '' Hughes'', '' Fox'', and '' Reyes''.) However, because (1) the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago disallows itself to act to invalidate laws that existed prior to the enactment of the constitution, and (2) the law in question pre-dated the constitution, the mandatory death provisions of the law could not be invalidated and must be upheld. In '' Boyce v R'', which was released on the same day, the JCPC applied the same principles to a similar law in

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

. ''Matthew'' overruled and declared as wrongly decided the November 2003 JCPC decision of '' Roodal v S'', which interpreted the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago as invalidating the law on mandatory capital punishment for murder.

References

{{Reference list

External links

''Matthew v S''
bailii.org 2004 in United Kingdom case law 2004 in Trinidad and Tobago Death penalty case law Judicial Committee of the Privy Council cases on appeal from Trinidad and Tobago Prisoners sentenced to death by Trinidad and Tobago Murder in Trinidad and Tobago Human rights in Trinidad and Tobago