CJ: Beware of prevailing morals and values

Chief Justice Ivor Archie asked judges on Thursday to be mindful of prevailing morals and values when making judgments involving members of what is deemed "subculture," such as members of the LGBTQI+ community.

Delivering remarks at the opening of the Caribbean Judges' Forum on HIV, Health and Human Rights at the Brix Hotel in Cascade, Archie said he believes some judgments are made in the context of religious perspectives.

"Most of our constitutions contain preambulatory statements acknowledging the supremacy of God, the dignity of the human person, and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.

"Unfortunately, from my point of view, there is a tendency for some persons to interpret the law through a theological lens, thereby conflating their personal moral codes with the notions of dignity and the ambit of individual rights and freedoms."

Despite the deep influence of religion in society, he said Trinidad and Tobago's constitutional construct is secular.

"(We are) a secular democracy, we are not a theocracy," he said. He said as lawyers and judges, it must be understood that it is possible to construct "functional moral ethical codes of behaviour, without adherence to any particular doctrine.

"Regardless of how strongly we may hold our personal religious convictions, that is the only way diversity can be accommodated in a pluralistic society," he said.

"Democracy, after all, is not just about respecting the will of the majority, but it is also about protecting the weak or marginalised from the tyranny of the majority."

As judges discharge their duties in interpreting laws, he said there must be principled, intellectual analysis and consideration of generally accepted international norms.

"Many advances in the law, in other places, that are now recognised as positive and progressive went against popular opinion at the time. The recognition that slavery was unlawful and that interracial marriage was not were bold steps taken by courts as a matter of principle, not of popularity," he said. "Sometimes we have to lead and wait for others to catch up."

He said when people go before the courts, regardless of their values, beliefs or lifestyle, they are entitled to the equal protection of the law.

"To be subject to the law, they must, as well, have the equal protection under the law," he said.

For those with chronic diseases like HIV/AIDS, he said, legal prescriptions and stigma about how the condition was acquired not only marginalise those who have them, but also constrains efforts at getting early and consistent treatment to those who need it, "and ultimately defeats the aim of eradication of HIV."

Yesterday began the fifth iteration of the forum, which will continue today. It is a collaboration between the Judicial Education Institute of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, its local counterpart, UNAIDS, and the UNDP.