Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
| DOI | 10.1177/002201838404800305 |
| Date | 01 August 1984 |
| Published date | 01 August 1984 |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
JUDICIAL
COMMITTEE
OF
THE
PRIVY
COUNCIL
LIMITATION
ON USE OF
DECLARATIONS
OF
HUMAN
RIGHTS
Attorney-General for Trinidad and Tobago v. McLeod
The question of substantive law which the Board was concerned
with inAtt.-Gen. for Trinidad and Tobago v. McLeod [1984] 1 All
E.R. 694, was whether the respondent had a right to a declaration
that he could not be expelled from Parliament.
The
case also
contains astatement (albeit obiter) concerning the possible misuse
of the general provisions of a constitution, which will be equally
important in civil and criminal proceedings. The constitution of
Trinidad guarantees certain
"human
rights", including the right of
the individual to
"the
protection of the law". How far may this
provision be relied on by a person who wishes to complainof defects
in the judicial process? Can it be used as an alternative to
other
remedies? May a person who is brought, or who is about to be
brought, before the courts, in criminal or civil proceedings, employ
this constitutional provision, by seeking adeclaration from the
courts that any proceedings brought or likely to be brought against
him are unconstitutional? In Harrikissoon's case [1980] A.C. 265,
the Board described as "fallacious"
"the
notion that whenever
there is a failure of an organ of governmentor a public authority or a
public officer to comply with the law this necessarily entails the
contravention of some human right or fundamental freedom". The
Board added that the value of the constitutional safeguards would
be diminished if they were "allowed to be misused as a general
substitute for the normal procedures". The constitutional provision
should not, therefore, be allowed to be employed as a means of
avoiding the making of an application
"in
the normal way".
Likewise, declarations of human rights cannot be used as a means of
making a collateral attack on the judgment of a court of justice: see
Chokolingo's case [1981] 1 All E.R. 244.
280
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