Trinidad Public Service Commission Privy Council Ruling
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO · EXPLAINER
Key Facts
- —The country Trinidad and Tobago is a twin-island Caribbean republic whose final court of appeal is the Privy Council in London.
- —Why it matters The ruling criticises the Public Service Commission, which appoints, promotes and disciplines most civil servants, and has prompted calls for its abolition.
- —Why now Senior Counsel Anand Ramlogan renewed his call to disband the commission on 15 October, three days after the judgment.
- —What happened On Monday 12 October the Privy Council restored a finding that a prison officer’s salary was unlawfully withheld for 15 years.
- —The numbers The High Court awarded TT$2.82 million (about US$419,000) in salary arrears in 2023, and six commissioners face resignation calls.
- —What it means for you Investors and employers in Trinidad and Tobago face a reminder that public-sector disputes can run for decades and cost taxpayers.
- —Still open Whether the government or the commission responds, and whether any reform of the service commissions is revived.
The Public Service Commission Privy Council ruling of Monday 12 October criticised how Trinidad and Tobago handled a prison officer’s pay and career. Five judges in London held that the State withheld Favianna Gajadhar’s salary and benefits unlawfully for 15 years.
For US readers, the case shows how the final court of a Caribbean energy exporter polices its own civil service. Here is what the commission does, what the judges decided and what Ramlogan, the lawyer who won the case, now demands.
What the Public Service Commission Does
The Public Service Commission is one of four service commissions that appoint, promote, transfer and discipline public workers, according to the Trinidad Guardian. The others cover the judiciary and legal service, the police and teaching.
The Public Service Commission manages all other public servants, including prison officers, the same report explains. The Trinidad Express says it has six members, whom Ramlogan has asked to resign.
The commission is not the Police Service Commission, which selects the Commissioner of Police and three deputies. Readers should not confuse the two bodies, which share the abbreviation PSC in local coverage.
How the Gajadhar Case Reached the Privy Council
Gajadhar joined the Prison Service in 2000 and passed the promotion examination for prison officer II in 2003, the Privy Council’s case summary records. She took sick leave after a fall at the Women’s Prison, Golden Grove, in October 2004, and gave birth in June 2006.
She was declared to have resigned with effect from 21 June 2007, although she had sought to return and supplied certificates. She was not allowed back at work until 4 April 2022, the court’s summary states.
The Express reports that she first beat the commission in court in 2012. A second daily says it reconsidered in November 2017 and kept its position, and later courts upheld her second challenge.
In October 2023 Justice Frank Seepersad found breaches of her constitutional rights, the Express reports. He ordered TT$2.82 million (about US$419,000) in arrears, TT$275,000 (about US$41,000) in compensation and TT$350,000 (about US$52,000) in vindicatory damages.
Those conversions use the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago’s 15 October rates, a midpoint of about TT$6.74 per US dollar. Both papers write in local dollars, and one puts her total compensation above TT$3.5 million (about US$519,000).
In November 2024 the Court of Appeal kept the damages but set aside the finding that her property right was breached. It had counted the relevant delay only from 2021, the Express reports.
What the Public Service Commission Privy Council Ruling Decided
The case is listed as Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago v Gajadhar, neutral citation [2026] UKPC 35, with judgment dated 12 October. The panel was Lords Sales, Lloyd-Jones and Leggatt, Lord Snowden and Lady Simler.
Lord Leggatt gave an oral judgment minutes after submissions ended, which one paper called unusual and unprecedented. He said the history was “a sorry one, which regrettably does no credit to the Public Service Commission”.
The Board held that the Court of Appeal acted on an erroneous premise, the Express reports. It found the withholding of her salary over 15 years was unlawful and an arbitrary exercise of State power.
The same daily quotes Lord Leggatt as saying it was manifest that the salary was held without due process, because no disciplinary process had been followed. The judge’s declaration of a property-right breach was reinstated and the appeal allowed.
The court’s case page names the Attorney General, not the commission, as the respondent. Both newspapers nonetheless report the criticism as directed at the commission.
Ramlogan’s Call to Disband the Commission
Anand Ramlogan, a Senior Counsel and former attorney general, led Gajadhar’s team alongside Jodie Blackstock, Katie Lines and Jared Jagroo. In a statement reported on 16 October he called the commission a “rubber stamp for unlawful conduct”.
He asked its members to resign immediately and urged Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to review its constitutional necessity, utility and function. He also linked abolition to wider constitutional reform, the Express reports.
Ramlogan accuses the commission of manipulating promotions and tolerating discrimination, which are his allegations, not findings of the court. He is also the winning counsel, so his statement is advocacy as well as commentary.
He made a similar call in September 2025 after the Privy Council ruled for a retired fire officer, Siewnarine Ramsaran. Press reports at the time said he wanted the commissioners to resign, so this week’s demand repeats an earlier one.
Why Abolition Is Not a New Idea
In 2023 the then prime minister, Keith Rowley, announced plans to abolish all service commissions and replace them with one tribunal for public-service complaints. He said poor management was hamstringing the public service.
Reginald Dumas, described in press reports as a former PSC chairman, replied that reform needed a much broader look than abolition alone. The sources reviewed do not show that the 2023 plan was carried out.
Persad-Bissessar’s recent cabinet changes are covered in Trinidad Cabinet Realignment Moves Housing Schemes. Background on the islands is in Trinidad and Tobago Explained: Gas, Politics, the Two Islands and What to Watch and Trinidad and Tobago and Its Neighbours in the Caribbean.
The court’s role as final appeal for the region is also under debate elsewhere, as Jamaica Justice Minister Wants Jamaican Final Court shows. Trinidad and Tobago still sends its last appeals to London.
What It Means for You
For US investors and employers with staff in Trinidad and Tobago, the case is a reminder that civil-service disputes there can last decades. A final court that corrects a lower-court error is a stabiliser for contract and employment rights.
Travellers and remote workers are not directly affected by the ruling. Anyone dealing with a government agency should expect formal procedures, and appeals can be slow.
What Is Not Known
The sources reviewed contain no response from the commission, the Prime Minister or the Attorney General to Ramlogan’s call. No timetable for any reform of the service commissions was found.
The full judgment text was not available to read, so the reasons are taken from the court’s case page and two newspapers. The coverage does not say how the 50 percent costs reduction, also in issue before the Board, was resolved.
The reports do not state what the State will now pay beyond the 2023 awards. They also do not say whether any commissioner will resign.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the Privy Council decide about the Public Service Commission?
It restored a High Court finding that Trinidad and Tobago withheld a prison officer’s salary unlawfully for 15 years. Lord Leggatt said the history “does no credit” to the commission.
Who is Favianna Gajadhar?
She joined the Trinidad and Tobago Prison Service in 2000 and was declared to have resigned in June 2007. She returned to work on 4 April 2022 after years of litigation.
What is the Public Service Commission?
It is one of four service commissions that appoint, promote and discipline public workers, and it covers civil servants outside the police, teaching and judicial services. The Express says it has six members.
Is the Public Service Commission being abolished?
No decision to abolish it has been reported. Anand Ramlogan has asked the Prime Minister to review the commission and its members to resign.
How much was Gajadhar awarded?
Justice Seepersad ordered TT$2.82 million (about US$419,000) in arrears plus TT$625,000 (about US$93,000) in damages, with interest and costs. One report puts her compensation above TT$3.5 million (about US$519,000).
Why does Trinidad and Tobago still use the Privy Council?
It remains the final court of appeal for Trinidad and Tobago, and this case was heard in London on 12 October. The sources reviewed do not report any plan to change that.
Sources: Trinidad Express, 16 October 2026; Trinidad Guardian, 16 October 2026; Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, case JCPC/2025/0085; Trinidad Guardian, 26 September 2025; Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, exchange rates of 15 October 2026. No prediction market with meaningful trading on this topic was found.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief