36
c)
Section 3 of the Offences Against the Person Act adopts the English
common law definition of murder, which in turn provides that a
defendant may be convicted of murder if it is established that he
unlawfully caused the death of another person with the intention to kill
or to cause serious bodily injury. 91
d)
The Offences Against the Person Act permits the jury to consider
certain determinative circumstances of the killing for the purpose of
establishing whether the accused should be found guilty of murder or
of a lesser crime. 92
e)
Once an offender is found guilty of murder, the Offences Against the
Person Act does not permit the judge or jury to consider the particular
circumstances of the offence or offender for the purpose of
determining the appropriate penalty. 93
f)
Article 6 of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
precludes individuals from challenging, under Sections 4 and 5 of the
Constitution, all laws or acts carried out pursuant to any law in force in
Trinidad and Tobago before 1976, the year the Constitution entered
into force. 94
g)
The 32 persons comprised in this case all invoked the appropriate
domestic recourses for the review of their convictions (supra para.
60).
h)
In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and
Tobago, the President of the Republic retains a discretionary power to
pardon those sentenced to death. 95
i)
The Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago provides for
an Advisory Committee on the Power of Pardon, which is charged with
considering and making recommendations to the relevant Minister as
to whether an offender sentenced to death should benefit from
discretionary pardon. 96
90
Ibid.
91
Ibid., Section 3, supra note 31.
92
Ibid., Section 4(a) and 4(b), supra note 31.
93
Ibid., Section 4, supra note 31.
94
Sections 4 and 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago include the individual
rights and freedoms of persons in the State. Cf. Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago, in "Haniff Hilaire
(11,816) v. Trinidad and Tobago, Exhibits to the Application of the Inter-American Commission," Exhibit
10, Vol. II, pp. 770-816; "George Constantine et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago, Exhibits to the Application of
the Inter-American Commission," Exhibit 25, Vol. VII, pp. 3797-3843; and "Peter Benjamin et al. v.
Trinidad and Tobago, Exhibits to the Application of the Inter-American Commission," Exhibit 9, Vol. IV, pp.
1258-1304.
95
Cf. Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Section 87, supra note 94.
96
Ibid., Section 88, supra note 94.