Student Law Review Issue 1 | Page 36

the previous ruling in Pratt and Morgan v A.G and secondly the international disapproval of the death penalty that was upheld in these Caribbean countries. The case of Pratt and Morgan was a seminal case to the Caribbean in relation to the death penalty. It set the threshold for cases like Neville Lewis v A.G, 48 Joseph and Boyce and to some extent Matthew. Ironically, Pratt and Morgan held that it is ‘cruel and unusual punishment to have a man on death row for more than 5yrs awaiting his execution.’ However in Joseph and Boyce, when the court attempted to hasten the execution, the ACHR advised that the condemned had a right to petition. The court once again skilfully applied the concept of legitimate expectation, but overtly concluded that it was a breach of his right to “due process”. Similar to Teoh, they were accused of allowing international law to ‘piggyback’ on concepts like legitimate expectation, natural justice and due process and as such they created a gateway for international law to indirectly infuse into domestic jurisdiction. Through these conceptual mediums, the court allegedly makes their decision thus covertly acting ultra vires to the dualist principles. In comparison, both Nallaratnam and Matthew enforced the rights to constitutional supremacy as opposed to parliamentary sovereignty. Nallaratnam argued that the constitution of Sri-Lanka does not provide for release or retrial of a convicted person after his conviction is confirmed by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the state cannot execute the decision of the Human Rights Committee to release the convict or grant a retrial. The government of Sri Lanka cannot be expected to act in any manner which is contrary to the Constitution of Sri Lanka. Similarly in Matthew, the AG of Trinidad and Tobago asserted that the mandatory death penalty that exist is protected by the saving laws clause and as a result it cannot be interfered with or altered unless done by the prescribed criteria outlined in the constitution. Conclusion The issue of the incorporation of international law according to the theory of dualism has raised a lot of issues in regards to the judgement of some cases. The courts are sometimes accused as acting ultra vires by covertly applying these international treaties to their judgments. However in cases where these accusations are made, one must examine all the factors that could have said to be instrumental in the courts decision. In Teoh the gravity of the situation as well as the                                                               48  [2001] 2 AC 50, PC  32