The Public Health Ordinance in Trinidad and Tobago: How a 1940 Law Still Governs Disease, Quarantine and Nuisances Today
Under the law of Trinidad and Tobago, the Public Health Ordinance, Chapter 12 No. 4 (the "Ordinance"), remains the principal statute governing infectious-disease control, quarantine, public nuisances and sanitary regulation. Although first enacted in the colonial era and last consolidated in 1940, it has never been repealed. It is the same law the State invoked in 2020 to lock down the country during COVID-19, and it continues to underpin Public Health Regulations made by the Minister of Health to this day.
What is the Public Health Ordinance, Chapter 12 No. 4?
The Public Health Ordinance is a pre-Independence statute that codifies the State's powers over public hygiene, sanitation, infectious disease and the abatement of nuisances. Although often referred to as the "1940 Ordinance" (the year of its consolidation in the Revised Edition of the Laws), its core provisions trace back to 1917. It is preserved as part of the existing law of Trinidad and Tobago by section 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, which protects laws in force at the date of Independence.
The Ordinance establishes a Central Board of Health, divides the country into health districts, and confers powers and duties on local authorities, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), and County Medical Officers of Health (CMOH). It is published as part of the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago by the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and remains accessible through the official online laws portal of the Registrar General's Department.
In practice, this is one of the oldest statutes I encounter in active litigation. Its language is Edwardian, but its operative reach is modern: every COVID-19 lockdown, every mask mandate, every quarantine order issued in this country between 2020 and 2022 was made under its authority.
Why is the Ordinance still in force more than 85 years later?
The short answer is that Parliament has never replaced it. Successive governments have spoken of a comprehensive Public Health Act to modernise the framework, but no such Act has been brought into force. The Ordinance is therefore "existing law" within the meaning of section 6 of the Constitution, and its provisions cannot be challenged on the ground that they are inconsistent with the fundamental rights protected by sections 4 and 5 of the Constitution. That savings clause is precisely why the Ordinance survived the constitutional challenges launched during the COVID-19 pandemic.
That said, regulations made under the Ordinance are not themselves "existing law" — they are subordinate legislation made after Independence, and they are reviewable on ordinary public-law grounds. This distinction is critical and is taken up in the section below on judicial review.
What powers does the Minister of Health have under the Ordinance?
The Minister of Health is the central regulatory authority under the Ordinance. The Minister's principal powers include:
- The power to declare any disease to be an "infectious disease" or a "dangerous infectious disease" by Proclamation under section 103 of the Ordinance.
- The power, under section 105, to make regulations for the prevention and control of any dangerous infectious disease, including measures for the restraint, segregation and isolation of persons suffering from, or exposed to, such a disease.
- The general power, under sections 105 and 106, to direct all measures to be taken with respect to dangerous infectious diseases.
- The power, exercised through the Ministry of Health, to coordinate with local authorities and County Medical Officers in giving effect to the Ordinance.
These regulations take effect as Legal Notices and are gazetted by the Government Printer. The breadth of the section 105 power is what allowed the entire suite of Public Health [2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)] Regulations of 2020 and 2021 to be enacted as subordinate legislation rather than primary legislation.
What are quarantine powers under the Ordinance and the Quarantine Act?
Quarantine in Trinidad and Tobago is governed jointly by the Public Health Ordinance and by the Quarantine Act, Chapter 28:05. Under the Quarantine Act, the Chief Medical Officer is designated as the "Quarantine Authority" and is empowered to issue rules and to direct special measures during the continuance of an emergency. Under section 105 of the Public Health Ordinance, the Minister of Health, acting through the CMO, may "restrain, segregate and isolate" persons who are infected or who are likely, by exposure, to become infected.
The two statutes operate in tandem. The Quarantine Act is typically invoked at ports and airports — for arriving vessels, aircraft and travellers — while the Public Health Ordinance governs internal quarantine and isolation within the country. Both regimes carry summary criminal penalties for breach.
What are notifiable diseases and how is reporting handled?
A notifiable disease is one which, by Proclamation under section 103, has been declared by the Minister to be an infectious or dangerous infectious disease. Once a disease is declared notifiable, every medical practitioner who attends or examines an infected person is under a statutory duty to report the case to the County Medical Officer of Health for the relevant district. The CMOH then notifies the Chief Medical Officer.
Diseases that have been declared notifiable in Trinidad and Tobago over the years include yellow fever, tuberculosis, typhoid, cholera, dengue and, by Proclamation in March 2020, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). The reporting machinery is the early-warning system on which the State's outbreak response depends.
What role do County Medical Officers of Health play?
The County Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) is the senior medical officer for a defined health district under the Ordinance. The CMOH is the operational backbone of the public-health system. The CMOH's functions include:
- Receiving notifications from medical practitioners of cases of notifiable disease.
- Investigating outbreaks within the district and ordering measures of disinfection or isolation.
- Inspecting premises suspected of constituting a public health nuisance and serving abatement notices.
- Acting as the principal medical adviser to local authorities (Regional Corporations) in the discharge of their public-health duties.
- Reporting to the Chief Medical Officer on the health status of the district.
During COVID-19, CMOHs and the CMO worked together to implement the regulations on the ground — issuing directives on testing, isolation and contact tracing — under the umbrella authority of the Ordinance.
What is a "nuisance" under the Ordinance?
The Ordinance imposes a positive duty on local authorities to inspect their districts for "nuisances" liable to be injurious to health and to take steps to abate them. Statutory nuisances under the Ordinance include:
- Premises in such a state as to be a nuisance or injurious to health.
- Pools, ditches, gutters, watercourses, privies, urinals, cesspools, drains or ashpits so foul or in such a state as to be a nuisance or injurious to health.
- Animals kept so as to be a nuisance or injurious to health.
- Accumulations or deposits which are a nuisance or injurious to health.
- Any factory, workshop or workplace not kept clean or not ventilated.
- Any chimney sending forth smoke in such quantity as to be a nuisance.
The remedy is a statutory abatement notice; non-compliance results in summary prosecution before the Magistrates' Court of the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago. The nuisance provisions are still actively used by Regional Corporations against derelict premises, mosquito-breeding sites and unsanitary food establishments.
How was the Ordinance used during COVID-19?
The COVID-19 response in Trinidad and Tobago was built almost entirely on the Public Health Ordinance. The mechanism worked as follows:
- By Proclamation made on 16 March 2020 under section 103, the Minister of Health declared the novel coronavirus to be a "dangerous infectious disease."
- Acting under section 105, the Minister then made the Public Health [2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)] Regulations, 2020 — the first in a long series of Legal Notices that ran into the No. 26 Regulations and beyond.
- Successive amending regulations imposed border closures, stay-at-home orders, gathering limits, mask mandates, restrictions on places of worship, and the prohibition of open-air cremations.
- Breach of the Regulations carried a fine of up to $50,000 and imprisonment for up to six months on summary conviction.
No State of Emergency Proclamation under section 8 of the Constitution was required for the bulk of the lockdown measures, because the Ordinance itself supplied the regulation-making power. This is a striking feature of the T&T legal architecture and one that distinguished the local response from that of many other jurisdictions.
Can Public Health Regulations be challenged by judicial review?
Yes. While the parent Ordinance is shielded from constitutional attack by the savings clause, the Regulations made under it are subordinate legislation and are open to challenge on ordinary administrative-law grounds under the Judicial Review Act, Chapter 7:08. The grounds available include:
- Ultra vires — that the regulation exceeds the rule-making power conferred by the parent statute.
- Wednesbury unreasonableness — applying Associated Provincial Picture Houses v Wednesbury Corporation [1948] 1 KB 223.
- Procedural impropriety — failure to follow mandatory procedural requirements.
- Disproportionate interference with constitutional rights — applying the modern proportionality test articulated by the Privy Council.
The leading authority on the point is Suraj and Maharaj v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago [2022] UKPC 26, in which the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council dismissed challenges to the COVID-19 Regulations including the prohibition on gatherings of more than five persons and the ban on open-air cremations. The Board held that the Regulations, although they restricted freedom of movement, freedom of assembly and the right to respect for private and family life, were proportionate to the legitimate aim of protecting public health.
In an earlier line of authority concerning the limits of regulation-making power generally — including reasoning of the type applied in challenges to co-operative-society regulations brought by liquidators of the Hindu Credit Union — the courts have repeatedly emphasised that subordinate legislation is valid only to the extent that it stays within the four corners of the empowering Act.
What the Law Says in Trinidad and Tobago
| Source of authority | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Public Health Ordinance, Chapter 12 No. 4 — section 103 | The Minister may, by Proclamation, declare any disease to be an infectious disease or a dangerous infectious disease. |
| Public Health Ordinance, Chapter 12 No. 4 — section 105 | The Minister has direction of all measures concerning dangerous infectious diseases and may make regulations, including for the restraint, segregation and isolation of infected or exposed persons. |
| Quarantine Act, Chapter 28:05 | Designates the Chief Medical Officer as the Quarantine Authority and confers emergency rule-making powers, particularly at ports of entry. |
| Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago — sections 5 and 6 | Preserves "existing law," including the Ordinance, against challenge on the ground of inconsistency with sections 4 and 5 fundamental rights. |
| Judicial Review Act, Chapter 7:08 | Provides the procedural and substantive framework for challenging Regulations made under the Ordinance. |
| Suraj and Maharaj v AG [2022] UKPC 26 — see BAILII | Confirms that COVID-19 Regulations made under section 105 were a proportionate and lawful exercise of the regulation-making power. |
The current position is unambiguous: the Public Health Ordinance is in full force; the Minister of Health retains the regulation-making power under section 105; and Regulations made under it are valid unless successfully challenged on judicial-review or proportionality grounds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Public Health Ordinance still law in Trinidad and Tobago in 2026?
Yes. The Public Health Ordinance, Chapter 12 No. 4, remains in force and is the principal public health statute of Trinidad and Tobago. It has been amended at the margins but never repealed or replaced.
Can the Minister of Health declare a new disease notifiable today?
Yes. Section 103 of the Ordinance empowers the Minister of Health, by Proclamation, to declare any disease to be an infectious or dangerous infectious disease at any time. That Proclamation triggers the duty of medical practitioners to report cases to the County Medical Officer of Health.
What penalties apply for breach of Public Health Regulations?
Breach of Regulations made under section 105 is a summary offence. During COVID-19 the prescribed penalty was a fine of up to $50,000 and imprisonment for up to six months on summary conviction before the Magistrates' Court.
Can I challenge a Public Health Regulation in the High Court?
Yes. While the parent Ordinance is protected as "existing law," the Regulations themselves are subordinate legislation and are reviewable under the Judicial Review Act, Chapter 7:08. Common grounds include ultra vires, Wednesbury unreasonableness and disproportionate interference with constitutional rights.
Did the COVID-19 lockdowns require a State of Emergency?
Not for the bulk of the measures. The lockdowns, gathering limits and mask mandates were imposed by Regulations made under section 105 of the Ordinance, which itself supplies the regulation-making power. A separate Proclamation of Emergency under section 8 of the Constitution was issued in May 2021 to support a curfew, but it was a discrete measure.
Who enforces the Ordinance on the ground?
Enforcement is shared between the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, the Chief Medical Officer, County Medical Officers of Health, and the Public Health Inspectorates of the Regional Corporations. Magistrates have summary jurisdiction over offences.
Is there a draft modern Public Health Act?
Successive administrations have spoken of one, but no comprehensive replacement statute has been brought into force. Until that happens, the 1940 Ordinance continues to govern.
Does the Ordinance bind the State?
The Ordinance is binding on individuals, local authorities and statutory bodies. The State itself acts through the Minister, the Cabinet and the Chief Medical Officer in administering the Ordinance, and proceedings against the State arising out of public-health measures are subject to the State Liability and Proceedings Act, Chapter 8:02.
Written by Martin George, Attorney-at-Law. Martin George is the founder and principal attorney of Martin George & Company, with more than 35 years of active legal practice in the courts of Trinidad and Tobago. He is a former Commissioner on the Law Reform Commission of Trinidad and Tobago and a member of the Prime Minister's Constitutional Committee for Internal Self-Government for Tobago. This article is published for general information and public legal education. It does not constitute legal advice. For advice on your specific situation, contact Martin George & Company.
Last reviewed: April 2026