Massa Day Done: The Republican Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago: Origins and Issues

This book describes the transition of Trinidad and Tobago from a British crown colony to an independent republic. Divided into two parts, the first sketches the constitutional developments from the Spanish capitulation of Trinidad in 1797 to changes associated with a British crown colony. It describes in greater detail the move, after 1956, towards republicanism and the debate about the 1976 constitution. Part I ends with a review of that debate. The second part examines some of the issues generated by the new constitution and, in particular, looks at problems associated with the president, the Privy Council, and representation.

The author is a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and was educated in Trinidad (Tranquillity Boys’ Intermediate School and St Mary’s College) and in Scotland (University of St Andrews). He was a frequent contributor to the Trinidad and Tobago Review on matters of politics, economics, and finance. He has spoken on radio on the constitution of Trinidad and Tobago. In 2002, the Tapia House Movement, a political organization that published the Trinidad and Tobago Review, honoured him as democrat and philosopher. In 2012, he published Tobago: The Union with Trinidad 1889-1899, which deals with the constitutional arrangements of two British colonies to form the united Crown Colony of Trinidad and Tobago.