PRESS RELEASE: CCJ rejects claim by national against own state

Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), in its Original Jurisdiction, has dismissed an application by Mr Mike Daniel Bhagwansingh seeking permission to commence proceedings, by an application for special leave, against his own State of Trinidad and Tobago. The Court delivered its written reasons on 26 February 2026, following its earlier oral decision on 7 October 2025 to dismiss the application after a contested hearing conducted via videoconference.

Mr Bhagwansingh had sought to challenge the requirement under Trinidad and Tobago’s Financial Institutions Act (FIA) that individuals must obtain a licence from the Central Bank before conducting banking business. He argued that this licensing requirement amounted to a discriminatory restriction that breaches his right to provide financial services under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas (RTC).

In its judgment, the Court relied on the basic principle that under the RTC, Member States — and in limited circumstances, their nationals — may bring claims against another Member State. Therefore, it held that Mr Bhagwansingh had failed to satisfy the threshold for the grant of special leave. The Court determined that the proposed claim lacked any cross border (country and other country) element and reaffirmed that the RTC does not grant nationals a right to provide financial and any other services within their own Member State, as such activities remain governed exclusively by domestic law.

The Court dismissed the application for special leave and awarded costs to the State of Trinidad and Tobago.

The panel comprised the Honourable Mr Justice Anderson, CCJ President, Justices Rajnauth-Lee and Barrow. Mr Bhagwansingh appeared on his own behalf, while the State of Trinidad and Tobago was represented by Mr Sanjiv Lalla, appearing with Mr Murvani Ojah Maharaj and Ms Claire Thomas-Medina, attorneys-at-law.

The CCJ’s full decision is available via www.ccj.org.