Lead Editor – Newsgathering
Former FIFA vice-president and ex-government minister Jack Warner has won a decisive legal victory after the High Court permanently stayed the extradition proceedings brought against him by the United States, bringing to an end a decade-long legal battle that reached the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
In a 71-page judgment delivered yesterday, Justice Karen Reid ruled that Warner’s constitutional rights had been breached through the conduct of the Office of the Attorney General during the extradition proceedings and ordered that the case be permanently halted.
The court also awarded Warner damages to be assessed on September 30, prohibited the State from enforcing previous costs orders against him and ordered the Attorney General to pay his legal costs.
The case stemmed from a 2015 request by the United States to extradite Warner on corruption, fraud and money laundering charges linked to a FIFA corruption scandal.
Justice Reid found that while the original issuance of the Authority to Proceed was not improper, the State later failed in its duty of candour by allowing the courts to believe that a special or bespoke extradition arrangement existed between Trinidad and Tobago and the United States when, in fact, no such arrangement existed.
The judge said the Attorney General’s office was culpable for breaching its duty of candour and found that Warner had been deprived of constitutional protections, including the right to liberty and the protection of the law. She described the misconduct as serious, saying it amounted to an abuse of the court’s process.
Justice Reid rejected Warner’s claim that the State had engaged in a deliberate conspiracy from the outset to mislead the courts. Instead, she concluded the matter evolved over time, with the initial certificate being issued in line with longstanding practice. However, once it became known that there was no separate specialty arrangement, the State failed to correct the mistaken impression created before the High Court, Court of Appeal and ultimately the Privy Council. That failure, she ruled, resulted in constitutional breaches.
The judgment noted that Attorney General John Jeremie, after taking office in 2025, conducted an extensive internal investigation and acknowledged that the Office of the Attorney General had failed in its duty of candour by not correcting the courts’ misunderstanding regarding the existence of a bespoke specialty arrangement.
Justice Reid found that the continued extradition proceedings after those misrepresentations had been made could not be allowed to continue and ordered that they be permanently stayed.
Speaking to Guardian Media shortly after the ruling, Warner welcomed the decision but said the decade-long ordeal had taken an enormous personal and financial toll.
“I’m happy with the judgment but I’m still a bitter person because my life has been destroyed, my businesses have gone through the roof, my family has been put to shame and this hasn’t been fair to me for 10 years. Worst yet, the money I have spent in legal fees is insurmountable, so in a sense I’m happy, but I’m sad that I had to go through all of this to be freed,” Warner said.
Warner said he now hopes the damages phase of the proceedings will provide some measure of compensation for what he believes he has lost.
“September 30 is the big day because I have been stripped of everything over the last 10 years. I’ve moved from hero to zero, and therefore I sincerely hope that the Government will be able to, in some way, justify financially what I have gone through. They can’t replace it but hopefully they can somehow justify it.”
The ruling marks the conclusion of one of T&T’s longest-running extradition matters. Warner was first arrested in May 2015, after US authorities requested his extradition in connection with the sweeping FIFA corruption investigation. He challenged the Authority to Proceed through judicial review, but his challenges were dismissed by the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Privy Council, before fresh constitutional issues arising from the Attorney General’s conduct were referred to the High Court for determination.
Justice Reid ultimately declared that the State’s conduct breached Warner’s constitutional rights, permanently halted the extradition proceedings and left the question of compensation to be determined later this year.
Guardian Media reached out to Garvin Nicholas, who was attorney general at the time the extradition proceedings began, former attorney general Faris al-Rawi, who took over the reins in September 2015, and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. However, there was no comment from either of them up to press time.
Guardian Media also sent questions to the US Embassy in T&T and is awaiting their response.
Timeline of Jack Warner’s extradition proceedings:
May 27, 2015 – Warner arrested after the US requests his extradition.
July 16, 2015 – United States formally submits extradition request.
September 21, 2015 – Former Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi issues Authority to Proceed.
November 2015 – Warner files judicial review challenging the Authority to Proceed.
September 27, 2017 – High Court dismisses judicial review.
June 11, 2019 – Court of Appeal dismisses Warner’s appeal.
December 17, 2022 – Privy Council dismisses final appeal, allowing extradition proceedings to resume.
January 2023 – Freedom of Information request raises questions about the alleged specialty arrangement.
June 26, 2023 – Chief Magistrate refers constitutional questions to the High Court.
September 2025 – Attorney General John Jeremie acknowledges breach of the duty of candour during proceedings.
July 17, 2026 – Justice Karen Reid permanently stays the extradition proceedings and awards Warner damages to be assessed.
September 30, 2026 – High Court to assess damages unless parties reach agreement.
