UNDER the Constitution, citizens are guaranteed 'a panoply of rights' that should not be curtailed during a state of emergency (SoE) unless restrictions are 'reasonably justifiable for the purpose of dealing with the situation that exists during that period,' the Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago (LATT) has said.

Among those rights are the freedom of thought and expression, freedom of association and assembly, freedom of movement, and the right to express political views, it said.

The association, in a media release yesterday, said while Section 7 of the Constitution permits Emergency Regulations to have effect even where they are inconsistent with those constitutional rights, such powers are not unlimited.