The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

THE country’s highest court, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, is in the capital to hear a number of appeals at the request of the government.

In a special sitting ceremony to mark the fourth working visit of the JCPC held in a Court of Appeal courtroom at Claughton House, five judges who have travelled from London to sit as a board were welcomed by Court of Appeal President Dame Anita Allen and scores of legal officers from the judiciary.

Though the JCPC occasionally sits outside London when invited to do so by the jurisdictions it serves, this is the fourth occasion that the JCPC has sat in The Bahamas, more than any other jurisdiction.

Dame Anita yesterday said a citizen’s ability to be able to appeal to the Privy Council “affords them an opportunity to have their decisions reviewed and any errors corrected by a third level of experienced judges”.

“This maintains the trust and confidence of the public in the justice system and meets the demand of the rule of law for a fair just result,” the appellate president said.

“My lords, The Bahamas continues to benefit from your fair, rational, and erudite judgments which have provided consistent and valuable guidance on a myriad of important legal issues such as citizenship, third-party insurance claims, the interpretation and application of our Constitution, the Quieting Titles Act, the Listening Devices Act, the Acquisition of Land Act, and proper practices and procedure in extradition matters to name just a few.”

“Undoubtedly in your role as our final appellate court, you have made a significant contribution to the Bahamas development and its preservation as an independent and just society,” Dame Anita added.

The appellate president said Bahamians support “and accept your committee’s decisions even as they clamour, as did Lord Kerr in Maxo Tido and the Queen, for clarification of the elusive meaning of worst of the worst and rarest of the rare.”

She was referring to the Privy Council’s decision that the death penalty for murder should not be mandatory, but confined to the “worst of the worst” cases.

Attorney General Allyson-Maynard-Gibson, QC, also expressed the “honour and a great privilege to welcome you to the Bahamas where this week you sit for the fourth time.”

“Thanks to the vision and diligence of the president of the Court of Appeal the facilities in which you sit are much different than when you sat last – in 2009,” Mrs Maynard-Gibson added.

“We have been blessed in our country with learned, strong, and accomplished judges, whose capabilities and independence are well-established. In today’s world, we know better than to take the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary for granted. Indeed, these cornerstones of freedom and democracy must be continually supported and strengthened” Mrs Maynard-Gibson stressed.

Alfred Sears, QC, in his remarks on behalf of the Inner-Bar, said the JCPC provides “both stability and changes in the law for an increasingly globalized Bahamian society.”

“Stability is provided, through the doctrine of stare decisis, which is essential for ensuring an ordered society, protecting fundamental rights and maintaining investors’ confidence. At the same time, the Privy Council has helped reframe Bahamian society from its colonial past where the imperial sovereign was supreme, to a sovereign nation state, based on the supremacy of the Constitution, separation of powers, fundamental rights, limited government, the evolving global bill of rights and the norm of respect for fundamental rights.”

Mr Sears, in quoting Rhodes Scholar the late Professor Rex Nettleford on the contribution of the JCPC to jurisprudence, went on to say that “whether, ultimately we adopt the Caribbean Court of Justice as our final appellate court, establish a final national appellate court or maintain the status quo, the jurisprudence produced by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, to date, is one that we all proudly claim.”

“We’re of course delighted to be here at first hand,” Lord Mance said in his remarks.

“It gives us a wonderful opportunity to witness the Bahamian Constitution and legal system in action, to hear, first-sight about the current thinking and developments and to understand how the Privy Council may best contribute,” the head of the five judge delegation added.

Lords Mance, Kerr, Sumption, Reed and Hughes are set to hear five appeals.

The sessions are being live streamed on the Court of Appeal’s website at http://www.courtofappeal.org.bs/ for persons who are unable to physically attend the open court hearings.