Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. It is also the highest court of appeal (or court of last resort) for several independent countries that were formerly part of the British Empire, the UK overseas territories and the British crown dependencies.

The judicial system of the United Kingdom is unusual in having no highest national court; the Judicial Committee is the highest court of appeal in some cases, while in many others the highest court of appeal is the House of Lords.

The Judicial Committee has the power to hear cases involving:

• Acts as highest court of appeal for certain Commonwealth countries, namely New Zealand, several Caribbean countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Christopher and Nevis[?], Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago), Kiribati and Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.
• Acts as highest court of appeal for UK Overseas Territories, namely Anguilla, Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, St. Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands and the Sovereign Base Area of Akrotiri[?].
• Acts as highest court of appeal for the British crown dependencies, namely the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
• Devolution issues arising under the Scotland Act 1998, the Government of Wales Act 1998, or the Northern Ireland Act 1998, i.e. disputes regarding the validity of acts of the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland Assembly[?].
• Appeals from disciplinary committees of various professional regulatory bodies in the UK.
• Certain cases involving the Church of England on appeal from the Ecclesiastical courts.
• Disputes concerning whether someone is eligible to be elected to the British House of Commons
• Appeals in certain admirality cases.

Formerly appeals to the Privy Council could be made from Australia; however this right of appeal was effectively abolished from the Commonwealth Courts by the Privy Council (Limitation of Appeals) Act 1968 and the Privy Council (Appeals from the High Court) Act 1975, and from the State courts by the Australia Act 1986[?].

Appeals could also be made from Canada until 1949, and even after the Supreme Court of Canada was founded in 1875. During that time appeals to the Privy Council could bypass the Supreme Court.