Privy Council Judicial Committee on third working visit in The Bahamas

Tue, Mar 31st 2009, 12:00 AM

Nassau, Bahamas ? The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council; the final court of appeal of The Bahamas, affects ?the lives of Bahamians, the region and people in the wider common-law world,? Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Senator the Hon. Michael Barnett said Monday.

The Attorney General was delivering remarks at the opening of the third working visit of the Judicial Committee. The Committee will hear cases at the Court of Appeal on Charlotte Street from March 30 to April 3.

Mr. Barnett welcomed the Law Lords of the Committee, pointing out that Bahamians would have an opportunity to see their final Court of Appeal at work.

The Attorney General noted that the Law Lords? visit to Abaco gave them an appreciation that The Bahamas is ?not simply New Providence and the capital city of Nassau, but is an archipelago with islands of different states of economic development.?

The Rt. Hon. Lord Phillips, Senior Law Lord advised that new procedural changes will be introduced under the new Privy Council Rules which come into force on April 21. He said the ?significant? changes are designed to produce rules suitable for the 21st century include tight time limits for filing applications.

The Law Lords will hear two civil appeals from The Bahamas, one appeal from the Turks and Caicos Islands and one from Bermuda.


Photo: Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Senator the Hon. Michael Barnett addresses the opening of the third working visit of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on Monday, March 30, 2009. (BIS Photo/Patrick Hanna)

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