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British Overseas Territories: Administration of Justice

Volume 472: debated on Wednesday 5 March 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what competence the Government has in respect of (a) the appointment, (b) the suspension and (c) the dismissal of any chief justice in an overseas territory; and if he will make a statement. (186460)

[holding answer 27 February 2008]: All British Overseas Territories except Anguilla, Montserrat, the Virgin Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the British Antarctic Territory and the Sovereign Base Areas (SBAs) have their own Chief Justice. Anguilla, Montserrat and the Virgin Islands are under the jurisdiction of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, which has a Chief Justice. Cases from South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the British Antarctic Territory are heard by the Chief Justice of the Falkland Islands, and in the SBAs Senior Judges are appointed when required.

In most Territories which have their own Chief Justice, the appointment is the responsibility of the Governor, acting on behalf of Her Majesty The Queen in right of the Territory. In a few Territories, e.g. St. Helena and the Falkland Islands, the Chief Justice is appointed by the Governor acting on instructions given by Her Majesty The Queen in right of the Territory through a Secretary of State. This, in practice, means the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

In general, suspension and dismissal of the Chief Justice in those Territories which have one is the responsibility of the Governor of the Territory, acting as Her Majesty The Queen’s representative in right of the Territory.