The role of the Privy Council – is a home grown final court of appeal necessary to a modern democracy? – Charlotte Pope-Williams speaks at CLC 2025

Charlotte Pope-Williams is presenting at the 24th Commonwealth Law Conference 2025 in Malta.

Date: 10 April

Session: E9: The role of the Privy Council – is a home grown final court of appeal necessary to a modern democracy?

Time: 11.00 – 12.30

Venue: The Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre, St Julian’s Bay, Malta

Details: The session will examine competing views on the role of on the role of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) adjudicating outside the United Kingdom.

How can this be fair and economic for the local jurisdiction? Some eminent jurists say, with force, that one of the major arguments in favour of retaining the JCPC is the ‘arm’s-length’ quality of that very distance. Judges must be independent of political influence if the rule of law is to be upheld and how better than to be able to avoid the political fallout of a decision when one has a ‘foreign’ court, which the loser can happily blame?