On 2 December 2024, the JCPC Rules 2024 (the “New Rules”) came into force and are now applicable for The Bahamas, as one of 30 jurisdictions that maintain the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (the “Privy Council” or “JCPC”) as the apex court in its judicial hierarchy.
The New Rules apply to all appeals filed with the Privy Council on or after 2 December 2024, including applications for permission to appeal. They do not apply to appeals filed prior to their introduction.
The main notable changes introduced by the JCPC are in relation to the following:
- Introduction of the JCPC Online Case Management Portal
- Codification of Case Management Procedure Review of all ‘As of Right’ appeals
- New protocol for the service of documents and correspondence by parties
- Earlier Listing of Appeals
- Publication of filed Appeal Documents
Online Case Management Portal
Parties in an appeal will now be required to sign up to the new electronic portal (limited to three user accounts per party) for filing and service of documents and to track the progress of the case. Litigants should receive notification by e-mail whenever a document is uploaded. This revision appears to be consistent with judicial case management trends globally. This has already been implemented in the domestic courts and tribunals in The Bahamas, which recently introduced online case management portals, and have embraced electronic case filing protocols.
Codification of a Case Management Procedure Review of all ‘As of Right’ appeals
The JCPC has introduced new Practice Directions to complement the New Rules, including the new Practice Direction 4, which is particularly relevant for practitioners seeking leave to appeal to the Privy Council. This direction codifies the Privy Council’s long-standing practice of conducting a summary review of all ‘As of Right’ appeals to determine whether dismissal is appropriate. The case of Devi v Kumar Ramendra Narayan Roy (Bengal) [1946] UKPC 1 serves as the authoritative precedent for the Board’s approach, and the new Practice Direction 4 reaffirms the Board’s policy of not reviewing concurrent findings of fact from lower courts, except in exceptional circumstances.
The introduction of the new Practice Direction 4 also dovetails with and mitigates any floodgate concerns which might arise from the Privy Council’s recent clarification on the interpretation of ‘As of Right’ thresholds in the case of Rubis Bahamas Ltd. v Lillian Antionette Russell – [2025] UKPC 13. This topic is further discussed in our firm’s article: A Second Look at Second Appeals ‘As of Right’.
Subject to the new case management review process, which is summarily conducted in the first instance by a single judge of the Privy Council, an appeal is set either: (i) for a substantive hearing before a panel of either three, five or seven judges; or (ii) for a preliminary hearing by a panel of three judges as to why the ‘As of Right’ appeal should not be dismissed.
New Service of documents and correspondence protocol
The New Rules have removed the requirement for personal service of a court document on a party to an appeal, except for the Notice of Appeal, which is still required to be served in accordance with the established rules of service. All subsequent documents must be served via the Online Case Management Portal and service is deemed effected on the day that the Portal sends an email alert, provided that the email alert is sent during the office hours of the Privy Council Registry. Additionally, moving forward, all communications between the parties and or with the facilitated through the JCPC Online Case Management Portal.
Earlier Listing of Appeals
The New Rules allow appeals to be listed earlier in the appeal process, such as upon the filing of Notices of Acknowledgement, Cross-appeals and/or Interventions, and prior to the filing of the Record and Statement of Facts and Issues. However, the Registry will continue its practice of offering parties a provisional range of dates to allow the parties to earmark any non-convenient dates before the hearing date is finalized and the matter listed by the Registry.
Publication of filed Appeal Documents
Appeal documents, including Written Cases, are now published on the Privy Council’s website unless an approved application prevents their release.
The New Rules and Practice Directions are available for review in full at: New JCPC Rules and New JCPC Practice Directions.
AUTHORS
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