BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Hall Taylor KC, Richard Brown, Tim Wright and Simon Hall, Carey Olsen
Carey Olsen Rodus Building Road Town Tortola, VG1110 British Virgin Islands Tel: +1 284 394 4030 Fax: +1 284 494 4155
Email: bvi@careyolsen.com Web: www.careyolsen.com
1. General 1.1 General Characteristics of the Legal System Sources of Law As a largely self-governing British Overseas Territory, the legal system of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) is rooted in English common law and equitable prin- ciples, supplemented by legislation passed by the BVI’s legislature and certain statutes and instruments passed by the UK Parliament historically or recently extended to the territory by Order in Council. Judicial Process The system is adversarial, overseen by a single judge, who considers written and oral evidence and argu- ment before reaching a decision on the facts and the law and delivering judgment. Juries are not used for civil proceedings. Occasionally, and exceptionally, judges make decisions on papers without a hearing. Precedent The courts follow precedent. Decisions of higher courts are binding on lower courts. Whilst not binding, English court judgments are routinely cited in argu- ment and, in the absence of a good reason to depart from English jurisprudence, will usually be followed. 1.2 Court System The BVI’s court system is administered by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), based in St Lucia, in common with other Caribbean countries and ter- ritories. The BVI’s High Court is managed by local reg- istries. Procedure is governed by the ECSC Civil Pro- cedure Rules 2000 and practice directions (EC CPR).
The principal constituents of the BVI’s civil court sys- tem are set out below. The High Court (Civil Division) The Civil Division of the High Court handles civil liti- gation not within the remit of the Commercial Court. There is one dedicated Civil Division judge. The High Court (Commercial Division) Commonly called the Commercial Court, this was established in 2009 to hear the large number of com- mercial cases that emanate from the BVI. Most are BVI-specific, although some are referred from other jurisdictions within the ECSC. The criteria relevant to whether a case is suitable for the Commercial Court are principally subject matter and value. Almost all international commercial cases are heard in the Com- mercial Court. The Commercial Court has exclusive remit over corporate insolvency matters. There are currently two Commercial Court judges. The length of time it will take to progress a case from issuance through to trial and final judgment in the Commercial Court can vary enormously, depending on the nature and complexity of the matter, whether substantial interlocutory applications need to be dealt with, and the availability of the parties and the court for hearings. It is rare for a substantial matter to go to trial within a year of issue, and it is relatively com- mon for substantial cases to last considerably longer than that, but trials can be expedited in appropriate cases. Further, many matters in the BVI courts can be resolved summarily without a full trial (for exam- ple, common law enforcement actions and liquidation applications) and are usually determined in a much
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