BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Hall Taylor KC, Richard Brown, Tim Wright and Simon Hall, Carey Olsen
shorter timeframe (see 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings ). The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, Court of Appeal (ECSC Court of Appeal) The ECSC Court of Appeal hears appeals from the High Court and Commercial Court. The ECSC Court of Appeal is based in St Lucia but is itinerant, travelling between various countries and territories. It typically sits in the BVI three times per year, each lasting for a period of one week. If urgent, BVI appeals may be heard when the Court is sitting elsewhere. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council This is the final court of appeal for the BVI, hearing appeals from the EC Court of Appeal. The Privy Coun- cil sits in London and consists of justices of the UK Supreme Court. 1.3 Court Filings and Proceedings Filings Almost all filings are made using the ECSC’s e-filing portal, to which BVI legal practitioners have access. The Registry oversees assignment of matters to judg- es and listing of hearings, and issuing court orders once approved. Documents Available to the Public A non-party may inspect only the following on the court file: • claim form, certain application notices (made under r. 8.1 (6), or a statement of case (but not any docu- ments filed with or attached to the statement of case); • notice of appeal; • judgment or order made in the case; and • with the court’s leave, any other document. However, the following documents are not available for inspection: (i) documents in proceedings relating to the welfare of a minor, a patient, or person for whom an order has been made to protect their identity; (ii) settlement agreements; (iii) documents protected by statute from disclosure or inspection; or (iv) docu- ments subject to an application pending made by a person identified in a statement of case to prevent
non-parties from inspecting such documents. All other documents remain confidential unless referred to in open court. For particular sensitivities, the court file may be sealed to prevent public access. The court may anonymise names to protect confidentiality, and hold private hearings. For more details, see 7.6 Extent to Which Hearings Are Open to the Public . Hearings Court hearings are generally public, although the majority in the Commercial Court and Civil Division are held in chambers. Whilst chambers hearings are not necessarily private, it is unusual for anyone other than parties or their legal practitioners to attend. Certain hearings are held in “open court” where the public or press may attend. These include trials and hearings to appoint liquidators. Documents referred to in open court generally lose their confidentiality. For particularly sensitive or con- fidential documents, the judge may agree to hold hearings in private, and/or to anonymise certain infor- mation in any judgment. It is therefore possible to pre- Legal practice is primarily regulated by the Legal Pro- fession Act 2015 (LPA). This restricts practice of BVI law to persons admitted in the BVI holding a valid practising certificate, which must be renewed annu- ally (legal practitioners). It is an offence for any other person to practise BVI law. Foreign lawyers cannot practise BVI law or conduct litigation in the BVI courts unless they become BVI admitted and obtain a prac- tising certificate. Rights of Audience The BVI generally operates a “fused” profession, although a distinction is made between barristers and solicitors for the purposes of appearing before the court. Barristers have full rights of audience in all courts, whereas solicitors have more limited rights. An serve confidentiality in certain cases. 1.4 Legal Representation in Court Regulation
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