BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Hall Taylor KC, Richard Brown, Tim Wright and Simon Hall, Carey Olsen
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 principles, supplemented by leg- islation passed by the BVI’s legislature and cer- tain 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 argument 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 argument and, in the absence of a good reason to depart from English jurisprudence, will The BVI’s court system is administered by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (ECSC), based in St Lucia, in common with other Carib- bean countries and territories. The BVI’s High Court is managed by local registries. Procedure is governed by the ECSC Civil Procedure Rules 2000 and practice directions (EC CPR). The principal constituents of the BVI’s civil court system are set out below. usually be followed. 1.2 Court System
The High Court (Civil Division) The Civil Division of the High Court handles civil litigation not within the remit of the Commer- cial 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 num- ber of commercial 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 Commercial 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 appli- cations 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 common for substan- tial 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 liqui- dation applications) and are usually determined in a much 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
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