BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Hall Taylor KC, Richard Brown, Tim Wright and Simon Hall, Carey Olsen
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, hear- ing appeals from the EC Court of Appeal. The Privy Council sits in London and consists of jus- tices 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 judges 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 documents 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 avail- able 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 disclo- sure or inspection; or (iv) documents subject to an application pending made by a person identi-
fied in a statement of case to prevent non-par- ties 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 confidential- ity, 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 prac- titioners 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 sensi- tive or confidential documents, the judge may agree to hold hearings in private, and/or to anonymise certain information in any judgment. It is therefore possible to preserve confidentiality in certain cases. 1.4 Legal Representation in Court Regulation Legal practice is primarily regulated by the Legal Profession Act 2015 (LPA). This restricts practice of BVI law to persons admitted in the BVI hold- ing a valid practising certificate, which must be renewed annually (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
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