BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alex Hall Taylor KC, Richard Brown, Tim Wright and Simon Hall, Carey Olsen
Hearings generally take place in private if they are concerned with: • the welfare of a minor or a person with a dis- ability; • an application by a trustee or court-appointed officer relating to the administration of a trust, asset or estate; or • an arbitration. Further, the court may direct that any other hear- ing (or part of it) may take place in private if: • publicity would defeat the object of the hear- ing; • the hearing relates to matters of national security; • the hearing involves confidential information and publicity would damage that confidential- ity; • an application made without notice is being heard; or • the court considers this to be necessary in the interests of justice. In theory, transcripts of hearings other than ex parte or private hearings are open to the public on the payment of a fee; in practice, however, they are difficult to obtain and require the assis- tance of a BVI legal practitioner. 7.7 Level of Intervention by a Judge The court has broad powers to intervene dur- ing hearings and trials, as necessary. The level of judicial intervention depends on the issues before the court and the style of the particular judge presiding over the case, which varies. The Commercial Court is very busy, often deal- ing with various applications and hearings each day. As such, judgment is often given in ex tem- pore decisions at the end of a hearing. However,
at the conclusion of lengthy and complicated applications, and certainly at the end of a trial, the judge will reserve judgment and hand down a written judgment at a later date. 7.8 General Timeframes for Proceedings The timeframe for proceedings varies signifi- cantly depending on the nature of the claim. Some urgent claims and other applications – such as for an injunction, third-party disclosure order, or appointment of a liquidator – may be resolved within days or weeks. The court seeks to administer such claims very quickly. More complex claims may take over a year to progress from initial filing to trial and final judg- ment. The trial can last for a few days or weeks, or even longer for high-value multimillion or bil- lion-dollar claims with multiple parties. However, it is also possible for trials to be expedited in cir- cumstances of genuine urgency, with timetables being abrogated to ensure a trial can take place more quickly than might otherwise be the case. As discussed in 10. Appeal , first instance deci- sions of the BVI courts may be appealed to the EC Court of Appeal and then the Privy Council, which can be a lengthy process.
8. Settlement 8.1 Court Approval
Parties may reach a resolution of their dispute between themselves without the involvement of the court. Court approval of the terms of such settlement is not, therefore, required, although steps will inevitably need to be taken in order to formally bring the proceedings to an end. Often, the parties embody the terms of settlement in a consent order (known as a Tomlin order), which technically “stays” (rather than ends) the pro-
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