The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the highest court of appeal for the Crown Dependencies,the British Overseas Territories,some Commonwealth countries and a few institutions in the United Kingdom. Established on 14 August 1833 to hear appeals formerly heard by the King-in-Council,the Privy Council formerly acted as the court of last resort for the entire British Empire,other than for the United Kingdom itself.
The Supreme Court of New Zealand is the highest court and the court of last resort of New Zealand. It formally came into being on 1 January 2004 and sat for the first time on 1 July 2004. It replaced the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,based in London. It was created with the passing of the Supreme Court Act 2003,on 15 October 2003. At the time,the creation of the Supreme Court and the abolition of appeals to the Privy Council were controversial constitutional changes in New Zealand. The Supreme Court Act 2003 was repealed on 1 March 2017 and superseded by the Senior Courts Act 2016.
Sir Noel Plunkett Power,was a senior judge in Hong Kong and Brunei Darussalam. He had been a barrister-at-law in his home-country Australia when he joined the judiciary of Hong Kong in 1965 as a magistrate in the Lands Tribunal. Since then,he had been successively promoted as President of the Lands Tribunal,a puisne judge of the Supreme Court and Vice-President of the Court of Appeal. In 1996,he became acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court when Sir Ti-liang Yang resigned and contested for the first ever election of the Chief Executive. After the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from Britain to People's Republic of China in 1997,he was appointed Vice-President of the Court of Appeal of the High Court. He retired from the High Court in 1999 but remained as a non-permanent judge of the Court of Final Appeal.
The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (HKCFA) is the final appellate court of Hong Kong. It was established on 1 July 1997,upon the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region,replacing the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as the highest judicial institution under Hong Kong law. As defined in Articles 19 and 85 of the Hong Kong Basic Law,the Court of Final Appeal "exercises judicial power in the Region independently and free from any interference." The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Ordinance and the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal Rules set out the detailed functions and procedures of the court.
The Judiciary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the judicial branch of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Under the Basic Law of Hong Kong,it exercises the judicial power of the Region and is independent of the executive and legislative branches of the Government. The courts in Hong Kong hear and adjudicate all prosecutions and civil disputes,including all public and private law matters.
The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the final court of appeal in the United Kingdom for all civil cases,and for criminal cases originating in England,Wales and Northern Ireland. As the United Kingdom's highest appellate court for these matters,it hears cases of the greatest public or constitutional importance affecting the whole population.
The High Court of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is a part of the legal system of Hong Kong. It consists of the Court of Appeal and the Court of First Instance;it deals with criminal and civil cases which have risen beyond the lower courts. It is a superior court of record of unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction. It was named the Supreme Court before 1997. Though previously named the Supreme Court,this Court has long been the local equivalent to the Senior Courts of England and Wales and has never been vested with the power of final adjudication.
The Court of First Instance is the lower court of the High Court of Hong Kong,the upper court being the Court of Appeal. Formerly the High Court of Justice of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong,it was renamed the Court of First Instance by the Basic Law after the handover of Hong Kong.
The Court of Appeal of the High Court of Hong Kong is the second most senior court in the Hong Kong legal system. It deals with appeals on all civil and criminal cases from the Court of First Instance and the District Court. It is one of two courts that makes up the High Court of Hong Kong. Sometimes criminal appeals from Magistrates' Courts with general public importance are also dealt with in the Court of Appeal,either by referral by a single judge from the Court of First Instance,or upon granting of leave on application for review by the Secretary for Justice.
The Hong Kong order of precedence is a nominal and symbolic hierarchy of important positions within the Government of Hong Kong. Administered by the government's Protocol Division,the hierarchy does not determine the order of succession for the office of Chief Executive,which is instead specified by the Basic Law of Hong Kong.
The Court of Appeal of Singapore is the highest court in the judicial system of Singapore. It is the upper division of the Supreme Court of Singapore,the lower being the High Court. The Court of Appeal consists of the chief justice,who is the president of the Court,and the judges of the Court of Appeal. The chief justice may ask judges of the High Court to sit as members of the Court of Appeal to hear particular cases. The seat of the Court of Appeal is the Supreme Court Building.
The chief justice of Hong Kong was,until 1997,the chief judge of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong and the most senior judge in the court system.
The British Supreme Court for China was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement to try cases against British subjects in China,Japan and Korea under the principles of extraterritoriality.
Sir Havilland Walter de Sausmarez,1st Baronet was a judge of various British colonial or consular courts in Africa and Asia,the Ottoman Empire and China. His last judicial position before retirement was as Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China. He later served as Bailiff of Guernsey.
Sir John Jackson Smale was a British lawyer and judge. He served as Attorney General and the longest-serving Chief Justice of Hong Kong.
John Walter Hulme (1805-1861) was a British lawyer and Judge. He was the first Chief Justice of Hong Kong,taking office in 1844.
The judiciary of Solomon Islands is a branch of the Government of Solomon Islands that interprets and applies the laws of Solomon Islands,to ensure equal justice under law,and to provide a mechanism for dispute resolution. The legal system is derived from chapter VII,part II of the Constitution,adopted when the country became independent from the United Kingdom in 1978. The Constitution provided for the creation of a High Court,with original jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases,and a Court of Appeal. It also provided for the possibility of "subordinate courts",with no further specification (art.84).
Paul Ivy Sterling was a British lawyer and Judge. He served as the first Attorney General of Hong Kong and as a Puisne Judge in Ceylon .
The British Court for Japan was a court established in Yokohama in 1879 to try cases against British subjects in Japan,under the principles of extraterritoriality. The court also heard appeals from British consular courts in Japan. Appeals from the British Court for Japan lay to the British Supreme Court for China and Japan based in the Shanghai International Settlement.
The Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam is the highest court of Brunei Darussalam,though its decisions are subject to appeal in civil cases to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Chief Justice and other Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the Sultan of Brunei to sit in judgment of the most acrimonious contentions in the country.
