A seven-strong board of the Privy Council, overturning the decision of the Court of Appeal of The Bahamas, has decided that an appellant has an appeal “as of right” even in cases in which the relevant claim was for unliquidated damages. In so doing it conducted a careful review of a long line of authorities dealing with “as of right” provisions, and held that a recent line of cases from The Bahamas and a number of other commonwealth jurisdictions, which in turn relied upon the Privy Council decision in Zuliani v Veira (Saint Christopher and Nevis) [1994] 1 WLR 1149, should not be followed.

This decision has important implications for The Bahamas and more widely for all jurisdictions which have “as of right” provisions permitting appeals to the Privy Council in cases with a value above a specified threshold (i.e. the great majority of jurisdictions which continue to enjoy a right of appeal to the Privy Council).

Judgement - https://lnkd.in/eyezNEMw

Congratulations to the full legal team!

Oscar N. Johnson, Jr., K.C., Keith O. Major Jr. and Dennise Newton at Higgs & Johnson, Peter Burgess at South Square and Henry Hickman at Sinclair Gibson LLP.