Judicial Committee of the Privy Council: The Persistence of a British Colonial Institution

Abstract

Following the British decolonization process, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) continued as the final appellate court for many new states. Originally designed as a colonial court, the JCPC, therefore, continues to influence independent states. This testifies to the persistence of British colonial influence in the jurisprudence of former colonies. This research on the JCPC provides evidence colonial influences persist beyond the ceremonial and examines the Gambia and New Zealand as cases illustrating different paths to shedding this colonial institutional.