§ Annabelle EwingTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what discussions he had with the governing authorities of(a) Anguilla, (b) Bermuda, (c) the British Virgin Islands, (d) Cayman Islands, (e) Falkland Islands, (f) Gibraltar, (g) Montserrat, (h) St. Helena, (i) the Turks and Caicos Islands, (j) the Isle of Man, (k) Jersey (l) Guernsey,(m) New Zealand, (n) Antigua and Barbuda, (o) Bahamas, (p) Barbados, (q) Belize, (r) Dominica, (s) Grenada, (t) Jamaica, (u) St. Christopher and Nevis, (v) Saint Lucia, (w) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, (x) Trinidad and Tobago, (y) Kiribati, (z) Tuvalu and (aa) Mauritius on plans to change the legal responsibilities of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council as a court of appeal. [126772]
§ Mr. LeslieNone. The Government are proposing no changes to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in relation to its status as a court of appeal for the jurisdictions listed in the question. In that capacity, it is acting as a court of appeal for independent jurisdictions. It does not belong to the UK alone. Instead of the Law Lords being appointed to the Judicial Committee, the members of the Supreme Court472W would be so appointed. The right of other senior judges who are Privy Counsellors to sit on the Judicial Committee would remain untouched.