The
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (
JCPC) is one of the highest
courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 (or with the Privy Council Appeals Act 1832) to hear appeals formerly heard by the
King-in-Council (s. 3), it is the highest
court of appeal (or
court of last resort) for several independent
Commonwealth countries, the
British Overseas Territories and the British
Crown dependencies. It is often referred to as the
Privy Council, as in most cases appeals are made to ‘Her Majesty in Council’ (i.e. the
British monarch as formally advised by her
Privy Counsellors), who then refers the case to the Judicial Committee for ‘advice’; the ‘report’ of the Judicial Committee is always accepted by the Queen in Council as judgment. The panel of judges (typically five in number) hearing a particular case is known as ‘the Board’.