Sir Anthony Smellie appointed to His Majesty's Privy Council

Sir Anthony Smellie appointed to His Majesty's Privy Council, enabling Lord Reed to invite him to sit with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

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His Majesty The King has approved the appointment of Sir Anthony Smellie KCMG KC to His Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council. This will enable the JCPC's chairman Lord Reed to invite him to sit with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Lord Reed said, “Last year the UK government accepted my proposal that judges from the jurisdictions that we serve should be eligible to be appointed as members of the Privy Council, so that they can sit with us on appeals. This means that the JCPC now has the benefit of experienced and expert judges from JCPC jurisdictions and with direct experience of local conditions, that will enhance the quality of the Privy Council’s decision-making. I am delighted that I will be able to invite Sir Anthony to sit with us. As the recently retired Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands preceded by a long and distinguished legal career, he will bring to our work a wealth of experience and expertise.”


Notes

  • Sir Anthony Smellie KCMG KC was appointed as Chief Justice of the Cayman Islands in June 1998 and retired in 2022. Sir Anthony was admitted to practice as an attorney-at-law in Jamaica in 1977. In 1987 he was appointed Solicitor-General of the Cayman Islands and acted as Attorney General on several occasions. In August 1991 Sir Anthony was appointed as Queen’s Counsel. He was appointed as a judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands in February 1993, and as Chief Justice five years later. He was appointed as a judge of the Court of Appeal of Bermuda in March 2018. In December 2023, Sir Anthony was appointed to the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal. Sir Anthony is an Honorary Bencher of Grays Inn; an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (University of London); Patron of the Commonwealth Law Journal; a STEP Judge, a member of Insolvency Practitioners International and a member of the International Insolvency Institute.
    • The process to be invited to sit with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council first required an Order in Council to be made naming The Grand Court of the Cayman Islands as a superior court for the purposes of section 1(1) Judicial Committee Amendment Act 1895. Following this, His Majesty The King approved the appointment of Sir Anthony at a meeting of the Privy Council at Buckingham Palace. Sir Anthony will attend a future meeting of the Privy Council to be sworn in before His Majesty.


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