Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

This is the final court of appeal for the UK overseas territories and Crown dependencies. It also serves those Commonwealth countries that have retained the appeal to His Majesty in Council or, in the case of republics, to the Judicial Committee.

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The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Judgment
13 March 2026
Rubis Bahamas Ltd (Appellant) v Lillian Antoinette Russell (Respondent) (The Bahamas)
Lord Lloyd-Jones,
Lord Briggs,
Lord Hamblen,
Lord Stephens,
Lady Rose,
Lord Richards,
Lady Simler
1): Did the courts below find as a fact that the fuel from the 2012 leak migrated to the respondent’s land and contaminated it? (2): Is it a precondition to liability under the rule in Rylands v Fletcher that the defendant be in occupation of the land from which the dangerous thing escapes? (3): Is the storage of fuel underground a "non-natural use of land" for the purposes of the rule in Rylands v Fletcher? (4): Did the Court of Appeal err in its assessment of damages?
UK Supreme Court
Hearing
17 March 2026
R (on the application of Bano) (Appellant) v London Borough of Waltham Forest (Respondent)
Lord Reed,
Lord Sales,
Lord Hamblen,
Lord Stephens,
Lady Rose
Whether a local authority’s duty to house homeless applicants under section 193 of the Housing Act 1996 ends by operation of law or whether the local authority is required to make a decision that the duty has ended.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Judgment
17 March 2026
Fay Chang Rhule (Appellant) v Angela Smith and another (Respondents) (Jamaica)
Lord Sales,
Lord Lloyd-Jones,
Lord Briggs,
Lord Hamblen,
Lady Rose
Is there a duty on an Attorney-at-Law to look behind a foreign power of attorney which is regular on its face and satisfies the relevant statutory provisions, and contains no express requirement on its face to look behind it?
UK Supreme Court
Hearing
20 May 2026
Forthwell Limited (Appellant) v Pontegadea UK Limited (Respondent)
Lord Reed,
Lord Burrows,
Lord Stephens,
Lady Simler
In what circumstances can a party to a contract recover damages for a breach of that contract in respect of losses that were sustained not by the contracting party itself but by its subsidiary?
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Hearing
14 July 2026
Ashmeed Mohammed (Appellant) v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago (Respondent) (Trinidad and Tobago)
1) Was the President’s Proclamation No 8 of 2011 of a state of public emergency contrary to the Constitution and therefore unlawful? 2) Were the Regulations issued under this Proclamation justified by reference to the state of public emergency? 3) If so, were the arrests and detentions of the appellants under these Regulations nonetheless unlawful?
Linked cases
JCPC/2025/0072 Dominic Pitilal (Appellant) v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago (Respondent) (Trinidad and Tobago)
Legal Issue
JCPC/2025/0073 Earl Elie (Appellant) v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago (Respondent) (Trinidad and Tobago)
Legal Issue