Politics of The Pitcairn Islands - Judicial Branch

Judicial Branch

• Island Court: the island magistrate, appointed by the Governor for a three-year term, usually presides over the court; however there have been several non-resident magistrates over the last five years. These magistrates were appointed as part of the judicial structure set up for the purposes of the Pitcairn sexual assault trials.

• Supreme Court: while Pitcairn law has made provision for a Supreme Court for a number of years, no judges were appointed to it and it never sat. However the Court was activated as part of the constitutional and judicial arrangements put in place for the trial referred to above.

• Court of Appeal: unlike the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal is a recent creation. It was established by an Order in Council in 2000 in preparation for the above trial. Allowance has also been made for both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal to sit either in the islands or at such other country or place as may be permitted by any law. In practice, the Supreme Court has sat both on Pitcairn itself as well as in Auckland, New Zealand, while the Court of Appeal has only sat in New Zealand.

• Privy Council: the Privy Council is the final court of appeal for Pitcairn. While some appellate jurisdiction may previously have existed (through common law), appeals to the Privy Council were formally permitted by an Order in Council issued in 2000.

The members of the Pitcairn judiciary are all New Zealanders - as are almost all of the lawyers admitted to the Pitcairn Bar - and are all either current or former members of the judiciary, or legal profession (in the case of the magistrates) in that country.

Currently, the members of the judiciary are:

• Chief Justice: John Blackie.
• President of the Court of Appeal: John Henry.
• Judges of the Court of Appeal: Sir Ian Barker, Paul Neazor.
• Judges of the Supreme Court: Jane Lovell-Smith, Russell Johnson.

Additionally, several magistrates have been appointed from amongst the ranks of the senior members of the legal profession in New Zealand. The Pitcairn Public Prosecutor - Simon Moore (also the Crown Solicitor at Auckland) and Public Defender - Paul Dacre - were also appointed.