Guide to the Records of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (as filmed by the AJCP), 1814-1972

Summary

Collection number:

M1586-M1614

Creator:

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council

Extent:

805 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Contains material submitted as part of cases being heard by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council including petitions, proceedings, correspondence, the cases for the applicants and respondents, judgements and orders.

Cases filmed are divided into two kinds: Special Reference and Appeal. The two special reference cases are: a dispute between Victoria and New South Wales over Pental Island in the River Murray (1872), and the dispute between the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of Queensland regarding their relative rights and powers (1886).

The Appeals cases occurred between 1814 and 1972. The cases filmed occurred in New South Wales; Tasmania; New Zealand; Victoria; Queensland, South Australia; Western Australia and Fiji.

Biographical / Historical:

The most important branches of the jurisdiction of the Privy Council in England were abolished in 1641, but it retained its appellate jurisdiction in the King's overseas dominions (including the Channel Islands). Colonial charters, royal instructions to governors, Acts of Parliament, letters patent, charters of justice, Orders in Council, colonial legislation and rules of colonial courts regulated appeals to the King in Council. From 1696 to 1833 all colonial appeals were heard by a standing committee of the Privy Council. It was not obligatory for a judge to be present at a hearing and occasionally lay members of the committee outvoted law lords and judges.

The 1833 Judicial Committee Act, sponsored by Lord Brougham, replaced the old Appeals Committee with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The Judicial Committee consisted of Privy Councillors who held, or had held, the offices of Lord President, Lord Chancellor, Chief Justice of the Court of King's Bench, Master of the Rolls and other high judicial offices. The Crown could also appoint two additional Councillors to the Committee. There was a quorum of four, which was reduced to three in 1851. It was provided that four retired judges who attended the Committee regularly should receive supplementary pensions. A great increase in the number of appeals in the 1860s led to a demand for salaried appeal judges. The 1876 Appellate Jurisdiction Act authorised the appointment of lords of appeal in ordinary, who held life peerages and who were obliged to sit on House of Lords and Privy Council appeals. Since 1876 the lords of appeal in ordinary have carried the bulk of the Judicial Committee's workload.

The 1833 Act transferred the entire appellate jurisdiction of the King in Council to the Judicial Committee. It had jurisdiction in appeals from judgments of colonial and territorial courts, in English maritime and ecclesiastical causes, in prize suits, in patent cases, and in appeals from colonial and overseas Vice-Admiralty Courts. Finally, the Committee could hear and report on 'any other matters whatsoever as His Majesty shall think fit', which has covered a very wide range of topics (the Special Reference cases).

The counsel for appellants and respondents were required to submit printed cases. If a respondent failed to lodge a printed case, the Committee could order the appeal to be heard ex parte. The decision of the majority of the members of the Committee was embodied in a report to the King in Council, which was then promulgated in an Order in Council. The reasons for the report were presented in the published judgments. The Committee took considerable trouble to try to reach unanimous decisions and it usually succeeded. From 1878 to 1966 the disclosure of any difference of opinion in the Committee was prohibited.

Reference: P.A. Howell. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 1833-1876: its origins, structure and development.(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1979)

Related

Existence and Location of Copies:

The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2257911] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.

Existence and Location of Originals:

Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, London, England. For further information about the cases see Judicial Committee of Privy Council Papers (http://privycouncilpapers.exeter.ac.uk/).

Conditions Governing Access:

Available for access.

Conditions Governing Use:

Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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