An attorney is seeking the public’s views on two major changes to the United Kingdom-based Privy Council (PC) that are currently under consideration.

In a Facebook post yesterday, attorney Kiel Taklalsingh sought views on a move to include judges from Commonwealth jurisdictions such as T&T that still have the PC as their final appellate court on appeal panels and a change to the court’s rules on disposition of appeals that are not approved by local Courts of Appeal.

“I am putting together my thoughts on the issue to submit to the PC. If anyone has strong views and would like to share them with me, please let me know,” Taklalsingh said.

The deadline for submissions in the PC’s consultation is Friday.

Taklalsingh sought to share his personal views on the changes.

On including local judges for some cases, he said: “Separate and apart from the debate over whether we should retain the PC, I believe the move to incorporate a local judge into the panel of the PC is a progressive step by our current apex court. It demonstrates a willingness of the institution to evolve and adapt.”

Commenting on the proposed rule change, Taklalsingh said: “Rule 23 seems to be an additional filtering exercise which is likely to save time and costs from being expended on appeals which are likely to fail.”

The UK Government’s approval of the move to include foreign judges was announced by Lord Robert Reed, president of the UK Supreme Court and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, earlier this month.

In a post on the Privy Council’s website, Reed explained that the court and the UK’s Ministry of Justice are working on detailed arrangements to facilitate the move.

He spoke more on the issue when he addressed a special virtual lecture at the University of the West Indies, Mona, last month.

“Having the benefit of the opinion of a judge with direct experience of local conditions can only enhance the quality of the PC’s decision-making,” Lord Reed said.

He said based on the existing legislative arrangements only judges from T&T, Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court could be appointed as privy councillors to lend their local expertise to cases.

“At present none of the judges from these jurisdictions are privy councillors, but I am hopeful that that position may change before long,” he said.

Former local appointees to the Privy Council include Sir Hugh Wooding, who served as this country’s first post-Independence chief justice, and former chief justice Michael de la Bastide, who was appointed in 2004 before becoming the first president of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The proposed rule change allows one Lord Law to consider an appeal for which a local Court of Appeal did not grant leave to go to the PC.

The Law Lord will decide whether the appeal should proceed or whether the appellant should be made to file written submissions on its merits within 21 days.

The submissions will then be considered by three or more Law Lords, who would determine without a hearing whether the appeal should be dismissed for being devoid of merit.

A consultation document for the proposed changes stated that the PC’s Rules remained largely the same since 2009 with only one minor amendment in 2013 to reflect a revised fee structure.

Members of the public, who wish to share their views with Taklalsingh can contact him on his Facebook page.