Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask His Majesty's Government how they reconcile their support for the withdrawal of UK judges from Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal on human rights grounds with the continued participation of UK judges in appeals concerning colonial-era laws that ham the rights and dignity of LGBTQ+ people in Caribbean countries.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is an independent court which serves as the final court of appeal for jurisdictions that have chosen to retain it in this role.

The circumstances of the JCPC are different from those which led serving UK judges to cease sitting on Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal.

The Government does not regard the participation of UK judges in JCPC cases as an endorsement of the laws which form the subject of proceedings. The role of the court is to determine the legal disputes brought before it independently and in accordance with the law of the relevant jurisdiction.