Derek Achong

Cit­i­zens and lawyers seek­ing to pur­sue ap­peals be­fore the Unit­ed King­dom-based Privy Coun­cil will no longer have to pay fees for visas to at­tend hear­ings. 

On Thurs­day, the Ju­di­cial Com­mit­tee of the Privy Coun­cil (JCPC) is­sued a no­tice an­nounc­ing a free stream­lined process for visa ap­pli­ca­tions by par­ties from Com­mon­wealth coun­tries such as T&T, which still utilise it as their fi­nal ap­pel­late court. 

Un­der the pro­ce­dure, lawyers pur­su­ing cas­es are re­quired to con­firm the in­di­vid­u­als seek­ing to at­tend hear­ings at the UK Supreme Court build­ing in Lon­don, Eng­land, and their con­nec­tion to the case. 

The Privy Coun­cil will then sup­ply an in­vi­ta­tion let­ter and fur­ther guid­ance on how to ap­ply for the visa. 

"Visa ap­pli­ca­tions will be processed through the usu­al data­base checks and ad­di­tion­al in­for­ma­tion, may, in some cir­cum­stances, be re­quired from the Home Of­fice," it said. 

In a press re­lease, the Min­istry of For­eign and Cari­com Af­fairs wel­comed the move, which it sug­gest­ed was the re­sult of rep­re­sen­ta­tions made by Min­is­ter Sean Sobers to the UK Gov­ern­ment since May, last year. 

It said that the new pol­i­cy would ease the fi­nan­cial bur­den of cit­i­zens seek­ing to utilise the court. 

"This mea­sure will di­rect­ly ben­e­fit mem­bers of the le­gal fra­ter­ni­ty who are re­quired to meet the cost of visa fees as a rou­tine part of rep­re­sent­ing clients be­fore the JCPC," the min­istry said. 

It not­ed that Sobers and the Gov­ern­ment would con­tin­ue dis­cus­sions with the UK Gov­ern­ment for the full re­moval of the visa re­quire­ment for T&T na­tion­als, which was in­tro­duced last year due to an in­crease in asy­lum seek­ers from this coun­try. 

Con­tact­ed yes­ter­day, at­tor­ney Kiel Tak­lals­ingh, who pe­ri­od­i­cal­ly pur­sues ap­peals be­fore the Privy Coun­cil, com­mend­ed Sobers and the Gov­ern­ment for their ef­forts in ad­vo­cat­ing for the mea­sure. 

"It will as­sist in ac­cess to jus­tice by mak­ing the process of rep­re­sen­ta­tion be­fore the Board of the Privy Coun­cil eas­i­er," Tak­lals­ingh said.