The Pitcairn Supreme Court is the

supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

of the

Pitcairn Islands The Pitcairn Islands (; Pitkern: '), officially the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands, is a group of four volcanic islands in the southern Pacific Ocean that form the sole British Overseas Territory in the Pacific Ocean. The four isl ...

, a

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

. It is a

superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

court of record A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written recor ...

. Provisions for a supreme court were set out in amendments to the Old Constitution Order in the 1990s. The court first sat for the Pitcairn sexual assault trial of 2004, and its powers were further elaborated on in the Constitution Order 2010. There are currently three judges appointed to the court, including Chief Justice Charles Blackie, all of whom are judges in New Zealand. An agreement between the British and New Zealand governments was signed at Wellington on 11 October 2002 which provided for Pitcairn court cases to be heard in New Zealand. This was later reinforced by legislation passed in New Zealand and the Pitcairn Islands, being the Pitcairn Trials Act 2002 and the Judicature Amendment Ordinance respectively. Hearings of the court may also be held in the United Kingdom.

Judges

Judges are appointed by the Governor of the Pitcairn Islands under instruction from King Charles III. There must be, at all time, one Chief Justice and up to four other judges or acting judges. The current judges are:

Cases

Sexual assault trial

The court first sat to try the Pitcairn sexual assault trial of 2004. The tribunal's first decision was whether to accept the defence claim that the Pitcairn Islands were not in fact legally British territory and had not been such since at least the time that the original settlers, the

mutineers Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among memb ...

of the '' Bounty'', burned the vessel in a symbolic (and, from the defence viewpoint, actual) rejection of further British sovereignty and rule. The Supreme Court ruled that the Pitcairns were in fact British territory and were generally internationally recognised to be such and that the trial was thus legal. The Court later (October 23) found the defendants to be guilty of the sexual offences alleged against them, which created turmoil as the defendants included the islands' mayor, Steve Christian, direct descendant of leading ''Bounty'' mutineer Fletcher Christian. Steve Christian's sister was then installed as mayor until a new election could be held for a new island government.

Child pornography trial

In 2010, then- mayor of the islands Mike Warren was charged with possession of child pornography. In 2016 he was found guilty of downloading more than 1000 images and videos of child sexual abuse. Warren began collecting child pornography after the 2004 Pitcairn child sex abuse trial, where six islanders were found guilty of various sexual crimes against children.

References

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External links

Pitcairn Islands Laws (includes case law of the Supreme Court)
Government of the Pitcairn Islands Politics of the Pitcairn Islands 2004 in the Pitcairn Islands Law of the Pitcairn Islands