Overturning the decisions of the first instance court and the Court of Appeal, the Board granted the Appellants – two Anguillan offshore banks – leave to apply for judicial review in respect of a series of decisions which had the effect of excluding their deposits with two onshore banks from a ‘resolution plan’ devised by the Government of Anguilla and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
Giving the unanimous judgment of the Board, Lord Reed and Lady Rose held that a judge’s decision as to whether there is an arguable ground for judicial review is not an exercise of discretion. The Court of Appeal should have considered whether the Judge had erred in his conclusion as to whether there was an arguable judicial review claim. The Board therefore had to determine that question for itself.
The Board did not accept the conclusion of the courts below that the relevant primary legislation ruled out the inclusion of the Appellants’ accounts from protection. In particular, the Board accepted that there was an arguable case that the Appellants’ accounts with the onshore banks were at all times ‘deposits’ for the purposes of the Banking Act 2015. Accordingly, if that was the reason why they were excluded from the resolution plan, the decision was arguably vitiated by an error of law.
The Board also emphasised the importance of the duty of candour in the context of judicial review proceedings, and that it applies at the initial leave stage so as to require sufficient information to be provided to the Court to enable it to decide the leave application on an accurate basis. The Board held that the duty of candour was not fulfilled by the Respondents in this case, and that this could be taken into account when considering whether leave should have been given.
Martin Pascoe KC, Richard Fisher KC and Edoardo Lupi have variously been instructed by the Appellants’ Administrator, William Tacon, in relation to the judicial review claim. Edoardo assisted a team from Blackstone Chambers (David Pievsky KC and Natasha Simonsen) in respect of the Privy Council appeal.
![Judgment Hand Down: National Bank of Anguilla Ltd and another v Chief Minister of Anguilla and 3 others [2025] UKPC 14](https://southsquare.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/AdobeStock_334844505-scaled-e1691401199932.jpeg)
