ABSTRACT
It is the task of the Privy Council, as the Supreme Constitutional Court, to interpret the constitution and to ensure that citizens receive its full protection, and to ensure that all actions of the executive are taken in accordance with it and the rule of law. In this chapter I intend to examine the extent to which the Privy Council can be considered to have properly functioned as a Constitutional Court in the context of death penalty litigation in the Commonwealth Caribbean. As such, I will examine the Privy Council’s ability to redefine its function beyond that shaped by the weight of its imperial origins and focus on its willingness and capability to operate as a modern supreme appellate body. It is only if it succeeds in discharging this function that the Privy Council can claim to be a legitimate court rather than a mere anachronistic vestige of Empire.
