A legal bid by the Corporation of Hamilton to stop the Government from turning it into an unelected quango is being heard by Bermuda’s highest court of appeal today.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has been listening to arguments from lawyers for both sides during a full-day hearing in London.

The key issue under discussion during the morning session was a preliminary point about whether City Hall was afforded the fundamental rights and freedoms in chapter 1 of the Bermuda Constitution, which would thereby enable it to pursue its case.

Delroy Duncan KC, representing the respondents — the Attorney-General and the Governor — argued that as a publicly-funded body with no private investment, it did not benefit from those rights.

However, Lloyd Barnett, for the Corporation of Hamilton, said: “You cannot say that because you are a municipal corporation, a right can be abolished or restricted.”

Ronald Myers, also for the corporation, said the constitution did not limit who benefited from those rights, it merely referred to “persons” and the term applied to corporations as well.

The Corporation of Hamilton was earlier unsuccessful at both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal in its constitutional claim that it would be deprived of its property and its right to the protection of law if a municipalities reform Bill became law.

The proposed legislation would abolish municipal elections, giving the minister responsible for the Corporation of Hamilton and Corporation of St George's the power to appoint the mayors and half the councillors, with other councillors appointed by the minister on the recommendation of a selection committee.

The Municipalities Reform Act 2019 was passed by MPs but did not get past the Upper Chamber after independent and opposition senators voted against it.

It could now be brought back to the House of Assembly and implemented without the approval of the Senate — and the Corporation of Hamilton’s lawsuit aims to stop that from happening.

So far, it has failed to convince the courts that the bill is unconstitutional.

Former Chief Justice Narinder Hargun wrote in his March 2021 judgment: “The court reminds itself that its jurisdiction in relation to Acts of Parliament and proposed legislation is limited to considering whether the legislation infringes fundamental rights and freedoms set out in sections 2 to 13 of the Bermuda Constitution.

“Beyond that the merits of any legislation belong to the realm of politics and are not the proper subject matter of judicial determinations.”

He dismissed City Hall’s claim that the corporation would be deprived of its property or that there had been a breach of its right to the protection of law.

Today's hearing, which is being live streamed, is before Lord Reed, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lady Rose, Lady Simler and Dame Janice Pereira.

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