A Bermuda flag hung in the corner of a London courtroom yesterday when Bermudians Against the Draft began its latest appeal against the military draft.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is the court of final appeal for the UK overseas territories and Crown dependencies.

It is also the highest court for those Commonwealth countries that have retained the appeal to Her Majesty in Council or, in the case of Republics, to the Judicial Committee.

It's based in the UK Supreme Court building opposite the UK parliament in Parliament Square, London.

The panel of five judges sits in an imposing oak-panelled courtroom lined with ancient oil paintings and adorned with stained-glass windows.

The judges hearing the Bermuda case are Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Saville of Newdigate, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, and Lord Mance.

Jonathan Crow QC is arguing the case for Bermudians Against the Draft. He specialises in company/commercial litigation and public law cases. In the last 18 months he has appeared eight times in the Court of Appeal, four times in the Supreme Court or the House of Lords and once in the Court of Appeal in Bermuda representing Bermudians Against the Draft.

He is currently acting for the British Government in relation to various claims brought by former Guantanamo detainees.

Mr. Crow also appeared before the British Court of Appeal in a challenge to the suspension of the constitution of the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Rabinder Singh QC is representing Government, which is opposing the Bermudians Against the Draft case.

Mr. Singh has been the Chair of the Bar Council Equality and Diversity Committee (Race and Religion) for the last two years. He has acted for the British Government and organisations such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and Liberty in many well-known human rights cases.