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Together with a number of tribunals, Bermuda has a three-tier court system: Magistrates Court, with a mainly criminal jurisdiction; Supreme Court, with a civil and criminal jurisdiction, covers the roles of the English Crown Court, County Court and High Court. Among others, this includes the Commercial Court.
A legal challenge against the law was filed with the Supreme Court on 16 February 2018. [12] [13] A second challenge against the law was announced on 3 April 2018. [14] [15] A hearing was held on 21 and 22 May 2018 before the Chief Justice of the court. [16] [17] The court ruled on the matter on 6 June 2018.
The Supreme Court can judicially review government action in accordance with the principles of Administrative Law and entertain petitions that laws or public acts are contrary to the Constitution of Bermuda. It also has appellate jurisdiction on matters from the Magistrates' Court.
Bermuda's top court in 2018 ruled that the 2018 Domestic Partnership Act, which allows same-sex couples to form partnerships but prohibits them from marrying, violates constitutional freedom of ...
Bermuda has been in the international spotlight in recent times over the legalisation of same-sex marriage. Such marriages were first legalised by the Supreme Court in May 2017. However, the Government subsequently passed a law banning same-sex marriage and replacing it with domestic partnerships. [3]
LGBT groups proposed challenging the new law in court as it "removes an established fundamental human right". Lawyer Mark Pettingill, who successfully argued in the Supreme Court in 2017 that same-sex marriage was a human right, said that any further legal action would need to be heard in higher, namely European, courts. [65]
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, plans to block an effort by Senate Democrats to unanimously pass a Supreme Court ethics bill Wednesday on the Senate floor.
In November 2016, the Supreme Court of Bermuda ruled in favor of allowing the medical use of cannabis. [8] As of July 2018, two doctors have been licensed to prescribe the drug. [ 9 ] Despite these reforms, legal medicinal cannabis was until recently impossible to obtain due to self-imposed restrictions with the United Nations.