The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) is one of the highest courts in the United Kingdom. Established by the Judicial Committee Act 1833 (or with the Privy Council Appeals Act 1832) to hear appeals formerly heard by the King-in-Council (s. 3), it is the highest court of appeal (or court of last resort) for several independent Commonwealth countries, the British Overseas Territories and the British Crown dependencies. It is often referred to as the Privy Council, as in most cases appeals are made to ‘Her Majesty in Council’ (i.e. the British monarch as formally advised by her Privy Counsellors), who then refers the case to the Judicial Committee for ‘advice’; the ‘report’ of the Judicial Committee is always accepted by the Queen in Council as judgment. The panel of judges (typically five in number) hearing a particular case is known as ‘the Board’.