{{Short description|British Virgin Islands judge}} {{for|the Canadian-American painter|Edward Mitchell Bannister}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}} {{Use British English|date=November 2013}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Edward Bannister | honorific_suffix = KC | image = | image_size = | caption = | office = ECSC Commercial Court Judge | term_start = 2009 | term_end = 2015 | monarch = Elizabeth II | deputy = | predecessor = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | spouse = | children = | relations = | alma_mater = Keble College, Oxford | occupation = Judge | profession = Barrister | signature = | website = | footnotes = }} '''Edward Alexander Bannister''' CMG KC (born 12 August 1942) is the former Commercial Court Judge of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court based in the British Virgin Islands.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eccourts.org/static/tvi.html|title=ECSC directory|accessdate=18 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214084357/http://www.eccourts.org/static/tvi.html|archive-date=14 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was appointed in 2009, and was the first ever person to hold the post.
==Life== Bannister was born on 12 August 1942, the son of Edward Bannister and Antonina Bannister.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://global.oup.com/academic/product/whos-who-and-who-was-who-9780199540891?cc=fr&lang=en&|title=Who's Who and Who Was Who: For autobiographical information on the noteworthy & famous.|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> He was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead and Keble College, Oxford.<ref name="auto"/> He became a barrister practising in London, where he was regarded as one of the more able senior barristers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thelawyer.com/the-best-silks044-bar-none/80902.article|title=Best silks, bar none|publisher=The Lawyer|date=18 March 1997}}</ref> As counsel he appeared before the House of Lords in {{cite bailii|litigants=Stein v Blake|year=1995|court=UKHL|num=11}}.
During his appointment Justice Bannister has handed down a number of decisions which have helped to reshape British Virgin Islands commercial law, including creating the jurisdiction for "Black Swan" orders<ref>{{cite court |litigants= Black Swan Investments v Harvest View Ltd et al|opinion= BVIHCV 2009/348|date= 23 March 2010|url= https://www.eccourts.org/wp-content/files_mf/23.03.10blackswaninvestmentvharvestviewltdetal.pdf}}</ref> and reformulating the basis for minority prejudice relief.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.conyersdill.com/publications/view/the-black-swan-jurisdiction-two-years-on-lessons-and-limitations|title=The Black Swan jurisdiction two years on: lessons and limitations|date=13 April 2012}}</ref> Justice Bannister also heard the various first instance claims relating to the Bernie Madoff fraud claims in the British Virgin Islands.
Justice Bannister is a relatively bold judge in terms of treatment of judicial precedent:<ref>{{cite book|authorlink=Harney Westwood & Riegels |title=British Virgin Islands Commercial Law |edition=2nd |year=2012 |publisher=Sweet & Maxwell |isbn=978-962661479-2 |page=8 }}</ref>
:* In ''Zanotti v Interlog Finance Corp.''<ref>{{cite court |litigants= Ennio Zanotti v Interlog Finance Corp.|opinion= BVIHCV 2009/0394|date= 8 February 2010|url= http://www.eccourts.org/judgments/decisions/2010/EnnioZanotti_v_InterlogFinanceCorpetal.pdf}}</ref> he declined to follow the clear English common law rules set down in ''Exeter Football Club v Football Conference''<ref>{{cite BAILII|litigants=Exeter City AFC Ltd v The Football Conference Ltd & Anor|link=|court=EWHC|division=Ch|year=2004|num=831|parallelcite=[2004] 1 WLR 2900|date=29 January 2004}}</ref> (although ''Exeter'' was later overturned in United Kingdom in ''Fulham Football Club (1987) Ltd v Richard''<ref>{{cite BAILII|litigants=Fulham Football Club (1987) Ltd v Richards & Anor|link=|court=EWHC|division=Ch|year=2010|num=3111|parallelcite=[2011] Ch 208|date=1 December 2010}}</ref>). :* In ''Re C (a bankrupt)'',<ref>{{cite court |litigants= Re C (a bankrupt)|opinion= BVIHCV 2013/080|date= 2014|url= http://www.thelawyer.com/briefings/in-re-c-a-bankrupt-bvihc-0080/2013-common-law-recognition-of-a-foreign-bankruptcy-trustee-in-the-bvi/3018062.article}}</ref> Justice Bannister partially overturned his own previous ruling in ''Picard v Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities LLC''<ref>BVIHCV 2010/0140</ref> holding, with regret, that he now believed his earlier decision had been wrong in certain respects. :* In ''Nilon Limited v Royal Westminster Investments S.A.''<ref>{{cite court |litigants= Nilon Limited v Royal Westminster Investments S.A.|opinion= HCVAP 2010/0034|url= http://www.eccourts.org/royal-westminster-investments-sa-et-al-v-nilon-ltd-et-al/}}</ref> he once again declined to follow English Court of Appeal authority in ''Re Hoicrest Ltd''<ref>[2000] 1 WLR 414</ref> and was again vindicated when the Privy Council adopted his approach and overruled ''Re Hoicrest''.<ref>{{cite court |litigants= Nilon Limited v Royal Westminster Investments S.A.|opinion= [2015] UKPC 2|date= 21 January 2015|url= https://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKPC/2015/2.html}}</ref>
Bannister retired from his post in 2015.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bvibeacon.com/1/index.php/news-articles-2/1862-march-12-2015/local-news-march-12-2015/6486-outgoing-commercial-court-judge-praised-by-colleagues |title=Outgoing commercial court judge praised by colleagues |publisher=BVI Beacon |date=13 March 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2017 Birthday Honours.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=61962|supp=y|page=B3|date=17 June 2017}}</ref>
==Offices== {{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{succession box | before=New Office | title=Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court<br />Senior Commercial Court Judge | years=2009–2015 | after=Barry Leon }} {{s-end}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannister, Edward}} Category:21st-century lawyers Category:British Virgin Islands lawyers Category:British Virgin Islands judges Category:Living people Category:People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead Category:Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Category:Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court justices Category:Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Category:British judges of international courts and tribunals Category:1942 births Category:20th-century English lawyers
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