Prior to the end of the slave trade and widespread abolition, when indigenous labour was unavailable, slaves were often imported to the Americas, first by the Spanish Empire, and later by the Dutch, French and British.

Prior to its abolition, the Cup Winners ' Cup was regarded as the second most prestigious European club competition out of the three major tournaments, behind the UEFA Champions League and ahead of the UEFA Cup, although many commentators felt the Cup Winners ' Cup was the easiest of the three competitions to win.

Prior to the abolition of county government in 1967, the county seat was Hopewell Cape.

Prior to the Red Cross, humanitarian action internationally had been evident in the progressive abolition of slavery during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Prior to its complete abolition in 1998, it was available for six offences:

Prior to the abolition of appeals of Supreme Court decisions in the 1940s, most landmark decisions were made by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Prior to its abolition, Tsukui District had two towns:

Prior to its abolition, Kita-Saitama District had three towns:

Prior to abolition of zamindari the village was held by Sikh zamindars of Dumri ( Gagaha ), who established a bazar near the railway station and made the place a local commercial centre of hide trade.

Prior to its abolition, the Supercopa Libertadores was regarded as the second most prestigious South American club competition out of the three major tournaments.

Prior to the abolition of serfdom, the most influential landowners of Sterlitamaksky Uyezd were the Levashovs ( from the village of Levashovka, now a part of the city ), the Mikhaylovs ( from the village of Mikhaylovka ; now Mikhaylovka Microdistrict ), the Belousovs ( from Belousovo, merged into the city in 2001 ).

Prior to the abolition of the gold standard, the following words were printed on the face of every US dollar: " I promise to pay the bearer on demand, the sum of one dollar " followed by the signature of the US Secretary of the Treasury.

Prior to 1949, however, the Supreme Court did not constitute the court of last resort ; litigants could appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Prior to reaching the age of 75, Lord Cooke was a Lord of Appeal and a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Prior to 1949, cases could be appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the United Kingdom, and some cases bypassed the Supreme Court of Canada entirely.

Prior to the beginning of the war, shelter policy had been determined by Sir John Anderson, then Lord Privy Seal and, on the declaration of war, Home Secretary and Minister of Home Security.

Prior to the Parliament replacing HM Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice in 2005, it was common for Barbadian Prime Ministers to be nominated to Her Majesty's Privy Council in the United Kingdom.

Prior to its adoption as the Privy Seal of the United Kingdom after the Act of Union 1707, its most notable appearance in Scottish history was its capture by the Scots in the aftermath of the Battle of Byland Ridge in 1322, when the Scots led by Robert the Bruce almost captured Edward II, who was forced to flee leaving behind many personal possessions including the Privy Seal.

Educated with James VI under George Buchanan, he was Knight of Cardonald, Prior of Blantyre, Keeper of the Privy Seal of Scotland from 1582 to 1596, an Extraordinary Lord of Session from 1593, an Octavian from 1596, Lord High Treasurer of Scotland from 1596 to 1599.

Prior to the First Buddhist Council, it was proposed that Ananda not be permitted to attend on the grounds that he was not yet an arahant.

Prior to 1991, 80 % of Mongolia's trade was with the former Soviet Union, and 15 % was with other Council for Mutual Economic Assistance ( CMEA ) countries.

Prior to its formal accession to the United Nations, Switzerland had maintained an observer role at the UN's General Assembly and its Economic and Social Council.

Prior to full membership it had no right to a seat as one of the elected members of the UN Security Council.

Prior to the demise of the Papal States, the First Vatican Council had been convened by Pope Pius IX.

Prior to this incident the Council had sold off twelve homeless hostels, tightened homeless acceptance criteria and banned the BBC and Crisis from running a Christmas homeless shelter.

Prior to that appointment, Foley was President Emeritus of Pontifical Council for Social Communications and Titular Archbishop of Neapolis in Proconsulari.

Prior to FAS, he worked as the Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Prior to the 2007 elections, the Party had only ever elected one councillor at local level: in May 1990, Roger ( aka Rory ) Winter, representing the Highland Green Party ( Uainich na Gàidhealtachd ), was elected in Nairn as Scotland's first Green regional councillor to the then Highland Regional Council.

Prior to this decision, there had been much diplomacy and debate amongst the members of the United Nations Security Council over how to deal with the situation.

Prior to 2002, the Security Council had passed 16 resolutions on Iraq.

Prior to 1925, all members of the Legislative Council were appointed by the governor.

Prior to this date, the local Council would elect one of their members to be President ( see List of Presidents of the British Virgin Islands ).

Prior to the establishment of the 1663 Sovereign Council, the territories of New France were developed as mercantile colonies.

Prior to 2003, the Legislative Council comprised 44 members from 22 two-member provinces until a 2001 constitutional committee recommended the council be re-organised to the current system.

Prior to this date, Constantius II ( 337-361 ) and Valens ( 364-378 ) had personally favored Arian or Semi-Arian forms of Christianity, but Valens ' successor Theodosius I supported the Trinitarian doctrine as expounded in the Nicene Creed from the 1st Council of Nicea.

Prior to the establishment of the 1663 Sovereign Council, the highest positions in New France were that of Governor and Lieutenant-General, which were often held by the same person.

Prior to establishment of the Intendant of New France and the Sovereign Council, the Governor shared legislative, executive and judicial powers with the old Council of Quebec, which was established by the royal statues of 1647 and 1648 .< ref >" Jean Talon.

Prior to the 2008 Council elections, no party had overall control of the local authority, which was run by a coalition of Liberal Democrats and Labour Party councillors.

Prior to that the Manchester Airport Board operated Manchester Airport from 1986, when the Greater Manchester County Council was disbanded.

Prior to this, most music heard on radio was live ; most radio stations had an orchestra or band on the payroll.

Prior to 1924, the County Court was the main civil court in Ireland, having jurisdiction over most civil matters, except for the larger actions which were heard by the High Court of Justice in Ireland or the Assizes.

Prior to the 1980s when there were no 24-hour news channels competing with Front Page Challenge, each round of the game began with silent black and white newsreel footage of the news story in question while a narrator, not heard by the panelists, summarized it.

Prior to going to Saviours ' Day, due to then-Minister Malcolm X's popularity in the media, Wolcott had never heard of Elijah Muhammad, and like many outside of the Nation of Islam, Wolcott thought that Malcolm X was the leader of the Nation of Islam.

Prior to her fall, Mary Jane awakes thinking she had heard Peter's voice, not Spider-Man's ; this is a subtle nod to her knowing Peter's secret.

Prior restraint prevents the censored material from being heard or distributed at all ; other measures provide sanctions only after the offending material has been communicated, such as suits for slander or libel.

Prior restraint is often considered a particularly oppressive form of censorship in Anglo-American jurisprudence because it prevents the restricted material from being heard or distributed at all.

Prior to starting his Bible school, Parham had heard of at least one individual in Sandford's work who spoke in tongues and had reprinted the incident in his paper.

Prior to hosting Breakfast With the Beatles, Carter was heard on Channel 103. 1 / KACD-FM in 2000, when they played Adult Alternative music.

Prior to the split with Starr, Hudson had co-written and recorded all 12 songs heard on the final version of the Liverpool 8 album.

Prior to his execution he was heard to say that the scenes were " worthy of ancient Rome ".

Prior to 2007, the programming heard on WNNZ was heard on WPNI, 1430 kHz, in Amherst, which is owned by Pamal Broadcasting.

Prior to the actual recording Stevens heard Wakeman play something in the recording booth.

Prior to WLTW picking her show up, Delilah was only heard in outer portions of the New York market from stations in neighboring areas, such as WEZN-FM.

In November 1582, the English diplomat Robert Bowes heard from James Douglas, Prior of Pluscarden, that both the coffer and the " originals of the letters betwixt the Scottish Queen and the earl of Bothwell " had been delivered to the Earl of Gowrie, who was leading the government of Scotland at that time.