Hayles v The Director of Public Prosecutions

• Jurisdiction: Caribbean States
• Judge: Saunders, J. CCJ.
• Judgment Date: 18 July 2016
• Court: Caribbean Court of Justice
• Docket Number: CCJ Application No. GYCR2016/001
• Date: 18 July 2016

Caribbean Court of Justice

Saunders, J. CCJ.; Anderson, J. CCJ.; Rajnauth-Lee, J. CCJ.

CCJ Application No. GYCR2016/001

Hayles

and

The Director of Public Prosecutions

On Written Submissions:

Mr. Nigel Hughes for the appellant.

Ms. Shalimar Ali-Hack, Director of Public Prosecution, for the respondent.

Criminal Appeal - Whether the applicant is entitled to seek special leave to appeal — Whether the court should grant bail pending the hearing of special leave to appeal-Section 8 of the Caribbean Court of Justice Act.

Saunders, J. CCJ.

1 As a result of submissions made by the parties to this matter on purely procedural issues, by Order of Court dated June 14, 2016, this Court ordered and directed that the parties file written submissions on the following points:

• i. Whether the applicant is entitled to seek special leave to appeal a decision given by the Court of Appeal in this matter on March 8, 2016; and

• ii. Whether the Court should grant bail pending the hearing of the special leave application.

ENTITLEMENT TO SEEK SPECIAL LEAVE TO APPEAL

2 The Director of Public Prosecutions has submitted that the applicant is not permitted to seek special leave to appeal for the following reasons: a) only the DPP has an appeal to the CCJ as of right under section 33L of the Court of Appeal Act [Cap. 3:01]; b) the applicant does not have a right to seek special leave to appeal under that Act, and c) a special leave application under section 8 of the Caribbean Court of Justice Act [Cap. 3:07] (“the CCJ Act”) only arises when the applicant has an appeal as of right. The applicant does not have any such right whether under the Court of Appeal Act or the CCJ Act and therefore is ineligible to seek special leave from this Court.

3 As to a) section 33L is part of a recent amendment to the Court of Appeal Act. The section states, “An appeal from a decision of the Court of Appeal under this Part shall lie to the Caribbean Court of Justice as of right”. Both the applicant and the Director seem to have adopted the view that only the Director enjoyed this right and that no appeal lay “as of right” to the applicant under this section. The fact is, however, that the present application is not concerned with whether the applicant has an appeal as of right. The extant application is one seeking from this Court special leave to appeal to the CCJ. Whether, in fact, a convicted person has been granted, by the recent amendment, an appeal as of right to this Court (as the DPP clearly has been) is a matter which is unnecessary for us to decide in these proceedings and we expressly refrain from deciding it.

4 As to b)...