Solomon Marin Jr v The Queen

• Jurisdiction: Caribbean States
• Judge: Justices Wit,Mr Justice Anderson,Barrow,Mr Justice Barrow,Mr Justice Jamadar,Mr Justice Saunders,Rajnauth-Lee,Jamadar,Burgess
• Judgment Date: 23 June 2021
• Docket Number: CCJ Appeal No. BZCR2020/001
• Year: 2021
• Court: Caribbean Court of Justice

[2021] CCJ 6 (AJ) BZ

IN THE CARIBBEAN COURT OF JUSTICE

Appellate Jurisdiction

Before the Honourable:

Mr Justice A Saunders, PCCJ

Mr Justice J Wit, JCCJ

Mr Justice W Anderson, JCCJ

Mme Justice M Rajnauth-Lee, JCCJ

Mr Justice D Barrow, JCCJ

Mr Justice A Burgess, JCCJ

Mr Justice P Jamadar, JCCJ

CCJ Appeal No. BZCR2020/001

BZ Criminal Appeal No. 24 of 2011

Between

Solomon Marin Jr

Appellant

and

The Queen

Respondent

Appearances

Mr Anthony G Sylvestre for the Appellant

Ms Cheryl-Lynn Vidal SC for the Respondent

Cases referred to

Ahnee v DPP [1999] UKPC 11, [1999] 2 AC 294; A-G v Joseph and Boyce[2006] CCJ 3 (AJ), (2006) 69 WIR 104 (BB); A-G v Ramanoop[2005] UKPC 15, (2005) 66 WIR 334 (TT); A-G v Whiteman(1990) 39 WIR 397, [1991] 2 AC 240 (PC TT); A-G of Grenada v Grenada Bar Association (ECSC CA, 21 February 2000) (GD); A-G of Guyana v Richardson[2018] CCJ 17 (AJ), (2018) 92 WIR 416 (GY); Attorney General's Reference (No 2 of 2001)[2004] 1 All ER 1049; Aubeeluck v State[2010] UKPC 13, [2011] 1 LRC 627; August v R[2018] CCJ 7 (AJ), [2018] 3 LRC 552 (BZ); Belize Bank Ltd v Association of Concerned Belizeans (Belize CA, 15 March 2019); Belize International Services Ltd v A-G of Belize[2020] CCJ 9 (AJ) BZ, [2021] 1 LRC 36; Boolell v The State[2006] UKPC 46, [2007] 2 LRC 483; Bowe v R[2006] UKPC 10, (2006) 68 WIR 10 (BS); Boyce v A-G[2012] CCJ 1 (AJ) (R) (BZ); Bridgelall v Hariprashad[2017] CCJ 8 (AJ), (2017) 90 WIR 300 (GY); Chastanet v Hilaire [2020] 4 LRC 12 (ECSC CA) (SLU); Chokolingo v A-G of Trinidad and Tobago [1980] UKPC 27, (1980) 32 WIR 354 (TT); Chung v AIC Battery and Automotive Services Ltd(2013) 82 WIR 357, (2013) CCJ 2 (AJ) (Guyana); Commissioner of Prisons v Seepersad[2021] UKPC 13 (PC TT), Daley v The Queen (Belize CA, 2 November 2018); Darmalingum v The State[2000] 1 WLR 2303; de Freitas v Permanent Secretary of Agriculture, Fisheries, Lands and Housing(1998) 53 WIR 131 (AG); DPP v Nasralla [1967] UKPC 3, [1967] 2 AC 238 (JM); Dumas v A-G of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago CA, 22 December 2014); Dyer v Watson[2004] 1 AC 379; Elaheebocus v State of Mauritius[2009] UKPC 7, [2009] 4 LRC 783; Elliott v Auckland City[1971] NZLR 824; Evans v A-G (Commonwealth of the Bahamas CA, 6 December 2018); Ferguson v A-G (Trinidad and Tobago CA, 17 December 2010); Flowers v R [2000] UKPC 41, (2000) 57 WIR 310 (JM); Gibson v A-G[2010] CCJ 3 (AJ), (2010) 76 WIR 137 (BB); Gohman v City of St Bernard (1924) 111 Ohio St 726; Harrikissoon v A-G [1979] UKPC 3, [1980] AC 265 (TT); Hepburn v The Commissioner of Police (Commonwealth of the Bahamas CA, 29 March 2018); Hinds v A-G[2001] UKPC 56, [2002] 4 LRC 287 (BB); Hinds v R(1975) 24 WIR 326 (JM); Hunte v State[2015] UKPC 33, [2016] 1 LRC 116 (TT); Huntley v A-G(1994) 46 WIR 218 (JM); Jaroo v A-G of Trinidad and Tobago[2002] UKPC 5, [2002] 1 AC 871 (TT); Kowalski v Layton [2006] SASC 28; Lucas v Chief Education Officer[2015] CCJ 6 (AJ), [2016] 1 LRC 384 (BZ); Maharaj v A-G (No 1) [1976] UKPC 22, (1976) 29 WIR 318 (TT); Maharaj v A-G (No 2)(1978) 30 WIR 310, [1979] AC 385 (PC TT); Marin v The Queen (Belize CA, 2 November 2020); Maya Leaders Alliance v A-G[2015] CCJ 15 (AJ), (2015) 87 WIR 178 (BZ); Maycock v Commissioner of Police[2015] 3 LRC 183 (BS CA); McEwan v A-G of Guyana[2018] CCJ 30 (AJ), (2019) 94 WIR 332; Matthew v The State[2004] UKPC 33 (TT), [2004] 4 LRC 777; Minister of Home Affairs v Fisher(1979) 44 WIR 107; Nervais v R; Severin v R[2018] CCJ 19 (AJ), (2018) 92 WIR 178 (BB); Observer Publications Ltd v A-G[2001] 1 LRC 37 (ECSC CA) (AB); Observer Publications Ltd v A-G[2001] UKPC 11, [2001] 4 LRC 288 (AB); Ong Ah Chuan v Public Prosecutor [1980] UKPC 32, [1981] AC 648; Panday v A-G of Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago CA, 22 April 2005); Pratt v A-G [1993] UKPC 37, (1993) 43 WIR 340 (JM); Quazi v Quazi[1979] 3 All ER 424; R v Henry[2018] CCJ 21 (AJ), [2018] 5 LRC 546 (BZ); R v Industrial Disputes Tribunal and Half Moon (1979) 16 JLR 333 (Jamaica SC); R v Pigott(2015) 88 WIR 299 (ECSC CA) (AB); Ramdeen v State[2014] UKPC 7, (2014) 84 WIR 447 (TT); Reyes v R[2002] UKPC 11, (2002) 60 WIR 42 (BZ); Rummun v State of Mauritius[2013] UKPC 6, [2013] 4 LRC 655; Samuel v A-G of Saint Lucia (ECSC HC, 19 January 2018); Silly Creek Estate and Marina Co Ltd v A-G of Turks and Caicos Islands[2021] UKPC 9; Singh v Harrychan[2016] CCJ 12 (AJ), (2016) 88 WIR 362 (GY); Skerrit v Defoe [2021] CCJ 4 (AJ) DM; Tapper v DPP[2012] UKPC 26, [2013] 2 LRC 75; Thornhill v A-G (1979) 31 WIR 498, [1981] AC 61 (PC TT); Tyson v R(2017) 92 WIR 328, [2018] 5 LRC 270 (ECSC CA) (VG); Walker v R [1993] UKPC 38, [1993] 2 LRC 371 (JM); Whitfield v A-G(1989) 44 WIR 1 (BS).

Legislation referred to

Antigua and Barbuda – Antigua and Barbuda Constitutional Order 1981; Barbados – Constitution of Barbados, Rev Ed 1971; Belize – Belize Constitution Act, Rev Ed 2011, Cap 4, Caribbean Court of Justice Act Cap 92, Court of Appeal Act Cap 90, Parole Act 2017, Prison Rules, Supreme Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2005; British Virgin Islands – Virgin Islands Constitution Order 2007; Dominica – Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Rev Ed 1990, Cap 1:01; Grenada – Grenada Constitution Order 1973; Guyana – Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Rev Ed 2010, Cap1:01; Jamaica – Jamaica (Constitution) Order in Council 1962; Mauritius – Constitution of Mauritius 1968; Saint Christopher and Nevis – Constitution of Saint Christopher and Nevis 1983; Saint Lucia – Constitution of Saint Lucia 1979; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines – Constitution of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1979; Trinidad and Tobago – Constitution of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago 1976, Offences Against the Person Act Chap 11:08; United Kingdom – Magna Carta 1215.

Other Sources referred to

Albert R, O'Brien D and Wheatle S (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Caribbean Constitutions (Oxford University Press 2020); Alexis F, Changing Caribbean Constitutions (2nd edn, Carib Research & Publications Inc, 2015); Ashworth A, ‘Criminal proceedings after the Human Rights Act: the first year’ [2001] Crim LR 855; Caribbean Court of Justice (Appellate Jurisdiction) Rules, 2019; de Smith S, The New Commonwealth and its Constitutions (Stevens & Sons 1964); Elliott-Williams G, ‘Who Belongs?: The Caribbean Court of Justice Reveals Caribbean Identity's Inclusive Potentiality’ (2020) 69 Social and Economic Studies 73; Fiadjoe A, Commonwealth Caribbean Public Law (3rd edn, Routledge-Cavendish 2008); Lehrfreund S, ‘International Legal Trends and the “Mandatory” Death Penalty in the Commonwealth Caribbean’ (2001) 1 Oxford U Commw LJ 171; McIntosh S, Caribbean Constitutional Reform (The Caribbean Law Publishing Co Ltd, 2002); McIntosh S, Fundamental Rights and Democratic Governance (The Caribbean Law Publishing Co Ltd, 2005); Maitland F, The Forms of Action at Common Law: A Course of Lectures 1909 (1936); O'Brien D, ‘The Death Penalty and the Constitutions of the Commonwealth Caribbean’ 2002 Pub L 678; Paton D, ‘Small Charges: Law and the Regulation of Conduct in the Post-Slavery Caribbean’, The Elsa Goveia Memorial Lecture (Department of History and Archaeology, The UWI Mona, April 2014); Penn W, Some Fruits of Solitude (1693); Robinson T, Bulkan A and Saunders A, Fundamentals of Caribbean Constitutional Law (Sweet & Maxwell 2015); Robinson T, ‘Our Inherent Constitution’ in Berry D and Robinson T (eds), Transitions in Caribbean Law: Law-making, Constitutionalism and the Convergence of National and International Law (Caribbean Law Publishing 2013).

Constitutional law — Jurisdiction — No originating application — Whether the Court of Appeal and Caribbean Court of Justice have jurisdiction to determine there has been a breach of fundamental rights where the issue was not engaged in before — Constitution of Belize Cap 4, s 20(1), s 100.

Constitutional law — Fundamental rights — Right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time -Breach — Remedies — Appellant convicted of crimes of kidnapping and robbery and sentenced to two concurrent ten-year terms — Appellant appealed against conviction and sentence — Delay of nine years in disposition of appeal — Delay breaching right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time — Appropriate remedy - Whether appellant entitled to relief for post-conviction delay — Constitution of Belize Cap 4, s 6(2).

Solomon Marin Jr (“Marin”) was tried by a jury and convicted of the crimes of kidnaping and robbery. He was sentenced to two concurrent ten-year terms. Marin appealed the conviction and sentences imposed. There was a nine-year delay between his conviction in the Supreme Court and the hearing and determination of his appeal. Marin subsequently withdrew his appeal against sentence but maintained his appeal against conviction. On appeal Marin argued that the post-conviction delay breached his fundamental right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time and asked for his conviction to be quashed. The State admitted the delay breached Marin's fundamental right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time but argued that the conviction did not need to be quashed as it was otherwise sound. The Court of Appeal proceeded arguendo on the basis that Marin's right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time was breached but refused to quash his conviction, finding that it was otherwise sound. The Court of Appeal did not grant Marin a remedy for the breach of his fundamental right.

Marin appealed to this Court, arguing that after concluding that his right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time had been breached, the Court of Appeal should have considered what remedy was appropriate to vindicate the breach of his fundamental right. He submitted that the appropriate remedy was an order for a permanent stay of...