Skip to main content

The Prosecution's Right To Appeal

The right of appeal by the prosecution against an acquittal in criminal cases has been placed once again on the front burner of public discussion by the learned DPP, Paula Llewellyn QC in the aftermath of the Kern Spencer acquittal in the "Cuban Lightbulb Trial". The DPP has not shirked from declaring publicly that the Senior Resident Magistrate made "an error in law" by upholding the no- case submissions.

In a document dated October 7, 2013 the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions put out its case for the Parliament to legislate such a right.. It is a very detailed document citing legal cases in support and giving quotations from eminent juris. To those unschooled in the law, this is heavy stuff--liberally infused with an overabundance of legalese.

In this post we attempt to faithfully summarize some of  the main positions enunciated. We do so without indulging at this time in any assessment of whether the prosecution in Jamaica "deserves" such a right.


  • Neither the Constitution nor the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act confer in express terms any right of appeal on the Director of Public Prosecutions.
  • The rights of the prosecution are limited to only those conferred by virtue of s.35 of the Judicature (Appellate) Jurisdiction Act which allows for the DPP to appeal decisions of the Court of Appeal on very circumscribed grounds,to wit,  a point of law of exceptional public importance
  • The 2010 amendment to the Bail Act also confers a right of appeal to the Crown against the grant of bail.
  • Our regional neighbours: Trinidad & Tobago, Belize, Cayman Islands and Dominica,  to varying extents, have instituted the prosecution's right to appeal under specified circumstances.
  • The prosecution has no right of appeal in circumstances where:-

[1]   the judge makes an erroneous ruling adverse to the Prosecution

[2]   where the verdict of the jury is perverse and unreasonable and goes against the weight of the
        evidence and common sense

[3]   where the judge [shows bias towards the defernce] and does not give the prosecution the proper 
        consideration and where they have at times forced the prosecution to throw out cases

[4]   where verdicts have been procured by actions designed to pervert the course of justice.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Appealing the By-Election Order

Abraham Dabdoub's appeal against the Chief Justice's ruling can be divided into two overlapping and intertwined phases: That the Chief Justice erred in law by failing to award the seat to the only duly nominated candidate on Nomination Day, August 7, 2007 in the constituency of West Portland; and That the Chief Justice erred in law by failing to recognize and properly apply the distinction between " status " and " conduct " in coming to her decision on disqualification based on dual citizenship. Numerous cases on votes being declared to be "thrown away" and the next candidate being duly seated by the court are cited. The detailed submissions are set out below: Publish at Scribd or explore others: Law
Post a Comment
Read more

By-Election Predisposition

Introduction A massive amount of time and resources have been devoted to the issue of the course to be properly taken once a victorious electoral candidate has been found to be "disqualified" under S. 40 of the Constitution of Jamaica. Simply put, the crux of the matter is whether the second place candidate should, without more, be accorded the seat by the court; or that the said election be deemed null and void and a by-election ordered to decide the people's representative. This matter consumed inordinate amounts of energy - judicial and otherwise - due primarily to the silence of the Constitution on what recourse should be adopted in such circumstance. A cardinal tenet of democratic government is that the people must decide their representatives and not a select grouping - no matter their qualification or status. The Constitution of Jamaica fully recognized this imperative even though it expressly delegates the determination of questions as to membership of either Ho...
4 comments
Read more

Voiding the Budget

(Unedited Version) The Budget Debate is a critical exercise in outlining the measures by which the Government intends to raise revenue to fund its programmes and the business of the bureaucracy. The bill is ultimately passed by the legislators thereby giving effect to the adage: “No taxation without representation.” The principle is the rationale why many bills must originate in the Lower House (Parliament) where the people’s representatives have the sole authority to bring matters of taxation. The Chief Justice of Jamaica has interpreted the Section of the Constitution of Jamaica dealing with those qualified to be elected or appointed to the House of Representatives. The ruling has the effect of deeming those Members of Parliament and Senators holding US passports ineligible to sit in the Parliament of Senate. This has profound implications for the passage of the Budget as there are numerous Members on both sides of the aisle who are in this offending position. Profound Questions Can...
2 comments
Read more