Senate Passes Bills To Allow Appeal Against A Verdict of Acquittal
By: October 10, 2021 ,The Key Point:
The Facts
- “They will allow the prosecutor to refer an acquittal to the Court of Appeal for their opinion on any point of law or any point of mixed law, and in fact under the Judicature Appellate Jurisdiction Act and they will amend the Criminal Administration Act to provide an exception to the rule against double jeopardy which would allow the prosecution again with the consent of the DPP to apply to the Court of Appeal to quash an acquittal and direct a retrial in limited circumstances,” she explained.
- The definition of the prosecutor will be the Director of Public Prosecutions or any of the attorneys-at-law employed in that office, or an attorney-at-law to whom the DPP has granted a fiat to prosecute the case; a Clerk of the Court; the Integrity Commissions Director of Corruptions Prosecutions; the Director-General of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA); and a person who has initiated a private prosecution.
The Full Story
The Senate has passed two bills that will grant the limited right of appeal to the prosecution in criminal proceedings in the Parish Court and the Supreme Court.
They are the Judicature (Appellate Jurisdiction) (Amendment) Act 2021 and the Judicature (Parish Courts) (Amendment) Act 2021. The bills were passed without amendment.
Piloting the legislation in the Senate on Friday, (Oct. 8), Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Hon. Kamina Johnson Smith said the amendments will give the victims a voice, noting that under the present law, the prosecution has no right of appeal against a verdict of acquittal in criminal proceedings.
She said the amendment to the legislative framework is projected to bring the country in line with member countries of the Caribbean and Commonwealth including Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Bermuda, and the United Kingdom.
They seek to amend the law to grant the prosecution a right of appeal with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) where there has been a verdict of acquittal in an administration of justice offence.
An administration of justice offence includes perverting the course of justice; bribery or intimidation of, or interference with a witness, judicial officer, a family member of a witness or judicial officer; or perjury.
She said it will also apply in circumstances where a verdict of acquittal, based on a point of law that was erroneously upheld by the trial judge and where the sentence handed down was unduly lenient or manifestly inadequate for the offence having regard to any applicable sentencing guideline, or where the court did not have the power to pass the sentence.
“They will allow the prosecutor to refer an acquittal to the Court of Appeal for their opinion on any point of law or any point of mixed law, and in fact under the Judicature Appellate Jurisdiction Act and they will amend the Criminal Administration Act to provide an exception to the rule against double jeopardy which would allow the prosecution again with the consent of the DPP to apply to the Court of Appeal to quash an acquittal and direct a retrial in limited circumstances,” she explained.
The bills will amend the Legal Aid Act to allow legal aid to be available to a respondent in any criminal appeal.
She noted too that they will provide certain procedural requirements that will accompany the limited right of appeal by the prosecution which includes, among other things, time limits for when the prosecution may give notice of and serve an application for leave to appeal and proper indictment for retrial of the acquitted person.
The definition of the prosecutor will be the Director of Public Prosecutions or any of the attorneys-at-law employed in that office, or an attorney-at-law to whom the DPP has granted a fiat to prosecute the case; a Clerk of the Court; the Integrity Commissions Director of Corruptions Prosecutions; the Director-General of the Major Organised Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency (MOCA); and a person who has initiated a private prosecution.
Other senators who contributed to the debate were: Donna Scott-Mottley, Charles Sinclair, Peter Bunting, Leslie Campbell, Lambert Brown, and Ransford Braham.