POWERS OF THE COURT OF APPEAL

Section 29
1. Only attorneys-at-Law or the appellant and Respondent in person may
address the court
2. The appellant shall begin by proving that he has served her notice and
grounds of appeal and entered into recognisance
3. If matters of fact are in issue the party assenting the affirmative of the
issue of fact shall begin and call his witnesses or evidence. Then the other
shall call his witnesses or evidence in reply. The evidence or witnesses on
both side shall be the same as were called and produced at the trial.
4. If only question of law is raised the appellant shall state his objections and
the respondent shall reply.
5. Either party may, if dissatisfied with the judgment as being erroneous in
point of law apply in writing, within 3 days after the judgment to the
Justices to state and sign a case for the opinion of the Court of Appeal
Read Sections 5054.
6. See also powers of Appeal Court to transmit case to Court of Appeal
Appeals from the Resident Magistrates Court
These appeals are governed by a) Sections 293 305 of the
Judicature (RM) Act b) Sections of parts V and VI of the Judicature
(Appellate Jurisdiction) Act and c) The Court of Appeal Rules 2002
Section 3.
Appeals lie to the Court of Appeal from any judgment of the R.M.
in any case tried by him on Indictment or on Information by virtue
of his Special Statutory Summary Jurisdiction.
In R. ats. Gunter v. Tucker (1967) 10 JLR 12, CA held that there can
be no appeal from dismissal by R.M. of proceedings on indictment
or on information by virtue of the exercise of SSSJ.
NOTICE OF APPEAL
A person desiring to appeal must either, during the sitting of the
Court at which the judgment is delivered, give verbal notice of
appeal or shall within 14 days from the delivery of such judgment
give a written notice of intention to appeal to the Clerk of the
Court Section 294(1) of the Judicature (R.M.) Act.
Failure to give notice within the time prescribed is fatal to the
appeal

 The Clerk of the Courts must within 14 days of the receipt of the
notice of appeal, transmit the record of the Court to the Registrar
of the C.A. Section 299.
GROUNDS OF APPEAL
Grounds of appeal must be filed with the Clerk of the Courts
within 21 days after the judgment Section 296.
The C.A. may extend time for filing grounds of appeal Section
296. See also Rule 3.4 Court of Appeal, Rules 2002 which
provides that four copies of any written notice of appeal and the
grounds of appeal must be submitted.
The appellant must set out concisely in the grounds, the facts and
points of law on which he intends to rely and must state at the
end the relief prayed for Section 296(2).
Powers of the Court of Appeal
The Court of Appeal may:
i.
ii.

dismiss the appeal; or

allow the appeal and quash the conviction; or

iii.

allow the appeal and order a new trial See s. 305(1).

iv.

quash a sentence and substitute a less severe sentence See s.

305(2).

v.

if there is no substantial miscarriage of justice dismiss the appeal

even if a point of law was decided in the appellants favour See
s. 305(3).
APPEALS FROM THE SUPREME COURT
These are governed by the Judicature (Appellate Jurisdiction) Act
Parts 1V and V1 and the Court of Appeal Rules, 2002 Section 3.

Right of APPEAL
A person convicted on indictment in the Supreme Court may
appeal to the Court of Appeal against
conviction on a question of a law alone without leave;
conviction on a question of fact alone or a question of mixed law
and fact or on any other ground which appears to the Court or
Judge of the Supreme Court to be a sufficient ground of appeal,
with leave of the Court of Appeal or upon the certificate of the

Judge aforesaid the Supreme Court before whom he was tried

indicating that it is a fit case for appeal.
sentence (unless sentence is one fixed by law) with leave of the
Court of Appeal
see section 13 of the Judicature (Appellate Jurisdiction) Act.
Is strictly personal to the person convicted. See R v. Jeffries
(1969)1 Q.B. 120; R v. Jones (1970) 2 Q.B. 456
Notice of appeal or notice of application for leave to appeal must
be given within 14 days of the date of conviction.
Except in the case of a conviction involving sentence of death, the
time within which notice may be given may be extended at any t
me the Court section 16(3); R v Rhooms 10 W.I.R. 1.
The appeal is commenced by submitting to the Registrar of the
C.A. i) a notice of appeal or ii) a notice of application for leave to
appeal or iii) a notice of application for extension of time within
which such notice shall be given, as the case may be, in the form
prescribed see Rule 3.3.
Every such notice shall be signed by the appellant himself Rule
3.5 and see R v Derrick Foster (1976) 13 JLR 129; R v Moore
(1972), 12 J.L.R. 809; R v Michael Mitchell 25 JLR 383.
Where there is a right of appeal without leave the appellant,
though in custody, is entitled to be present if he so desires, at the
hearing of the appeal.
However on an application for leave to appeal or on any
proceedings preliminary or incidental to an appeal, the appellant
is not entitled without leave of the Court to be present See ss.
27(1), 32(1) and R v Spence (1973) 12 JLR 1122

Proceedings before a single Judge 3.13

Except in case of a appeal from a conviction involving sentence of
death, a single Judge of the C.A. is empowered i) to give leave to
appeal, ii) to extend the time within which notice of appeal or of
an application for leave to appeal may be given, iii) assign legal
aid to an appellant, iv) allow the appellant to be present at any
proceedings where he is not entitled to be present without leave
and v) admit an appellant to bail section 32(1).

 An application for leave to appeal from a conviction involving

sentence of death shall be heard and determined by the C.A.
section 32(2).

Powers of C.A. Section 14 (1) Judicature

(Appellate Jurisdiction) Act
C.A. may allow the appeal or dismiss the appeal . Where an
appeal is allowed on the ground of a wrong decision in law or a
substantial miscarriage of justice the Court of Appeal is by
Section 14(2) limited in its jurisdiction either to:
i.
ii.

quashing the conviction and entering a verdict of acquittal ; or

quashing the conviction and if the interests of justice so require
ordering a new trial.
In respect of ordering a new trial see Reid v R (1978) 27 WIR 254
(PC)
See generally DPP v White (1977) 15 JLR 110

Grounds of Appeal
1. Verdict is unreasonable or cannot be supported having regard to
the evidence. See R v Carlton Linton SCCA 169/1981 Jud. Del.
16/1/84 (as to verdict being unreasonable) and R v Nugent &
Hughes (1974) 12 JLR 1355
2. Wrong decision of any question of law.
3. Miscarriage of Justice
By virtue of the proviso if no substantial miscarriage of justice has
actually occurred Court may dismiss appeal notwithstanding that
the point raised is decided in favour of the appellant. See See s.
14(1) s.14(2)
Appeal against Sentence Section 14(3)
On an appeal against sentence from the Supreme Court the C.A.
may quash the Sentence passed at the trial and pass such other
sentence whether more or less severe in substitution therefor
Abandonment of Appeal Rule 3.2
An appellant at any time after he has duly served i)notice of
appeal or ii) of application for leave to appeal, or iii) of
application for extension of time within which such notice shall be
given, may abandon his appeal by giving notice of abandonment
to the Registrar.

 Notice of Abandonment must be signed by the appellant himself.

Upon such notice being given, the appeal shall be deemed to have
been dismissed by the Court Rule 3.22.
The C.A. will not entertain an application for the withdrawal of a
notice of abandonment of appeal unless something amounting to
a mistake or fraud is alleged which, if established, would enable
the Court to say that the notice of abandonment should be
regarded as a nullity: R v White 12 JLR 4562
Power to Relist Appeal after decision is recorded
In R v Thompson 6 WIR 381 it was said that the Court may order
an appeal to be relisted where irregularity or something
amounting to fraud or mistake was alleged and was of such a
nature that that Court in the exercise of its inherent jurisdiction
may declare the order a nullity. In that case the Court held that
appearance of the appellant personally or by his counsel was a
condition the breach of which without reasonable excuse leads to
the determination of the appeal and the court having dismissed
the appeal was functus officio.
In R v Daniel [1977] 2 WLR 394; [1977] 1 All ER 620 the Court
clearly contemplates relisting in cases where the hearing was not
a nullity but there was a likelihood of an injustice being done.
See also R v Cross 57 Cr. App. R. 660
Appeals in Contempt Proceedings
A person against whom an order is made by the Supreme Court or
by a Judge of the Supreme Court or of the Court of Appeal,
imposing imprisonment or a fine for contempt of Court may
appeal to the Court of Appeal.
A person desiring to appeal from such order may at the time of
such order or within two days thereafter give notice to the Court,
Judge or RM making the Order of his intention to appeal. The
appellant must within two days after giving such notice enter into
a recognizance with a surety or a sum not exceeding $40 to
prosecute the appeal. The giving of such notice and entering into
such recognizance shall operate as a stay of such order. See
Section 34 of the Judicature(Appellate Jurisdiction) Act.
Reference of case by Governor General
Where a person has been convicted on indictment or by a
Resident Magistrate in virtue of his special statutory summary
jurisdiction, the GG may in respect of the conviction or sentence
(other than sentence of death) refer the whole case to the Court

of Appeal and the case shall then be dealt with as an appeal by a

person convicted Section 29 Judicature (Appellate Jurisdiction)
Act.
See Thomas (Arthur) v R [1979] 2 AllER 142 and
Edwards SCCA No. 12/75 Jud. Del. 3/12/82

R v Roosevelt

Adducing Further Evidence in the Court of Appeal

On an appeal from the Supreme Court or the RM court the CA may
allow further evidence to be called Section 28 Judicature
Appellate Jurisdiction) Act.
It is only in exceptional circumstances and subject to exceptional
conditions that the Court is willing to listen to additional
evidence.
The principles on which the Court will exercise its discretion to allow
further evidence to be called may be summarized as follows:
the evidence must be evidence which was not available at trial
it must be evidence relevant to the issue
it must be credible evidence i.e. well capable of belief see R v
Preston Williams 12 JLR 1314 R v Roosevelt Edwards (supra) and
Stafford v. DPP [1973] 3 WLR 719; [1973] 3 All ER 762 58 Cr. App.
R. 256
In R v Sales [2000] 2 Cr. App. R. 431 Rose LJ said that fresh
evidence is likely to be in one of three categories i) plainly
capable of belief; ii) plainly incapable of belief and iii) possibly
capable of belief.
Without hearing the witness, evidence on the first category will
be received and evidence on the second category will not be
received.
However in relation to the third category it may be necessary for
the court to hear the witness de bene esse in order to determine
whether the evidence is capable of belief. See Clifton Shaw et al
v R P.C.A.No. 67/2001 Jud. Del.15.10.02. and Kenneth Clarke v. R
P.C.A.No.93/2002 Jud. Del. 22.01.04
Criminal Appeals to Her Majesty in Council
The DPP, the prosecutor, or the defendant may with leave of the
Court of Appeal, appeal to Her Majesty in Council from the
decision of the CA except in contempt proceedings.

 The Court may only grant leave where it is shown that the
decision involves a point of law of exceptional public importance
and that it is desirable in the public interest that a further appeal
should be brought See Section 110 (2)(b) of the Jamaica
Constitution Order in Council 1962 and Section 35 of the
Judicature (Appellate Jurisdiction) Act.
Application to the Court of Appeal for leave to appeal must be
made within 21 days of the date of the judgment to be appealed
from and all other parties concerned must be given notice of the
intended application paragraph 3 of the Jamaica (Procedure of
Appeals to the P.C.) Order in Council 1962 See R v Lancelot
Simpson (1977) 15 JLR 190.