When is ‘a criminal cause or matter’ not?
In the matter of an application by Deborah McGuinness for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2020] UKSC 6
The Supreme Court in London recently considered this question as a preliminary point in an appeal from a decision of Belfast’s High Court. This ‘technical point’ was advanced by the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, John Larkin QC, who had intervened in the proceedings.
There is a mechanism, under the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978, for a ‘leapfrog’ appeal from the High Court, directly to the Supreme Court, in cases concerning ‘a criminal cause or matter’.
By way of background, the Applicant’s brother was murdered in an incident at Milltown Cemetery, Belfast, in 1988. The Defendant, Michael Stone, was subsequently convicted of this offence and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 30 years. He was released on licence ten years later under the terms of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. In 2005, that licence was revoked following an incident at Parliament Buildings, Stormont.
It was determined by the Department of Justice that the period on licence should be included toward the tariff period. This was challenged successfully by the Applicant by way of Judicial Review before the High Court. The Defendant and the Department sought to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court directly as a case concerning ‘a criminal cause or matter’.
This morning, the Supreme Court held unanimously that it did not have jurisdiction, in placing a narrow construction on the provisions of the Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978.
…the present proceedings do not constitute “a criminal cause or matter” for the purposes of [the Act], with the result that this court does not have jurisdiction to entertain these appeals.
The question did not relate to the liberty of the Applicant, nor that of the Defendant. Rather, it related to the operation of the sentence already imposed upon the Defendant. Accordingly, the appropriate forum for the appeal is the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland.