Smith and another (Appellants) v Attorney General of Trinidad & Tobago and others (Respondents) (Trinidad & Tobago)
Case ID: JCPC 2018/0045
Jurisdiction: Court of Appeal of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Case summary
Issue
Whether the Court of Appeal was entitled to conclude that the Chief Magistrate's ruling was not vitiated by the appearance of bias or by the deprivation of Smith and Gomes’ right to due process and a fair hearing.
Facts
Smith and Gomes (the "Appellants") were defendants in a preliminary inquiry relating to fraud and corruption-related offences arising from the awarding of contracts for the development and construction of the Piarco International Airport between 1997 and 2000. The preliminary inquiry took place between June 2002 and January 2008 and was conducted by the late Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls (the "Chief Magistrate").
In December 2007, the Appellants and other defendants in the inquiry applied to the Chief Magistrate to recuse himself by reason of the appearance of bias, or alternatively, to refer the matter to the High Court for constitutional relief. The Chief Magistrate refused the applications and committed the Appellants and other defendants to stand trial in January 2008. No indictment has been filed since then and the trial has not taken place.
The Appellants challenged the Chief Magistrate’s ruling on the recusal applications and other aspects of his conduct of the preliminary inquiry by way of judicial review and constitutional motion. Those proceedings were rejected by the High Court in 2009. They appealed to the Court of Appeal, which rejected their appeal in 2017.
Parties
Appellant(s)
John Henry Smith, Barbara Gomes
Respondent(s)
Attorney General of Trinidad & Tobago and others
Appeal
Justices
Lord Hodge, Lord Sales, Lord Leggatt, Lord Burrows, Lord Malcolm
Hearing start date
Wednesday 16th March 2022
Hearing finish date
Wednesday 16th March 2022
| Watch hearing | ||
|---|---|---|
| 16 Mar 2022 | Morning session | Afternoon session |
Judgment details
Judgment date
27 June 2022
Neutral citation
[2022] UKPC 28