Keros Martin and six others (Appellants) v Director of Public Prosecutions (Respondent) (Trinidad and Tobago)

Case summary

Case ID

JCPC/2023/0105

Jurisdiction

Trinidad and Tobago

Parties

Appellant(s)

(1) Keros Martin, (2) Khemraj Sahadeo, (3) Ronald Riviero, (4) Glen Singh, (5) Roger Nicholas, (6) Safraz Juman, (7) Antonio Ramadhin

Respondent(s)

Director of Public Prosecutions

Intervener(s)

Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago

Issue

Does the Court of Appeal have jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a decision of the High Court on whether to grant bail to a person charged with murder?

Facts

The appellants in each appeal have been charged with murder and are awaiting trial. Mr Martin has been in custody since early 2018 and Mr Sahadeo and his co-appellants have been in custody since late 2011. In the case of Charles v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago, the Court of Appeal confirmed that the law which had provided that persons charged with murder could not obtain bail was unconstitutional, a decision later affirmed by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council ([2022] UKPC 31). After that decision, the appellants applied to the High Court for bail. In both cases, the High Court refused to grant bail, and the appellants sought to appeal the refusal to the Court of Appeal. By majority, the Court of Appeal held that it had no jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a decision of the High Court on whether to grant bail to a person charged with murder. The Court of Appeal granted leave for the appellants to appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.

Date of issue

1 December 2023

Appeal

Justices

Lord Reed

Lord Lloyd-Jones

Lord Hamblen

Lord Leggatt

Lady Simler

Hearing dates

Start date

11 November 2024

End date

11 November 2024

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