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A report by the International Board of CHRI chaired by Professor Alison Duxbury.

Pre-trial detention refers to the practice of depriving individuals of their fundamental freedoms because they are accused of committing an offence or are merely suspected of being involved in a crime. Such persons are detained in the custody of law enforcement agencies or prisons before they are tried by a competent court or other judicial authority. Such detentions should however, be used by law enforcement agencies as a measure of last...

On 12th July 2019, Justice Godfrey Smith ruled on the constitutionality of the Section 21(4) of the Crown Proceedings Act and CPR Parts 50.2(3) and 59.7, which pertain to citizens enforcing money judgments against the Government. The Learned Judge ruled that the aforementioned provisions were in fact unconstitutional as it stifled the fair trial rights of individuals and in essence, put the Government on a pedestal by not requiring it to settle money judgments against the Crown.

What this means going forward

When an...

On the 29th May 2018, the Court of Appeal agreed with our junior associate, Mrs. Melissa Modeste-Singh on her assertion of the preliminary point that the High Court could in fact entertain challenges to the constitutionality of Section 21(4) of the Crown Proceedings Act (“CPA”) and the Civil Procedure Rules (“CPR”) Parts 50.2(3) and 59.7 when raised within existing proceedings.

The Respondent challenged this contention submitting that any constitutional challenges must to be raised via a separate application to the...

The firm’s principal, Mr. James Bristol, argued successfully in 3 important cases before the Court of Appeal.

In the first, The Trustees of the Public Workers Union (“PWU”) v A’M Track Construction & Michael Samuel (“the Contractor”), the Court of Appeal reaffirmed the principle that an increase in the material costs during the term of the contract (“the Contract”) between the parties will not frustrate the contract as the contract merely becomes more onerous.

On the facts of the case, the Court of Appeal...