PRACTICE DIRECTION – 9.7

 APPLICATIONS TO STAY CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS

Proceedings

1.    In all cases where a defendant proposes to make an application to stay criminal proceedings on the ground of abuse of process, whether the proceedings are on indictment in the Court of First Instance or in the District Court or by summons or information in the Magistrate’s Court, written notice of such application must be given to the Prosecutions Division of the Department of Justice not later than 21 days before the date fixed for the trial.

2.    Such notice must:

(a)	give the name of the parties and the case reference number;
(b)	state the date fixed for the hearing;
(c)	specify the nature of the application;
(d)	set out in numbered sub-paragraphs the grounds upon which the application is to be made; and
(e)	within the time frame specified above, be copied, as appropriate, to the Registrar of the High Court, the Registrar of the District Court or the First Clerk of the relevant Magistracy, and be served upon all other parties to the proceedings.

3.    A skeleton argument and a list of authorities to be relied upon must be served upon the court and all other parties to the proceedings not later than 14 days before the date fixed for the trial.

4.    The skeleton argument must, in addition to stating the argument:

(a)	specify the name of any witnesses who are, or who are likely, to give evidence in the application;
(b)	summarise the nature of the evidence of each such witness;
(c)	identify the issues their testimony will address;
(d)	specify the documents to be relied upon and, if those documents are not in the documents already served on the court, a paginated indexed bundle of such documents must be served together with the skeleton argument;
(e)	specify any proposition of law to be advanced, together with the authorities relied on in support, with page and paragraph references to passages relied upon;
(f)	where appropriate, include or append a chronology and a list of dramatis personae; and
(g)	where reference is made to a document, provide the page number to that document in the trial documents or in the supplementary bundle.

5.    The prosecutor must serve on the court and on all the parties not later than 7 days before the date fixed for commencement of the trial a skeleton argument in response, and a list of authorities to be relied upon.  The requirements of paragraph 4 of this Direction apply equally to the skeleton argument served by the prosecutor.

6.    If at the time of the plea day hearing in the Magistrate’s Court or District Court, or at the time of the pre-trial review in the Magistrate’s Court, District Court or Court of First Instance, as the case may be, the defendant or those acting on his behalf are considering making an application for a stay of proceedings on the ground of abuse of process, that fact must be brought to the court’s attention at the time of the pre-trial hearing.  In such circumstances, the judge or magistrate, as the case may be, may order a different timetable if appropriate and make such additional directions about the conduct of the application as he sees fit.

7.     Nothing in this practice direction shall detract from the right of a defendant to apply for a stay of proceedings but failure to comply with this practice direction may result in vacation of the dates fixed for trial and in the making by the court of other appropriate consequential orders.

8.    This Practice Direction shall take effect on 2 April 2010.

Date this 8th day of March 2010.