Director of Public Prosecutions of the Virgin Islands v. Penn, Court of Appeal - Privy Council, May 08, 2008, [2008] UKPC 29

Extract

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Director of Public Prosecutions of the Virgin Islands v. Penn, Court of Appeal - Privy Council, May 08, 2008, [2008] UKPC 29

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[2008] UKPC 29

Director of Public Prosecutions of the Virgin Islands v. Penn (British Virgin Islands) [2008] UKPC 29 (8 May 2008)

Privy Council Appeal No 1 of 2008

Director of Public Prosecutions of the Virgin Islands Appellant

v.

William Penn Respondent

FROM

THE COURT OF APPEAL OF

THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS

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JUDGMENT OF THE LORDS OF THE JUDICIAL

COMMITTEE OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL

Delivered the 8th May 2008

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Present at the hearing:-

Lord Hoffmann

Lord Hope of Craighead

Lord Walker of Gestingthorpe

Baroness Hale of Richmond

Lord Mance

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[Delivered by Lord Mance]

Introduction and facts

The Jury Act 1914 of the British Virgin Islands contains elaborate and detailed provisions for the preparation and publication each December of a list of persons qualified to serve as jurors and for its revision by a Magistrate (ss.8-10). This list is to be copied into a jurors' book to constitute the jurors' register for the ensuing calendar year (s.11) with amendments made from time to time by the Registrar and Magistrate to take account of deaths, etc. (s.13). Whenever necessary, the Registrar is to impanel from the list an array of thirty common jurors to serve at the High Court (ss.14-18) and to summons them to attend (s.22-23). From the array, a jury of no more than nine is impanelled to try any proceeding (s.26). The annex at the end of this judgment sets out these and other relevant provisions in detail.

The practice of the last fifteen or so years has been very different. No jurors' list has been prepared and no jurors' book or register kept. When impanelling juries, successive Registrars have used the voters' list prepared under the Elections Act 1994 (No. 16 of 1994) (as amended by No. 8 of 1998). The qualifications for jurors and electors are not identical. Under section 31 of the Constitution, a person is qualified to vote if he is a British subject, belongs to the Virgin Islands (a concept defined by section 2 of the Constitution), has reached the age of 18 and is domiciled and resident in the Virgin Islands (or is domiciled there and resident in the United States Virgin Islands). There are exceptions for persons certified insane or adjudged of unsound mind, disqualified by reason of a conviction of an offence relating to elections, sentenced to death or serving a term of imprisonment of over 12 months. Under section 4 of the Jury Act a juror must be between 21 and 60 and own or rent property of a certain value, hold office at a certain salary or be in receipt of a certain income. The values and sums stated h...

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