SUPREME COURT AND APPELLATE ACTIVITIES

SUPREME COURT

The significant upswing in the number of trials conducted, noted last year, continued during the reporting period. In this the twenty first year of operation of the Office some 62 trials were conducted. This was the second highest on record, eclipsed only by last year.The long term average for the first 20 years was 33.5.

To put this in perspective, here are the figures for the number of trials conducted in the last 5 years:

The large number of trials reflects an upswing in Supreme Court work generally, and is not just attributable to the Blitz, which is detailed elsewhere in this report.

All of the trials were prosecuted in-house, in contrast to the practice of former years when many matters were briefed out at significant cost.

BAIL

Bail hearings in the Supreme Court continue to place a significant workload on the Office. The problem with self represented applicants being allowed to proceed with their applications despite those applications not complying with the Court Procedures Rules respecting such applications continues. Two developments reported last year have however proven positive: a CCTV link with the prison has enabled some bails to be conducted remotely without the necessity of transporting persons in custody to the courts; and legislation which will requires two bail applications to the heard in the Magistrates Court before the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction can be invoked has restricted the number of such matters going to the Supreme Court.

APPEALS

The number of appeals continued to be high. Supreme Court appeals totalled 60 (the third highest on record). Court of Appeal appeals totalled 18. By way of comparison the long term average for the first 20 years of the operation of the office was 38.2 Supreme Court appeals per year, and 15.9 Court of Appeal appeals per year.

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ANNUAL REPORT  2011-12  DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTIONS                                                                                    13