On Monday 11th May, the case for a number of those charged in the aftermath of the Commission of Inquiry was presented in the Privy Council, by Mark A Fulford, being led by James Goudie QC and his junior Rupert Paines. The arguments were forcefully put in two folds; firstly, it was argued that a judge appointed for a limited period does not have sufficient security of tenure to be an independent and impartial court as is required by our constitution and; secondly, that the standard of proof to determine a prosecution application for trial by judge alone should be decided by the trial judge using the criminal standard, which is beyond a reasonable doubt.
Following nearly four hours of presentation by the Appellants team, the Law Lords consisting of Lord Neuberger, Lady Hale, Lord Mance, Lord Kerr, Lord Reed, Lord Hughes, and Lord Toulson retired for a few minutes and came back with a verbal decision dismissing the appeal with their reasons in writing to follow.
Those charged in the aftermath of the Commission of Inquiry is considering their position on mounting a challenge of the Privy Council Decision to the European Court of Human Rights.
Photo: L to R Mark A Fulford, James Goudie QC, Rupert Paines and Theo Solley
