ASSN.
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B
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H
!
LORD JUSTICE WOOLF:
It may have been dealt with at some pace, but the message is a simple one, that there is not any duty to disclose, which is what you were contending.
MR. THOMAS:
I hear what your Lordship says: My Lord, there are a number of matters that we would wish to have time to consider.
LORD JUSTICE WOOLF: Mr. Thomas, this is a matter which has been
hanging over this man's head for far too long. He has been detained, as a result of his own applications, for an unconscionable period, first in Pentonville Prison and now in Brixton Prison. As far as I am concerned, this matter is going to be brought to a conclusion as speedy as is appropriate. cannot see any reason why you cannot make now your application for leave to appeal, if that is what you are seeking. This is not an appeal from a decision of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division where you have to certify a point; it is merely a question of whether you are entitled to leave.
MR. THOMAS: My Lord, in relation to the judicial review it has
been suggested that your Lordship does have to certify a point. This application has always been treåted as a criminal cause or
matter.
LORD JUSTICE WOOLF: It is a criminal cause or matter. That is
right. You do not have to certify, in my experience, a point of general public interest on an application for judicial review, do you?
MR. THOMAS: That is the sort of point, my Lord, that we do
require time to consider.
MR. JUSTICE PILL: As a legal point, Mr. Thomas, that could have
been considered in advance.
MR. THOMAS: My attention is drawn by my learned junior, who
clearly has considered this point, to section 1 of the Administration of Justice Act 1960, where it is provided:
"(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, an appeal shall
lie to the House of Lords, at the instance of the defendant or the prosecutor
-
(a) from any decision of a Divisional Court of the Queen's
Bench Division in a criminal cause or matter;
(2) No appeal shall lie under this section except with the
leave of the court below or of the House of Lords; and such leave shall not be granted unless it is certified by the court below that a point of law of general public importance is involved in the decision and it appears to that court or to the House of Lords,
that the point is
one which ought to be considered by that House."
LORD JUSTICE WOOLF: I thought that was limited to criminal
appeals. As you read it, that may be wrong. Certainly there is no need for certification of a point to petition the House of Lords in a habeas corpus matter.
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