(Supreme Court of Mauritius) The appellant had dispensed with the services of her counsel four days before the date of trial and had not taken steps to engage another. The trial judge refused to grant her a postponement, on the ground that she could readily have made efforts to obtain another counsel in the time. She was convicted of a drugs charge and her appeal against conviction was dismissed.
Held: Since she could easily have engaged another counsel in the time and had made no attempt to do so, she had not been denied access to legal advice and there was no breach of section 10 of the Constitution.
Citations:
(2000 SCJ No 289)
Citing:
Applied – Gooranah v The Queen 1968
(Supreme Court of Mauritius) The appellant had appeared three times before the court before the date of trial. On the morning of trial he produced a letter from a member of the Bar stating that he had just been instructed for the defence, but as he . .
Cited by:
Cited – Gianchand Jahree v The State PC 28-Feb-2005
(Mauritius) The defendant appealed his conviction for possession of counterfeit bank notes, saying he had been unrepresented throughout, and that the magistrate had intervened in the character of a prosecutor.
Held: The right to representation . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Commonwealth, Criminal Practice, Constitutional
Updated: 30 April 2022; Ref: scu.223460
