The court had allowed an appeal against sentence; but later the same day the defendant was brought back because the court thought that he had not been frank in answering questions about another offence.
Held: The court set aside its original judgment and directed a rehearing, at which it was held that there was indeed power to alter the original decision.
Lord Widgery CJ explained the limits of the rule: ‘It is well recognised that a court of record has power to alter a judgment or order which it has made within certain limits. The limits set in general appear to be that the power to alter the judgment ceases when the judgment is, in the words of the civil courts, drawn up. In other words, the general principle seems to be that once the judgment has been finally recorded, then the inherent power to vary it is lost. We are satisfied from the arguments before us, and indeed from our own experience, that that rule has been extensively applied in the criminal courts in the past . . We think that the same principles ought to apply to this court, and so we have investigated, partly with the assistance of counsel and partly by making our own inquiries within the internal organisation of the court, to determine the appropriate equivalent moment at which proceedings in this court reach that degree of finality when no further change in the decision of the court is possible . . When a judgment of this court is given, the registrar is required by the rules to notify the decision to a variety of people. By rule 15 of the Criminal Appeal Rules 1968 it is provided as follows:
‘(1) The registrar shall, as soon as practicable, serve notice of any determination by the court or by any judge of the court under section 31 of the Act on any appeal or application by an appellant on – (a) the appellant; (b) the Secretary of State; (c) any person having custody of the appellant; (d) in the case of an appellant detained under the Mental Health Act 1959 the responsible authority. (2) The registrar shall, as soon as practicable, serve notice on the proper officer of the court of trial of the order of the court disposing of an appeal or application for leave to appeal.
It is to be observed that the formality required of the registrar under that rule is in no sense the making of a record. What the registrar is required to do, and does do, when he performs his duties under rule 15, is to give notice to interested parties of what the order of the court has been.
Accordingly, it does not seem to us that it would be right or appropriate to pick upon the moment when these notices are issued as being the moment when the record is made up, because they are, as I have endeavoured to describe, in no sense a record. However, by order of the Lord Chancellor following the creation of the Crown Court, there is published a Crown Court Manual which contains specific provision as to what is to be done by the court of trial on receipt of notification from the registrar under rule 15. What the Crown Court Manual requires is that the officer of the court of trial on receiving notice of the determination of this court from the registrar, shall record the determination so transmitted to him.
There is, therefore, for the first and really the only time the making of a formal record of the determination of this court, and we think that the proper interpretation of the position, so far as the matter presently under review is concerned, is that the court of trial is the court that maintains a formal record of proceedings in this court, and it is enabled to maintain such records by the registrar performing the duty cast upon him under rule 15. Consequently when the question arises, as it arises in this case, of the court’s power to make a change in any decision or order which it has pronounced, the vital question is whether that decision or order has been recorded by the proper officer at the court of trial pursuant to the directions to which I have just referred’
Judges:
Lord Widgery CJ
Citations:
[1973] 1 QB 937
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Applied – Blackwood, Regina v CACD 5-Mar-2012
The defendant had succeeded in his appeal against a rape conviction. After the case, and his release, the prosecution sought a retrial. The defendant now argued that the court was functus officio.
Held: An order on an appeal becomes final when . .
Cited – Regina v Daniel CACD 1977
The applicant renewed his application for leave to appeal, which had been refused by the single judge. He instructed solicitors who wrote to the court to advise that they intended to instruct Counsel on the renewed application. Due to an . .
Cited – Yasain, Regina v CACD 16-Jul-2015
The Court was asked as to the powers of the Court of Appeal Criminal Division to re-open an appeal to correct an error which is said to have caused real injustice in that the error led to the quashing of a sentence lawfully imposed in the Crown . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 27 October 2022; Ref: scu.451796