The appellant challenged his imprisonment for contempt of court. At and after a family court hearing he had verbally and physically assaulted other parties. He had been detained overnight, then sentenced to six months imprisonment.
Held: Where a court looked to deal summarily with a contempt, and the defendant had been locked up, but the case could not be dealt with on that day, the case should be mentioned again to allow consideration of bail. The court had a power hold a defendant overnight, but for no longer than was necessary to arrange a summary trial, and in fairness to th defendant. Here, the summary procedure was appropriate because of the seriousness of the contempt. The judge could deal with the case himself and remain an impartial tribunal, since the procedure was to protect the court not the judge. Where there was any delay, reference to another judge should be considered. A suspended committal order was a committal order at least to the extent that leave to appeal is not required.
Judges:
Woolf LCJ, Hale, Latham LJJ
Citations:
Times 07-Feb-2003, [2003] EWCA Civ 95, [2003] 1 WLR 1254
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – In Re Medicaments and Related Classes of Goods (No 2); Director General of Fair Trading v Proprietary Association of Great Britain and Proprietary Articles Trade Association CA 21-Dec-2000
The claimants alleged that a connection between a member of the Restrictive Practices Court, who was to hear a complaint and another company, disclosed bias against them. She had not recused herself.
Held: When asking whether material . .
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Serumaga CACD 11-Feb-2005
The witness had failed to attend court to give evidence against his estranged wife on a charge against her of assaulting him. He had been held in contempt and refused bail pending the determination of his own guilt.
Held: The judge who had . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contempt of Court, Human Rights, Litigation Practice
Updated: 07 June 2022; Ref: scu.178989