An appeal of a decision in the magistrates’ courts will in the future no longer mean an automatic stay of execution of the decision under proposed new legislation that seeks to harmonise procedures in the Magistrates’ and High Courts.
Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall tabled the Summary Jurisdiction (Appeals) (Amendment) Bill 2014 in the National Assembly on Thursday. The Bill seeks to amend Section 12 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Appeals) Act to remove the provision where an appeal of a magistrate’s ruling acts as an automatic suspension of an execution of a decision unless the appeal is determined by the court or is abandoned.
The Explanatory Memorandum says that the Bill now brings consistency between the procedure in the magistrates’ courts and the procedure in the High Court. Where a decision is appealed in the High Court in any of its divisions it does not operate as a stay of execution in respect of the decision, it said.
Under the proposed legislation, a magistrate whose decision is likely to be appealed, may grant a stay of execution of that decision for a period not exceeding four weeks from the date of the decision upon an application made at the time of the delivery of the said decision.
