Criminal charges to be dropped in Dyoll case
December 19, 2008
The Director of public prosecutions (DPP) will have to drop criminal charges against four persons, including two former directors of the collapsed Dyoll Insurance Company Ltd, following a ruling yesterday by the Constitutional Court.
The court found that, at the time the alleged offences were committed, the provisions of the Financial Services Commission (FSC) Act relating to the insurance industry were not in effect.
The relevant provisions came into effect in March 2005. The offences were allegedly committed between December 2004 and January 2005.
The lawyers argued that the relevant part of the FSC Act could not have a retroactive effect, as this would breach section 20(7) of the constitution, by making the alleged crimes retroactive.
The court upheld the arguments and granted several declarations.
Former director and chief executive officer, 48-year-old Mark Thwaites, and former chairman James Morrison, who were charged with breaches of the Insurance Act, had filed a Constitutional motion, seeking to have the charges dropped.
Retroactive
Catherine Parke-Thwaites, wife of Mark Thwaites, and Debbie Hyde were also charged and they also challenged the Act. Winston Spaulding, Q.C., and attorneys-at-law Garth McBean, Jacqueline Samuels-Brown, Patrick Atkinson and Debra Martin, who represented the applicants, had asked the court to rule that, under the Constitution, a law cannot be passed to make criminal charges retroactive....
Author: Barbara Gayle
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
