Ray Morgan v The King

Mr. Morgan was convicted of four counts of obtaining money by false pretences at the Resident Magistrate's Court on 7 February 2011. A record of these proceedings has never been given to Mr. Morgan.

By section 296 of the Judicature (Parish Court) Act, the deadline for Mr. Morgan to draw up and file grounds of appeal (known as a "Form B1") with the Clerk of the Courts would have been 28 February 2011. Section 296 of the Judicature (Parish Court) Act states that, if the deadline is not met, the appeal is considered abandoned.

Mr. Morgan maintains that he completed his Form B1 and submitted it to the prison authorities on 12 February 2011, as directed by them. Mr. Morgan argues that this action fulfilled the requirements of section 296 of the Judicature (Parish Court) Act. The prison authorities did not do anything further with Mr. Morgan's Form B1 by the 28 February 2011 deadline.

On 31 March 2021 Mr. Morgan applied for bail, pending his appeal. On 28 April 2021 the application for bail was refused as it was held that the appeal had been abandoned. On 21 June 2021 the appeal court held that Mr. Morgan had not complied with section 296 of the Judicature (Parish Court) Act in handing his Form B1 to the prison authorities and refused Mr. Morgan's application to reinstate his appeal or extend time for filing his grounds of appeal. The appeal court also refused to quash Mr. Morgan's conviction and held that it would not have been able to reduce Mr. Morgan's sentences as they had already been served.

On July 11, 2023, the Privy Council ruling in favour of Mr. Morgan concluded that the decade long delay in his appeal is unconstitutional and that a serious miscarriage of justice has occurred. The Privy Council has ordered the Court of Appeal to hear Mr. Morgan’s appeal.

Clink the link below to see the full judgement.

Ray Morgan (Appellant) v The King (Respondent) (Jamaica) (jcpc.uk)