Falkland Islands Courts & Tribunals Service

Court List

Whenever possible, the court list will be updated by 4 pm each Friday, providing details of listings for the following week.

The Criminal Procedure Rules prevent the court from providing details of criminal cases for a period of time longer than seven days and you may need to check back regularly for full details of criminal cases. The Courts and Tribunals Service endeavours to provide lists which are free of errors but gives no warranty as to their accuracy.

Changes to the list may be made at short notice at the discretion of the Court. Where amendments to listings take place after the list has been published, the Courts and Tribunals Service will endeavour to ensure these amendments are made available to the public as soon as practicable.

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Date & Time	Court	Applicant/Plaintiff	Respondent/Defendant	Description
Tuesday 30 April 2024 10:00 am	Supreme	Rex	Brian Patrick McTAGGART	SC/CRIM/01/24 Trial Time Estimate: 4 days s465 CPEO applies
Wednesday 1 May 2024 8:30 am	Summary			Swearing in of JSPSU Officers

Weekly Summary

Weeks commencing: 22 April 2024

SUM/CRIM/08/24 R v Vaughan McGILL

Defendant pleaded guilty to drunk and disorderly in a public place. The England and Wales sentencing guideline for drunk and disorderly in a public place is applicable in the Falkland Islands. The sentencing starting point for this offence from the sentencing guideline is a Band A fine. The maximum penalty from the Falkland Islands statute is 2 months’ imprisonment.

Court considered the aggravating factors of this offence to be: (i) previous conviction of common assault which involved alcohol use, (ii) warnings about behaviour from door staff at the pub and from a uniformed police officer were ignored; (iii) a substantial disturbance was caused at the pub and the defendant threw over a bench outside the pub; and (iv) the offence was committed while the defendant was subject to an 18-month conditional discharge for common assault which was imposed in February 2023. In mitigation, the court found that remorse was shown and an apology rendered to the Police. Therefore an upward adjustment from the starting point was found to be appropriate.

Defendant sentenced to a low-level community order for 18 months with an unpaid work requirement of 80 hours and engagement with the probation service to address alcohol issues.

Court took into account the defendant’s guilty plea and applied a one-third discount to the unpaid work requirement, reducing it to 54 hours.

In relation to the common assault, the court found that the circumstances of the offence placed it into Culpability B, Harm 2. The Defendant was sentenced on 15 February 2023 to a conditional discharge for 18 months.

Considering that the conditional discharge is now breached, the court re-considered the sentence for common assault and extended the 18 month conditional discharge imposed on 15 February 2023 for a further 12months.

Prosecution costs of £150 due by 2:00 pm on Monday 29 April 2024.

Notices

Notice is hereby given that the following application has been received by the Clerk of the Summary Court and shall be dealt with by the Clerk without a hearing unless any person wishing to object notifies the court by 09:00 on Friday 26th April 2024:

Reference: SUM/LIC/32/24

Applicant: Tim Miller

Application: Occasional Licence for May Ball on Friday 24th May 2024 8:00 pm – 00:00

Premises: Town Hall

Notice is hereby given that the following application has been received by the Clerk of the Summary Court and shall be dealt with by the Clerk without a hearing unless any person wishing to object notifies the court by 16:00 on Friday 26th April 2024:

Reference: SUM/LIC/33/24

Applicant: Esther Bertram

Application: Occasional Licence for Falklands Conservation Charity Ball on Saturday 15th September 2024 19:00 - 21:40; 22:15 - 01:30 (Sun 15 Sept 24)

Premises: Town Hall

The Judiciary of the Falkland Islands

The Courts of the Falkland Islands

The Summary Court is a court of summary jurisdiction.

Judges: Justices of the Peace, advised by Legal Adviser, addressed as 'Your Worship' or 'Sir/Madam'.

Criminal proceedings: summary offences, maximum sentencing powers are 6 months imprisonment and/or £5,000 fine

Family Proceedings: applications relating to children except any application or order involving the administration or application of any property belonging to or held in trust for a child, or the income of any such property.

Civil claims: jurisdiction to deal with civil matters commenced by complaint.

Other proceedings:

Employment
Licensing

The Magistrate's Court is a court of summary jurisdiction with some appellate jursidiction.

Judge: Senior Magistrate, addressed as 'Your Honour'.

Criminal proceedings: summary offences, maximum sentencing powers are any period of imprisonment and/or a fine of any amount.

Family proceedings: jusridiction to deal with all matters except divorce/dissolution/judical separation/annulment.

Civil claims: actions up to the value of £50,000

Appellate jurisdiction:

Building Control Ordinance 1994
Children Ordinance 2014
Communications Ordinance 2017
Dangerous Goods Ordinance 1987
Electoral Ordinance 1988
Firearms and Ammunition Ordinance 1987
Licensing Ordinance 1994
Prohibited Goods Ordinance 1992
Road Traffic (Provisional) Regulations Order 1986

The Supreme Court is a court of unlimited jurisdiction and is a court of record.

Judges: Chief Justice or Acting Judge, addressed as 'My Lord/My Lady'.

Criminal proceedings: The Supreme Court has two jurisdictions in criminal proceedings;

1) Court of First Instance for indictment offences. The Judge may sit alone or with a Jury. Sentencing powers are unlimited.

2) Appeallate jurisdiciton from the Summary Court or the Magistrate's Court. Appeals are on the papers, not a re-hearing.

Family proceedings: The Supreme Court has two jursidictions in family proceedings;

1) Court of First Instance for divorce/dissolution/judicial separation/annulment also for matters which require the use of the court's inherent jurisdiciton (e.g. Wardship).

2) Appellate jurisdiction from the Summary Court or the Magistrate's Court.

Civil proceedings:

Claims over £50,000
Probate
Judicial Review
Constitutional References
Admiralty
Bankruptcy
Court of Protection

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council is the highest appeal court for the Falkland Islands. It sits in the Supreme Court in London and is usually presided over by Justices of The Supreme Court.

For more information click here

The Coroner's Court is a court of inquiry into deaths.

Judge: His Majesty's Coroner

The purpose of the Coroner's Court is to enquire into sudden, unexpected or violent deaths.

There is no appeal from the Coroner's Court but it may be possible for the Supreme Court to review decisions of HM Coroner.