PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, (CMC) — The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has dismissed an application for special leave to appeal a decision made by the Court of Appeal of Guyana in a maritime collision case. The case involved Andy Duke, who was injured while working on the docks when the Panama-registered vessel, “MT Tradewin Passion,” collided with the dock.
As a result of the incident, Duke had obtained a warrant of arrest for the vessel, likely in an attempt to secure compensation for his injuries. However, the CCJ’s dismissal of the application for special leave means that the previous decision by the Court of Appeal of Guyana stands, and the matter will not proceed to the CCJ for further examination.
On November 15, 2022, the warrant for arrest was executed. But on November 16, 2022, the respondent filed a Notice of Application seeking the release of the vessel pursuant to the Supreme Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2016 as the sum on which the claim was initiated was paid by security of the Letter of Undertaking.
However, the applicant appealed to the full court and sought an urgent application to stay the orders of the high court judge. The full court dismissed the appeal and the urgent application.
The applicant then sought leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal but leave to appeal was refused, the court noting that the Guyana Shipping Act provided for the acceptance of security for the release of the ship by way of Letter of Undertaking.
Duke then sought special leave to appeal to the CCJ, but the application was dismissed.
In its ruling, the CCJ emphasized that it would only intervene in cases where the Court of Appeal has refused to grant leave to appeal itself when the decision results in a gross miscarriage of justice.
The CCJ said that in this instance, it found no potential miscarriage of justice or egregious error of law warranting its intervention as the proposed appeal was academic, the application was non-compliant with the Caribbean Court of Justice (Appellate Jurisdiction) Rules 2024, and the applicant intended to argue issues that were irrelevant to the application.
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