Considering the question of its jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a judgment of the High Court, the Court of Appeal held that the matter in issue was ‘a criminal cause or matter’, and as such, under the Senior Courts Act 1981, s 18(1), it had no jurisdiction to entertain it. The question arose in a case brought to challenge the dismissal of a judicial review against the requirement under the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 that upon release, IPP prisoners must be subject to an indeterminate licence for a minimum period of ten years without any right of review. The Court of Appeal stated that the remedy in the present case would be to apply for judicial review in the Administrative Court.
Hugh Southey QC and Nick Armstrong were involved in this case.