Regan, R. v

An appellate court may exceptionally adjourn a late application for leave to appeal against sentence where a trial advocate is willing to act pro bono and reasonably requires time to prepare. Such an adjournment remains exceptional. Late requests disrupt court listing, waste judicial preparation, and may displace other cases. Applications to adjourn must therefore be made in good time, including where representation is offered pro bono.

The applicant made a non-counsel application for leave to appeal against sentence. On the afternoon before the hearing, the court received an application to remove the case from the list. The stated reason was that trial counsel was willing to act pro bono but required time to study the case and prepare for a future hearing.

The central issue was whether the application should nevertheless be adjourned despite its very late timing.

1. The application was adjourned to a date to be fixed. Although an adjournment sought at such a late stage would ordinarily be refused, the court considered it right to grant one because trial counsel was willing to represent the applicant pro bono and needed time to prepare.
2. The court emphasised that this was not a relaxation of the requirement for timely applications. Last-minute adjournments cause major disruption to the court’s list, may leave a hearing slot unused, and can prevent another case being listed.
3. They also waste judicial time where judges have already studied the papers, undertaken research and reflected on the case. The court therefore stated that applications for adjournment must be made in good time, even where counsel is acting pro bono.
4. If possible, the resumed application was to be listed before a court including Lord Justice Jackson.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Non-counsel application for leave to appeal against sentence. The court adjourned the application to a date to be fixed: [2013] EWCA Crim 1465.

The judgment appealed against is not identified in the judgment.