JD, R v

Under Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1965, section 2, a witness summons may be issued only where the judge is satisfied that this is in the interests of justice. That assessment is necessarily fact-specific. It requires evaluation of all circumstances relevant to the individual case. An application which merely challenges that evaluative judgment raises no point of law of general public importance.

R v JD concerned applications to certify a point of law and for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. The applications followed a decision of the Court of Appeal given on 17 April 2019, for which no citation or further details were stated. The proposed challenge concerned the judge’s assessment of whether to issue a witness summons under section 2 of the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1965.

1. The applications were refused. No point of law of general public importance was involved in the Court of Appeal’s earlier decision.
2. Section 2 of the Criminal Procedure (Attendance of Witnesses) Act 1965 permits a judge to issue a witness summons only if satisfied that doing so is in the interests of justice.
3. Whether that condition is met is a fact-specific evaluative judgment. The judge must assess all circumstances relevant to the particular case.
4. The matters advanced in support of the applications did not identify a general legal issue. They challenged only the assessment made on the facts of this case. The applications to certify a point and for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court were therefore refused.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): On 27 June 2019, the court refused applications to certify a point of law and for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. The judgment referred to an earlier decision of the court dated 17 April 2019, but gave no citation or further procedural detail.