R v Tahir Zaman

The Court of Appeal may grant a short adjournment of permission applications where purported instructions to abandon an appeal have come from a third party and counsel has not confirmed the applicant’s wishes directly. The wider interests of justice may justify allowing time for the applicant to confirm whether the application should proceed. Where conviction and sentence applications are related, the court may adjourn both so that they can be considered together at a future hearing, even if the sentence issues are discrete and straightforward.

Tahir Zaman applied for permission to appeal against conviction and sentence. Shortly before the hearing, counsel received instructions not to pursue the conviction application, but those instructions appeared to originate from a family member rather than from the applicant. Counsel had not seen the applicant, who was serving a life sentence at HMP Full Sutton.

The court considered whether to proceed with the sentence application separately or adjourn both applications. It also took account of the seriousness of the case and the applicant’s limited remaining opportunity to obtain permission to appeal.

1. The applications for permission to appeal against conviction and sentence were adjourned for 28 days.
2. The court considered it reasonable to allow counsel, and possibly leading counsel, to speak with the applicant in person and confirm his instructions. The purported withdrawal of the conviction application had not come directly from him.
3. The applicant was permitted either to file a Notice of Abandonment under the Criminal Procedure Rules 36.13 or to indicate whether he wished to pursue one or both applications.
4. Although the sentence application raised discrete issues and appeared straightforward, it was appropriate to adjourn it with the conviction application. This allowed instructions to be taken on both matters and preserved the possibility of a single future hearing.
5. The decision to adjourn was justified by the particular circumstances, the seriousness of the case, the applicant’s last opportunity to obtain permission to appeal, and the wider interests of justice. The remarks were directed to be transcribed for the next court, and the matter was not reserved to the constitution then sitting.

• Court of Appeal (Criminal Division): Applications for permission to appeal against conviction and sentence adjourned for 28 days. No earlier decision or citation was stated in the judgment.