David George Beckett v Criminal Cases Review Commission

Relief from a procedural sanction requires consideration of the seriousness and significance of the default, the reason for it, and all the circumstances. A failure to file a required appeal bundle is serious where it prevents the court from fairly determining permission to appeal. Age or vulnerability does not justify relief without a reason explaining the non-compliance, particularly where the litigant can prepare and send documents. The court cannot fairly determine alleged errors or a denial of justice without the relevant materials. A permission application may be dismissed where the applicant repeatedly refuses to comply with directions. There is no need for case-management directions to other parties before permission to appeal has been granted.

The applicant had been convicted of common assault in the Magistrates’ Court and his appeal to the Crown Court had been dismissed. The Criminal Cases Review Commission refused applications to refer the case back. The applicant then challenged the CCRC’s failure to refer the case, but the Administrative Court judgment did not disclose any justiciable error.

In the Court of Appeal, the applicant sought permission to appeal and was directed to file a compliant core bundle under Practice Direction 52C. He repeatedly refused to do so, despite an extension of time and the court’s inability to obtain the underlying documents. A Master dismissed the permission application with costs. The issue was whether that order should be reviewed and relief granted for the procedural default.

1. Disposition. The application to review the Master’s order was dismissed. The order dismissing the application for permission to appeal, with costs, was affirmed.
2. Procedural default. Applying Denton v TH White Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 906, [2014] 1 WLR 3926, the failure to file the directed core bundle was serious and significant. It prevented any fair determination of the permission application. There was no good reason for the failure: the applicant’s answer remained that he would not provide a bundle, after it became clear that the court could not obtain one from the Administrative Court.
3. All the circumstances. The applicant’s age or possible vulnerability did not justify relief. He could email and prepare hearing notes, and had advanced no reason why he could not produce the required bundle. Without the transcripts and other relevant material, the court could not assess his allegations that the criminal proceedings were nullities, that justice had been denied, or that there were grounds of appeal.
4. The complaint that court orders were invalid because they referred to the late Queen was rejected by reference to rules and Privy Council orders validating previous stamps. Complaints about staff, recusal, and access to a former lawyer did not establish a basis for continuing the application. Any earlier procedural error concerning the documents had been corrected by the later directions.
5. There was no need to give case-management directions to the respondent or interested parties before permission to appeal had been granted, since doing so could cause unnecessary costs. The reference to Taylor v Lawrence [2002] EWCA Civ; [2003] QB 528 did not assist because, without the relevant materials, there was no basis to find a denial of justice.
6. As the respondents had taken no part in the proceedings, no costs appeared payable by the applicant despite the order being affirmed with costs.

• Court of Appeal (Civil Division): The Court of Appeal reviewed the order of Master Bancroft-Rimmer dated 18 March 2025, sealed on 19 March 2025, and affirmed the dismissal of the application for permission to appeal with costs.
• Administrative Court: Nicol J dealt with the applicant’s challenge concerning the CCRC’s failure to refer his case. The judgment did not disclose any justiciable error.
• Criminal Cases Review Commission: Applications to refer the criminal case back were refused on 16 July 2013 and 11 August 2016, followed by further correspondence in July 2017.