Court rejects appeal against former Dyoll executives

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal brought by the director of public prosecutions (DPP) and the attorney general (AG) against a Judicial Review Court ruling in favour of former director of Dyoll Insurance Company, Mark Thwaites, and others.

The review court had ruled they should not have been charged with criminal offences.

Thwaites, along with Catherine Parke-Thwaites, James Morrison and Debbie-Ann Hyde, were charged with breaches of the Insurance Act in 2005.

It was alleged that they failed to provide information to the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the regulatory body for insurance companies and financial institutions.

Provisions not in force

They took the issue to the Judicial Review Court which held in 2008 that the FSC did not have the statutory authority to act as it did at the time. The court said at the time the offence was allegedly committed, the provisions of the Insurance Act they allegedly breached were not in force.

The DPP and the AG appealed the Supreme Court ruling and the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.

The Court of Appeal held yesterday that the offences for which they were charged did not exist as criminal offences at the time of the alleged commission.

Queen's Counsel Frank Phipps, Winston Spaulding, Patrick Atkinson (now attorney general) and attorneys-at-law Garth McBean, Kathryn Phipps and Deborah Martin applied for legal costs for the respondents.

They said the Judicial Review Court, in granting the declarations they were seeking, did not award costs.

The Court of Appeal, comprising its president Justice Seymour Panton, Justice Hazel Harris and Justice Hilary Phillips, ordered the DPP and the AG to pay the respondents' legal costs both in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal.

barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com