Ferdinands v Police No. Sccrm-02-136

In the matter of Ferdinands v Police, the appellant, Mr. Ferdinands, sought leave to appeal to the Full Court against a decision of a Judge of the Supreme Court, which had dismissed an application for leave to appeal to the Full Court. The initial appeal was against a decision made by the Police Disciplinary Tribunal, acting under the Police (Complaints and Disciplinary Proceedings) Act 1985. The appeal to the District Court was subsequently dismissed by a Judge of that Court. The legal issues at hand revolved around the validity of section 46(8) of the Police Act, which bars further appeal against a decision of the Court made on an appeal under this section. Mr. Ferdinands argued that this provision was discriminatory and contrary to certain rights, though these rights were not clearly identified. He further contended that there was no right of appeal from the decision of the District Court to the Supreme Court.

The court held that section 46(8) of the Police Act was valid and effective, thereby barring an appeal to the Supreme Court against the District Court decision. The submissions by Mr. Ferdinands did not present a valid basis for invalidating the section, and there was no arguable prospect of success. The court found that the purported appeal to the Supreme Court was incompetent and should have been struck out. The decision to strike out the application for "referral" was also deemed correct as there was no basis for such a referral. The Full Court concluded that the Judge was right in dismissing or striking out the purported appeal and that there was no need for the matter to be dealt with by the Full Court.

The application for leave to appeal to the Full Court was ultimately struck out as incompetent. The court found that the Judge had the inherent power to strike out the appeal on the grounds that it was plainly incompetent to invoke the jurisdiction of the Court. The Full Court considered that the Judge's decision was correct and that there was no need for further proceedings.