Garvey v The Queen

The case of Garvey v The Queen involved an appellant, Garvey, and the respondent, The Queen. Garvey sought bail pending appeal against his conviction and sentence. This was his third application for bail. The legal issues the court had to decide included whether it had jurisdiction to hear the application given the failure to adequately present the case for bail at earlier stages, and whether there were exceptional reasons for granting bail. Garvey argued that the difficulties of preparing his appeal while in prison and the prospect that a substantial part of his term would be served before his eligibility for parole and the hearing of his appeal were exceptional reasons. Additionally, he submitted a likely prospect of success on appeal.

The court found that it did have jurisdiction to hear the application despite the previous failures. It noted that the appellant had not shown any exceptional reasons for granting bail. The court was not satisfied that the difficulties of preparing the appeal while in prison were exceptional, and there was no evidence that these difficulties would result in an unfair trial. Furthermore, the prospect that a substantial part of the term would be served before parole eligibility and the hearing of the appeal did not constitute an exceptional reason for bail. The court was also not convinced by Garvey's submission regarding the likely prospect of success on appeal. Given these considerations, the application for bail was dismissed, and bail was refused.