Privy Council win for Paradise QC

Gary Burrell QC was successful in an appeal to the Privy Council in the case of Donald Knight v Attorney General of the Cayman Islands. The Privy Council handed down the judgment in this case on 25^th February 2008. In an appeal to the Privy Council sitting in Nassau, Bahamas, Mr Burrell QC represented the appellant, Donald Knight who had been convicted of drugs importation offences in the Cayman Islands in 2002. The appeal from the Court of Appeal of the Cayman Islands was brought on the basis that the appellant had a right to a jury trial and was denied one. It was argued for the Attorney General that such a right did not exist under the Misuse of Drugs Law (2000 Revision). The appellant sought to establish that it did. The Privy Council agreed. The case involved debate on the history of jury trial in the Caymans and the outcome has altered the previously perceived constitutional position in relation to the right to claim a jury trial in offences of this nature. There are likely to be a number of significant constitutional consequences.