THE QUEEN v. LAM KA LAI, ROGER

Application for bail pending appeal

Procedure to be followed in cases of appeal from the District Court where the nature of a ground of appeal requires an examination of the evidence given by one or more witnesses at the trial.

Bail applications pending appeal

Responsibility of solicitors to ensure that proper time estimates are given to the Clerk of Court for such hearings. Failure to do so is likely to result in a refusal by the judge to begin hearing the application, and the making of an order that it be adjourned to a date to be fixed by the Clerk of Court on the basis of a realistic time estimate.

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ORDER

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Macdougall, J.A.:

1. The applicant applies for bail pending the determination by the Court of Appeal of his appeal against conviction and sentence in respect of a number of offences of which he was found guilty after trial in the District Court.

2. As the estimated time for the hearing of this application was given as a half an hour, the hearing was set down for 9.30 a.m. It must have been obvious to the applicant's solicitors that the length of the hearing would greatly exceed thirty minutes. Indeed, counsel for the applicant frankly admitted that it would be one hour. Having examined the papers, I venture to say that this is a conservative estimate.

3. A bail application hearing that overruns almost invariably has the effect of delaying the commencement or resumption of the hearing of an appeal in which the judge before whom the bail application comes is engaged at 10 a.m. The resulting delay not only causes inconvenience to all those engaged in the hearing of that appeal but is likely to add to the costs of the parties and to disrupt the court calendar.

4. Today's bail application is not the first in which an obviously wrong estimate of length of hearing has been given. It is one of many. Indeed, it is my experience that manifestly inadequate estimates are more common than correct estimates.

5. It is the duty of solicitors, not that of the Clerk of Court, to ensure that proper time estimates are given when setting down bail applications for hearing. Moreover, it is the duty of counsel, if, having been given the papers, it becomes apparent that the hearing is likely to overrun, to bring this to the attention of his instructing solicitors so that they may notify the Clerk of Court to enable him to set down a fresh hearing date.

6. Those who fail to give a proper time estimate can expect that the judge before whom the application is set down will refuse to hear it and will order that it be adjourned to a date to be fixed by the Clerk of Court on the basis of a realistic time estimate.

7. That is the order I make in respect of this application.