Mohamad Jiaved Ruhumatally (Appellant) v The State and another (Respondents) (Mauritius)
Case ID: JCPC 2020/0027
Jurisdiction: Supreme Court of Mauritius
Case summary
Issue
Whether the conviction was unsafe and a serious miscarriage of justice as a result of:
- The alleged failings of the Judge in his summing up;
- Alleged breaches of section 10(1) of the Constitution which protects the right to a fair hearing;
- Certain evidence given by witnesses not under oath;
- The alleged errors made by the Judge when directing the jury in relation to R v Jogee [2016] UKSC 8;
- An alleged breach of principles of equality and fairness in section 1 of the Constitution by virtue of the way the Appellant was charged in comparison with his co-Defendants.
Whether the Appellant received an adequate reduction in the length of sentence in light of the breach of his constitutional right to a trial within a reasonable time.
Facts
On 11 February 2005, a robbery took place at the Mauritius Commercial Bank Ltd, Port Louis, during which an employee of the bank was killed. Mr Ruhumatally was arrested on 15 February 2005 and provisionally charged with murder the following day. While the provisional charge was struck out on 08 August 2005, Mr Ruhumatally was re-charged with murder on 15 April 2009.
On 28 October 2015 Mr Ruhumatally's trial began at the Supreme Court (Assizes) of Mauritius. On 27 November 2015, Mr Ruhumatally was convicted of murder and on 14 December 2015 he was sentenced to 42 years' penal servitude.
On 18 July 2017, Mr Ruhumatally's appeal against conviction and sentence was heard by the Court of Criminal Appeal of Mauritius. On 06 December 2018, the appeal against conviction was dismissed but the appeal against sentence was partly allowed, reducing the length of sentence from 42 to 40 years. Permission to appeal to the Privy Council was denied by the Supreme Court of Mauritius on 13 February 2020.
Mr Ruhumatally now applies to the Privy Council for permission to appeal against both conviction and sentence.
Parties
Appellant
Mohamad Jiaved Ruhumatally
Respondent
(1) State of Mauritius,
(2) Director of Public Prosecutions
Appeal
Justices
Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Hamblen, Lord Stephens, Lady Simler, Sir Timothy Holroyde
Hearing start date
23 January 2024
Hearing finish date
24 January 2024
| Watch hearing | ||
|---|---|---|
| 23 January 2024 | Morning session | Afternoon session |
| 24 January 2024 | Morning session | |