In one of his last official engagements as the Island’s Lieutenant Governor, Sir Richard Gozney recently appointed Mr James Brooks as the Island’s second Deputy High Bailiff in a ceremony at Government House.

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Deemster Corlett, the First Deemster, became the first Manx judge to attend Northern Ireland’s ceremony to mark the Opening of the Legal Year in Belfast, which this year was held at the Royal Courts of Justice on 6^th September 2021.  

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Your Excellency, Mr President, Mr Speaker, Chief Minister, Mr Attorney, Your Honours, Your Worships, Members of the Manx Bar.

It is my privilege today to pay tribute on behalf of the judiciary to His Honour William Cain.  It came as a shock to learn of His Honour’s sudden passing and to know that we have lost an outstanding advocate, Attorney General and Deemster.

It was William Cain who brought me back to the Isle of Man after my time at Oxford.  An advert appeared in the local press for an articled clerk in the Attorney General’s Chambers in 1981.  William had been appointed Attorney General the previous year, and news of his appointment and his reputation as a brilliant lawyer had reached me.  I have to say that competition for that post of articled clerk was not particularly strong, as very few were starting articles in those days when the Manx Bar itself was only around 25 in size.

The Chambers in those days was also tiny.  Michael Moyle did all the prosecutions and civil litigation, there were two legislative draftsmen, a couple of conveyancers and a secretarial pool, plus a librarian (latterly Sally Bolton – later of the Manx Bar) and of course Kathleen Quane as the AG’s PA.

It was however a fascinating time to be in the Attorney’s chambers.  One of the first cases I assisted with was the famous appeal in the birching case of O’Callaghan v Teare where William Cain submitted, and the Appeal Court agreed, that in putting into effect a sentencing policy, the judiciary should act in conformity with the Isle of Man’s international treaty obligations, including those set out in the European Convention on Human Rights.  As a result of a cleverly reasoned decision of Hytner JA and Deemster Luft, birching ceased to be a sentence which could properly be imposed as a matter of practicality, although it was another 12 years before it was finally removed from the statute book, it taking until 2001 for that overdue reform fully to come into force.

I also remember His Honour as Attorney General appearing in the appeal in the constitutionally highly important case of CB Radio Distributers Ltd in October 1983 which dealt amongst other matters with the power of the UK parliament to legislate for the Island.

His Honour was AG from 1980 to 1993 during which time with the able assistance of the two legislative draftsmen Ken Gumbley and Michael Boyde, the Island’s statute book was transformed.  He initiated the concept of a governmental legislative programme which was in those days drawn up by the Attorney General.  It is difficult to pick out any particular highlights, but probably the most important was the elegantly drafted Government Departments Act 1987 which ushered in a ministerial form of government and was preceded by the appointment of Sir Miles Walker CBE as the Island’s first Chief Minister in 1986.  The disparate and rather chaotic system of boards and offices was abolished, thus avoiding cases such as the petition of doleance brought by the Health Services Board against the Board of Social Security concerning a court of inquiry under the Trade Disputes Act 1936, which I well remember attending as William’s articled clerk in February 1982.

One other abiding memory of my period of articles is the first conference of the Law Officers of Small Commonwealth Jurisdictions in 1983.  This was entirely William’s idea and it proved to be a resounding success.  It was held at the Castlemona Hotel and attracted delegates from around the world.  One topic concerned “law reporting in small jurisdictions” and out of this seed was born the Manx Law Bulletin (produced in house by the AG’s chambers) and more crucially the professionally produced Manx Law Reports, the first volume of which covered the years 1981 – 1983. 

The importance of the MLR’s cannot be overstated.  The Isle of Man led the world in the production of law reports for a small jurisdiction.  Until then decisions of the Manx courts were only haphazardly available to the profession and the wider public, if at all.  There were therefore no properly published legal case precedents, on which all mature common law jurisdictions rely.  As a result of William’s initiative, we now have a set of immaculately produced and authoritative reports now dating back to 1522.  (2020 volume now available!)  They are in daily use and provide an invaluable source of knowledge for practitioners and judges alike.  Without the MLR’s the Island could not claim to be a properly functioning independent jurisdiction.  With them the island took another vitally important step in becoming a fully-fledged and grown –up country.

William Cain was a far-sighted moderniser.  While AG he brought about very significant changes to the Rules of Court, streamlining and abolishing archaic court procedures, a path upon which he vigorously continued when he became a Deemster.  While he was a proud Manxman, he was rightly impatient of what was in the 1980’s in particular a reactionary, deeply conservative and intolerant strand in Manx society and he looked to Europe and internationally, determined that the Island should not be an international pariah and that it should conform with international norms and in particular the Island’s international human rights obligations.  As a result, the Island eventually, in 1992, decriminalised male homosexuality and in 1993 abolished the death penalty.

Eventually also he was persuaded to leave the office of Attorney General and to become Second Deemster in 1993, an office in which he served until 1998, then becoming First Deemster, before retiring in 2003.  He enjoyed a particularly close relationship with the late Deemster Kerruish and they were a very strong and formidable team.  During his time as Second Deemster he presided over many jury trials together with a large volume of civil and family cases.  From 1998 onwards he produced an important body of civil judgments which are still regularly consulted and cited in court.  By way of example I mention the NatWest Offshore case of June 1998 dealing with the recognition of overseas mental health receiverships, Kelsh v Scottish Provident, June 1998 also, dealing with breaches of data protection legislation, Deras v Ocean Marine, October 1998, on the subject of the international service of Manx proceedings, and Re Heginbotham (1999) which explained the Fraudulent Assignments Act 1736.  During this time one sees a move (reflected in the Island’s progress as an international finance centre)from the Deemsters’ more traditional fayre of domestic land and estate disputes to complex cases with an international flavour about the conflict of laws, trusts and banking.  His Honour’s judgments in Re Osiris, Rosewood v Schmidt, Blayney and Grace and Re Alliance and Leicester being some examples of this evolution.  He also handed down important decisions in the fields of personal injury, judicial review and contempt of court.

I appeared before His Honour many times as an advocate.  It was always a pleasure, and he was scrupulously fair and even-handed.  His reserved, written judgments in particular are elegantly phrased and concise, in a style which the current judiciary would do well to emulate.

I need also to mention William’s keen interest in Manx legal history.  His knowledge of the history of the Isle of Man’s fascinating constitutional development (one in which he personally played a crucial role) was profound and unrivalled. 

He will also be remembered for achieving a historic increase in the Island’s permanent judiciary when the post of Deputy Deemster was created in September 2002. 

He continued in his retirement to take a lively interest in the welfare of the judiciary and was a welcome guest at swearings-in and other official occasions and dinners.  Shortly after his retirement he was kind enough to act as chairman of the Simcocks Human Rights Act 2001 Conference and I know he was delighted to see that legislation coming into force, incorporating as it did the European Convention on Human Rights at last into our domestic law.

Quite how he managed to achieve all he did in the hours available to him remains to me a mystery.  Perhaps it was because he retained what is sometimes called a “hinterland” of other interests, entirely different to law, including sailing and nature conservation.  I know also that Felicity was an enormous support to him and her interest in all he did was always evident.  Despite the various honours bestowed upon him, William Cain was a very modest and self-effacing man – not for him any suggestion of vanity or self-publicity.

I am proud to have been His Honour’s articled clerk and to have appeared before him in his role as Deemster.  His achievements inspire us all on this bench to emulate them and to live up to his example. 

He will be greatly missed.

A judgment summary has been issued for CHP2019/160 - Langness Golf Course v DEFA and can be found here.

The judgment from matter referenced CHP2020/034 can be read here.

REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1995

Douglas South By-Election 2020

 Pursuant to Rule 53(2) of the Election Rules 2003 the Clerk of the Rolls has given notice that the following documents shall be available for public inspection, by prior appointment only, from Monday 21^st September 2020 to Friday 23^rd October 2020 between the hours of 10.00am and 4.00pm at the Public Counter, Isle of Man Courts of Justice.

The documents which are available for inspection are:

1. The ballot paper accounts and the statement of rejected ballot papers and of the result of the verification of the ballot paper accounts
2. The tendered votes lists, the lists of votes marked by the presiding officer and the statements relating thereto
3. The packets containing marked copies of the registers and list of proxies
4. The oaths of the Returning Officer, the Deputy Returning Officer, the Presiding Officers, Poll Clerks and Counting Clerks
5. The nomination papers
6. The applications to be treated as an absent voter

Any person wishing to inspect such documents may do so by prior appointment by contacting Lynn McMechan, Public Counter, Isle of Man Courts of Justice, Deemsters Walk, Bucks Road, Douglas. Telephone 687505.

To avoid delay, any person making an appointment is advised to identify the particular document or documents they wish to inspect.

Please note that anyone undertaking an inspection will do so under the supervision of a member of the General Registry staff. Copying or photocopying of the documents is prohibited as is the marking of any of the documents being inspected.

Stuart Quayle

Chief Registrar

September 2020

Two new Fees Orders came into effect on Friday, May 1 2020. They were:

Licensing Fees and Duties Order 2020; and
Music and Dancing Fees and Duties Order 2020

Three new Fees Orders came into effect on Wednesday, April 1^st 2020. They were:

• Court Services Fees Order 2020;
• Fees and Duties (Government Fees) Order 2020; and
• General Registry (Miscellaneous Fees) Order 2020.

Address of Deemster Corlett on the occasion of Deemster Montgomerie’s valedictory – 16^th December 2019

Your Excellency, Mr President, Chief Minister, Your Honours, Your Worships, Mr Attorney, ladies and gentlemen.

Occasions of this nature provoke mixed emotions. On the one hand it is my genuine pleasure to pay tribute to Deemster Montgomerie on his retirement as a full time judge, yet on the other I am saddened at having to mark this event.

This is Deemster Montgomerie’s last day, yet he has kept sentencing to the bitter end, having dealt with several cases this very morning at a very busy pleas court! I understand there has been a busy pre-Christmas rush by some offenders so that they can say farewell to Deemster Montgomerie in person.  He has even received letters from Jurby Prison wishing him a happy retirement!

Let me then begin by outlining Deemster Montgomerie’s career.

Alastair Aitken Montgomerie was born on 17^th December 1952.  He attended Tonstall Preparatory School, Sunderland and then, Fettes College, Edinburgh in company with one Tony Blair (I wonder what happened to him?).

He was awarded an LLB by Manchester University (I believe he was taught by Lady Hale (as she now is))and thereafter qualified as a solicitor. He was articled to Mckenzie Bell & Sons in Sunderland and subsequently became a prosecuting solicitor in Cumbria, later rising to the office of Senior Crown Prosecutor for Northern Cumbria.

In 1991 when His Honour William Cain (who I am delighted to see is here today) was Attorney General, Alastair was appointed to the newly created post of Legal Officer (Fraud) in the Attorney General’s Chambers. His main responsibilities were to head the then Fraud Investigation Group, conduct serious fraud prosecutions in the Court of General Gaol Delivery and to deal with foreign assistance requests.  He later became Chief Prosecutor with responsibility for the conduct of all prosecutions in the Court of General Gaol Delivery and appeals before the Criminal Jurisdiction of the Staff of Government Division.  He conducted numerous trials of persons charged with offences such as murder, attempted murder, serious fraud, drug trafficking, sexual abuse and causing death by dangerous driving.

It was during this time that I got to know Alastair well, as I was appointed as Government Advocate in 1995. I witnessed at first hand his meticulous preparation and his ability to cope with a very heavy burden of advisory and advocacy work at a time when the Attorney General’s Chambers was a mere shadow of what it now is.

In 2003 he was deservedly appointed to the office of Deputy High Bailiff and during this time, he was also the Island’s Small Claims Arbitrator, dispensing justice in hundreds of civil cases. He also presided over many summary criminal cases and also regularly undertook Acting Deemster duties in the Court of General Gaol Delivery, combining these with his chairmanship of the Licensing Court and of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal.

On 1^st April 2011 Alastair was sworn in as Deemster and took over full responsibility for the Court of General Gaol Delivery, an office in which he has presided with great authority and conspicuous success ever since.

Alastair self-evidently has the essential qualities which every judge in this jurisdiction must have. Those three qualities may be summarised as “Incorruptibility and Integrity”; “Quality” and “Independence”.

• Incorruptibility and integrity

These are qualities which we simply take for granted in the Isle of Man but which in fact are sadly lacking throughout the world, including surprisingly many well-developed Western European countries. It is something we should be proud to celebrate, but never be complacent about.

• Quality

Deemsters must obviously be experts in a wide field of law and be adept at what is called “judge craft”. Alastair’s expertise in criminal law and in conducting criminal trials is unrivalled and he has also throughout his career shown that he is able to deal most capably with many other areas of the law.

• Independence

Anyone who knows Alastair, both professionally and personally, can be in no doubt of his conspicuous independence of mind – he will not be swayed by outside impermissible influences, or what might be the expedient or easy thing to do. He exercises totally independent judgment and is always concerned to do the right and just thing. Independence of judgment is the duty of any judge, but it can sometimes be immensely difficult to fulfil that duty and it is something which Alastair has always succeeded in doing throughout his career.

I turn then to consider Alastair’s key role since 2011, namely presiding over the Court of General Gaol Delivery.

The pressures on a Deemster sitting with a jury are immense – the cases are invariably weighty and are matters of great public interest, with attendant publicity. There is the need to give very quick decisions on issues which crop up without warning during a trial – issues of admissibility of evidence, various procedural rulings, questions from the jury.  Particularly in such a small jurisdiction as this, decisions must invariably be reached without recourse to a discussion with judicial colleagues as might be the case in the adjacent jurisdictions.  The midnight oil may often be burned preparing a summing up, which may several months later become subject to minute scrutiny by an appeal court which, unlike the trial Deemster, has the benefit of time to consider the issues.

Alastair is a great admirer of the jury system, even for the most complex and legally difficult cases and rightly places great faith in the verdicts of Manx juries..

Of course Alastair’s record in the Appeal Division is much to be admired. Virtually no appeals against his decisions have ever succeeded.  There has never been any valid criticism of the manner in which he has conducted a trial.  He has always been a totally reliable judge and a very safe pair of hands in whatever area he has engaged in.

One must not forget also that jury trials frequently deal with conduct of the utmost depravity and require a resilient, well-grounded judge, such as Alastair, to preside over them.

Sentencing decisions, which in many cases have never been easy, have become more challenging due to the increasing complexity of sentencing law, yet Alastair has somehow succeeded in achieving the right balance between assuaging the desire for punishment and deterrence, and the need to tailor a sentence which will assist in the offender’s rehabilitation. His judgments and rulings are as crisp and clear as the weather today - eminently readable, concise and thankfully devoid of legalese, qualities which we all would do well to imitate.

I was very pleased to see Alastair recently being invited to sit in the Appeal Division on appeals against conviction and sentence – something I hope he will continue to do post-retirement.

In carrying out all these onerous and stressful functions he has had the enormous benefit of Wendy’s support and also of maintaining a healthy host of outside interests – in particular tennis in which he has represented the Isle of Man on many occasions and which he continues to play to a very high standard, I understand with great vigour and determination.

What then of Alastair as a friend and colleague?

The criminal courts are at times undoubtedly a rich source of humour, much of it unintentional, and Alastair often mines a seam of first class humorous tales and gossip about members of the Bar which is greatly enjoyed by his fellow judges.

Who can also forget his somewhat difficult relationship with emails? His clerks tell me that they telephone him to let him know he has received one!  Or his justified annoyance at my frequent misspelling of his Christian name?  We will certainly miss his “old school” manner of dictating to his clerks and secretaries while seated at their side in the general office.

His “Murder Mystery” evenings are well known. Alastair’s ability to immerse himself in the role of those suspected of committing the dastardly deed in question has made me suspect that he would have enjoyed a career as an actor – maybe a second career beckons?

On a personal level I have greatly valued his support given in his usual forthright manner in fiercely defending the independence of the Manx judiciary and in supporting me in endeavouring to fend off (sometimes ultimately unsuccessfully) attacks on the judiciary’s terms and conditions of service, which I might add, are in danger of affecting the future quality and hence the strength of the Island’s judiciary. Without a strong, high quality judiciary able to attract in years to come the best talent from the Bar,the Island’s reputation as a stable and reliable financial centre and place to do business is bound to be undermined. 

I have already commented on Alastair’s meticulous preparation when he was a prosecuting advocate. This attitude has been naturally carried through to his judicial work where he has set the highest standards for those advocates appearing before him.  I know that he, like me, is perturbed by the current pressures on independent criminal practitioners who rely so heavily on a properly functioning and stable legal aid system to maintain their practices and their expertise in this vital area of legal work.  Without such practitioners there will be no pool of talent from an independent Manx Bar from which to draw the Deemsters of the future to preside over the Court of General Gaol Delivery and deal with serious crime, whether it be drug trafficking, offences against the person, or financial crime, all of which strike at the heart of our community and put our way of life and our economy in jeopardy.

The esteem in which Alastair is held by the legal profession was very evident at the recent party which he so generously hosted for his colleagues and friends, and I know that he will generously continue to assist the Law Society in providing advocacy training. The Law Society have in turn shown their appreciation by hosting a drinks party and dinner in Alastair’s honour.

I very much hope that he will also be a frequent visitor to this building as a member of the panel of part-time Deemsters – his experience and expertise and indeed his passion for the administration of justice will be most welcome in assisting us to manage judicial workload.

As to retirement, as I have just said it is unlikely that we have seen the last of him as Deemster, but equally I am sure that he and Wendy will enjoy the greater freedom to travel, relax and enjoy more time together, and with their children. So it is au revoir, rather than a final farewell, Alastair. 

I conclude by saying on behalf of each member of the judiciary, all the court staff, and indeed the Isle of Man, we thank you for your years of exceptional service to the administration of justice and wish you a long and happy (semi) retirement.

Valediction by His Worship The Deputy High Bailiff, Chair of the Licensing Bench, on the occasion of the retirement of Mrs Jill Quirk from the Licensing Bench.

Before we start the business of the Court I have a very few words that I must say in relation to today’s Court. Not only is it the last Licensing Court of 2019, but it is the last Court where Mrs Jill Quirk will be sitting on the Bench.

Mrs Quirk became a Magistrate in 2010 and joined this Bench one year later. Both my predecessor and I have found her input over the past eight years into the decision making and process of this Court invaluable. Mrs Quirk’s extensive and highly regarded knowledge of the restaurant and licensing trade has provided a unique and expert input into the many issues that have come before this Court during her term in office. Although remaining as a Magistrate for some time to come (and I am being deliberately vague so that no one can work out accurately her age!) the loss to this Court of that expertise will be very keenly felt.

Whether the extra time now available to Mrs Quirk will be filled with her busy family life, travel or Blue Badge Tour guiding, on behalf of all past and present members of the Licensing Bench, I wish Mrs Quirk a long and active retirement from the duties and responsibilities of this court. However, those duties will continue for the remainder of today.

13th day of December 2019