ABSTRACT
In CVM Television Ltd v Tewarie,10 the respondent had been late in serving his skeleton arguments within Rule 2.6(2). His attorney’s affidavit stated that the reason for the delay was ‘oversight and heavy workload’ and that no disrespect was intended and no prejudice occasioned. P Harrison JA in the Jamaican Court of Appeal stated that the wording of Rule 2.6 (2) suggested that non-compliance would result in the ‘sanction’ that the respondent would not be allowed to advance any arguments in the appeal. However, by Rule 2.15 the Court of Appeal had, in addition to the powers set out in Rule 1.7, ‘all the powers and duties of the Supreme Court including in particular the powers set out in CPR Part 26’, and it could therefore grant relief against sanctions under CPR Rule 26.8, if satisfied that the failure to comply was not intentional, that there was a good explanation for the failure, and the party in default had complied with all other relevant Rules. CPR Rule 26.8(3) enjoined the court, in considering whether to grant relief, to have regard, inter alia, to whether the failure to comply was due to the party or that party’s attorney-at-law, and whether the trial date or any likely trial date could still be met if relief were granted. Finally, CAR Rule 1.7(2)(b) gave the court the power to ‘extend . . . the time for compliance with any Rule . . . even if the application for an extension is made after the time for compliance has passed’. P Harrison JA granted an extension of
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date of the order, explaining the situation thus:11
A skeleton argument must:
(a) set out concisely the nature of the party’s arguments on each ground of appeal;
(b) in the case of a point of law, state the point and cite the principal authorities in support with appropriate page references;
(c) in the case of questions of fact, state briefly the basis on which it is contended that the court can interfere with the particular finding of fact, with cross-references to the passages in the transcript or notes of evidence which bear on the point.14
