Is there a right of appeal to the Supreme Court against an interlocutory appeal?

On 13th May 2014 the Court of Appeal heard the Prosecution appeal in the Operation Cotton case. One question that I’ve heard debated several times is whether or not there is a right of appeal against an ‘interlocutory appeal’.

In my view the answer is yes. Prosecution appeals are covered by Part 9 Criminal Justice Act 2003. Specifically, s68 states :

68 Appeals to the House of Lords

(1)In section 33(1) of the 1968 Act (right of appeal to House of Lords) after “this Act” there is inserted “ or Part 9 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 ”.

(2)In section 36 of the 1968 Act (bail on appeal by defendant) after “under” there is inserted “ Part 9 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 or ”.

(3)In this Part “the 1968 Act” means the Criminal Appeal Act 1968 (c. 19).

This adds to s33 Criminal Appeal Act 1968, the part that deals with appeals from the Court of Appeal. Obviously this is now the Supreme Court rather than the House of Lords, but the point is the same.

It is Part 67 CPR that deal with Prosecution appeal and r74(1)(a)(ii) (appeals to the Supreme Court) also makes it clear that this covers Prosecution appeals.

As far as I’m aware (and I’m sure someone will tell me I’m wrong), there haven’t been any appeals onwards from these sorts of cases. There is a first time for everything though, eh?

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