Griffith v P (By Her Litigation Friend the Official Solicitor)

Judge: Court of Appeal (Peter Jackson, Coulson and Andrews LJJ)

Citation: [2020] EWCA Civ 1675

The Court of Appeal has had little hesitation dismissing ([2020] EWCA Civ 1675) the appeal by Dahlia Griffith against her conviction and sentence of imprisonment for contempt, on which we reported here.  Having applied out of time to appeal and for a stay of the order, which had been refused, Ms Griffith did not appear – indeed, as at the day of the hearing, she had not been found and taken into custody.

Peter Jackson LJ held as follows:

14. The first matter to consider is the Appellant’s absence at this appeal hearing. I am satisfied that she has had every opportunity to be represented and that, having chosen to represent herself, there is no good reason why she could not have attended. Her absence is unfortunately of a piece with her overall attitude to the court process. There is no good reason why her appeal should not be determined today.

15. As to that, I conclude that the Judge dealt with these committal proceedings in a way that is beyond criticism. His approach is a model of the careful and balanced assessment that is necessary in a case of this kind. His finding that the Appellant is in contempt was supported by compelling reasoning, indeed the conclusion was inevitable. His approach to the sentencing exercise cannot be faulted. A sentence of this length is a long one, but it is unfortunately necessary in circumstances where the appellant has shown no acceptance, remorse or apology for the deliberate forgery of a court order.

16. I would therefore dismiss this appeal. In doing so, I draw attention – and the Appellant’s attention in particular – to the opportunity that is given to all contemnors to seek to purge their contempt by making an application to the trial court. In circumstances of this kind, the sentence of a contemnor who accepts their contempt and makes a genuine apology for their behaviour will always be carefully reviewed.

Coulson LJ, agreeing with Peter Jackson LJ, noted that, “[A]lthough the recent changes to CPR Part 81 will do much to make the contempt procedure less cumbersome and complex, there will still be many contempt cases in which a judge will have to roll up his or her sleeves and address in detail not only the facts and the law, but all the many balancing factors necessary to achieve a just outcome.”   Sadly, for these purposes, CPR Part 81 does not, in fact, apply to the Court of Protection, its contempt procedures being governed by Part 21 of the Court of Protection Rules 2017, which have yet to be updated in line with the CPR changes which took effect on 1 October 2020.

Mental capacity - Sexual relations, COP jurisdiction and powers - Contempt of Court, COP jurisdiction and powers, Mental capacity 10th December 2020