Fox v R is a 2002 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) case in which it was held that it was unconstitutional in Saint Kitts and Nevis for capital punishment to be the mandatory sentence for murder. The JCPC held that because the Constitution of Saint Kitts and Nevis prohibits "inhuman or degrading punishment", following a murder conviction, a trial judge must have discretion to impose a lesser penalty than death by hanging; capital punishment may be applied only in those cases that contain aggravating factors as compared to other murder cases.
| Fox v R | |
|---|---|
.svg) Arms of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council | |
| Court | Judicial Committee of the Privy Council |
| Full case name | Berthill Fox, Appellant v The Queen, Respondent |
| Decided | 11 March 2002 |
| Citations | [2002] UKPC 13, [2002] 2 AC 284, [2002] 2 WLR 1077 |
| Case history | |
| Prior action | Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (from Saint Kitts and Nevis) |
| Case opinions | |
| Lord Rodger of Earlsferry | |
| Keywords | |
| Capital punishment; inhuman or degrading punishment | |
The case involved British bodybuilder Bertil Fox, who in 1998 was convicted of murdering his former fiancée and her mother the previous year. The case was decided with Reyes v R and R v Hughes, cases on the same issue on appeal from Belize and Saint Lucia.
See also
editExternal links
edit- Fox v R, bailii.org