The following are the past month’s summaries of the civil decision in the Court of Appeal for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

In Turtle Cove Hotel and Residences Ltd. v Tides Development Project, Inc. (CL-AP 1/2022) [2022] TCACA 2 (7 March 2022), the Appellants applied for stays of execution of the Supreme Court judge’s orders pending the hearing of the appeals. The sole issue the Court of Appeal considered was whether the application for a stay of execution should have been made to the lower court in the first instance or whether it was appropriate for the matter to be heard and decided by a single judge of the Court of Appeal. After hearing the submissions of counsel, Justice Morrison held that Rule 21(1) and 22(4) of Court of Appeal Rules (the “Rules”) hold that an appeal shall not operate as a stay of execution and an application for a stay of execution should properly be made to the court below before the Court of Appeal.

In Nadia Outten v Nemiah Missick & Anor (CL-AP 4/2021) ]2022] TCACA 3 (8 March 2022), there were two applications before the Court of Appeal. The first application was the Respondents’ strike out application, contending there was no viable appeal before the court, the Appellant having failed to comply with the filing requirements under the Court of Appeal Ordinance (the “Ordinance”). The second application was the Appellant’s application for a declaration that the appeal was filed within time, or alternatively that the Court should grant an extension of time for filing. The Court found that while the current Rules and the fact that the Court did not have the jurisdiction to extend the time to file an appeal gave rise to an undue hardship, the Ordinance and the Rules were firm in that: (1) an appellant must give notice of the intention to appeal to the Registrar and respondent(s) within 28 days f the date of the decision from which appeal is sought; and (2) the 28-day period starts from the date the judgment, decree or order is pronounced; and (3) the Court of Appeal has not power to extend the time for filing of an appeal.