Reyes v R

Reyes v R
Court	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Full case name	Patrick Reyes, Appellant v The Queen, Respondent
Decided	11 March 2002
Citation(s)	[2002] UKPC 11, [2002] 2 AC 235, [2002] 2 WLR 1034
Case history
Prior action(s)
Case opinions
Lord Bingham of Cornhill
Keywords
Capital punishment; inhuman or degrading punishment

Reyes v R is a 2002 Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) case in which it was held that it was unconstitutional in Belize for capital punishment to be the mandatory sentence for murder. The JCPC held that because the Constitution of Belize 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.

The case was decided with R v Hughes and Fox v R, cases on the same issue on appeal from Saint Lucia and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

See also[]

• Bowe v R
• Boyce v R
• Matthew v S

External links[]

• Reyes v R, bailii.org