00:00A major legal ruling from the High Court has overturned a decision of the Firearms Appeal Board
00:06in a case challenging the refusal of a firearm user's license.
00:10The court found that the board wrongly applied a requirement of imminent threat
00:14instead of assessing whether the applicant had a good reason under the Firearms Act.
00:20Attorney Kyle Taklalsing, who led the legal team, saying it clarifies how licenses must now be assessed.
00:26He says the judgment effectively clears the way for more citizens to access FULs
00:32after what he describes as a long-standing practice of police rejecting applications
00:37on the basis that the applicants failed to prove an imminent threat.
00:42Delivering the judgment, Justice Joan Charles was clear that the board misdirected itself in law.
00:48She said, quote,
00:49The board applied the test of whether there was sufficiently imminent threats
00:54as opposed to whether the claimant had a good reason for possessing a firearm.
00:58This is not the test outlined in Section 17-4 of the Firearms Act.
01:03The defendant's decision therefore amounts to an error of law.
01:08End quote.
01:09The court, however, rejected arguments that the process was unfair or in breach of natural justice.
01:15The judge ordered that, quote,
01:17The decision of the defendant to dismiss the claimant's appeal of the decision of the Commission of Police
01:23to refuse the grant of a firearm user's license is unlawful,
01:27in that it constitutes an error of law and is ultra-virus.
01:31The Firearms Act amounts to a fetter on the exercise of the defendant's discretion
01:36was made by an exercise of a power by the defendant in a manner that is unreasonable and or irrational.
01:43The court also ordered that the matter be reheard within 30 days
01:47and directed that the requirement of the imminence of threat be removed from consideration.
01:53Legal observers say the ruling could have far-reaching effects on future FUL applications,
01:59reshaping how good reason is interpreted under the Firearms Act.
02:04Ravishita Wari Rupnerine, TV6 News.
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