The news is full of reports concerning the new 'Zombie knife' regulations, which reminded me of something.
Can someone please explain the position of the phrase
"Application for leave to appeal to the House of Lords refused, but point of general public importance certified as follows: "
at the end of an appeal case report.
I've always understood it to mean that although the appeal failed,(usually on a technical point) an important point was raised and the certified 'point of general public importance' is intended to clear up any further discussions on that particular matter.
If this is so, what does the last paragraph of the Deegan appeal, reproduced below, really mean? To me it suggests that the 'lock' part is largely irrelevant as long as the knife has a blade that folds.
Application for leave to appeal to the House of Lords refused, but point of general public importance certified as follows:
'That the article 'a folding pocket knife' as mentioned in section 139(2) Criminal Justice Act 1988 as being an exemption subject to subsection (3) to the offence made by section 139(1) means a knife that has a blade that folds, whether or not it (the blade) is capable of being opened and locked into an open position and equally capable of being folded once the mechanism had been operated to unlock the blade.'