dismiss charges against a man who tried to leave Bermuda with US$20,000 cash.

In the recent Supreme Court finding Chief Justice Austin Ward ruled that new laws which now allowed people to export foreign cash without permission had no effect on the case which occurred before the legislation changes.

But he also found that the Magistrate should have considered special circumstances to allow the money be returned to the man, and not forfeited to the state.

In the case, Kenry Trevor Thorpe was charged with trying to illegally board a plane at Bermuda International Airport carrying $20,000 of foreign currency on December 4, 1997.

He told customs officers it was his own money which he had received over a period of time from work and from exchanges of money with his daughter. Chief Justice Ward found there was "no evidence to suggest that the money came from any questionable source''. He accepted that Thorpe thought he had permission to take the money abroad after he was granted authorisation to purchase US$5,000 in cash and US$15,000 in traveller's cheques for the importation of vehicle parts.

But Chief Justice Ward ruled that the man did not have permission since although traveller's cheques could be encashed, they were not cash.

He said he had to allow the Crown's appeal to succeed since the Magistrate "fell into error'' by taking into account in his findings the relaxation of foreign currency controls which took place after Thorpe's offence. "As a result of that change there is no longer any need for travellers to carry documentary evidence in order to export foreign currency from Bermuda,'' he said. But the law at the time of the offence was the only one that mattered.

He said the Magistrate should also have considered a regulation which, if there were special circumstances, allowed the money be returned to its owner rather than being forfeited to the state.

ATTORNEY GENERAL AG