The claimant renewed his request for an order against the defendant that he should be given a place on a witness protection scheme. He had given evidence for the prosecution in a gangland murder trial. A risk assessment had identified a risk ‘real but not immediate’. He was given limited assistance. He argued that such a risk would only reveal itself in serious violence against him, and argued that the defendant had failed in his obligations under the 2006 Act.
Held: The application failed. The defendant had made a proper assessment. To succeed, the claimant would have to disapply the Van Colle case, and ‘Before this court could interfere with the decision of the Defendant it would have to find it irrational or Wednesbury unreasonable, (Van Colle) that is outside a range open to the decision maker. This decision comes nowhere near clearing that hurdle. As Ouseley J set out, there is identified no error of law and this issue is not one of hard-edged fact as identified in Al Sweady.’
Rafferty J
[2011] EWHC 592 (Admin)
Bailii
Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 82, Human Rights Act 1998 9
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Osman v The United Kingdom ECHR 28-Oct-1998
Police’s Complete Immunity was Too Wide
(Grand Chamber) A male teacher developed an obsession with a male pupil. He changed his name by deed poll to the pupil’s surname. He was required to teach at another school. The pupil’s family’s property was subjected to numerous acts of vandalism, . .
Cited – Regina (Wilkinson) v Broadmoor Special Hospital and Others CA 22-Oct-2001
A detained mental patient sought to challenge a decision by his RMO that he should receive anti-psychotic medication, despite his refusal to consent, and to challenge a certificate issued by the SOAD.
Held: Where a mental patient sought to . .
Cited – Van Colle and Van Colle v The United Kingdom ECHR 9-Feb-2010
Statement of Facts . .
Cited – Al-Sweady and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Defence Admn 2-Oct-2009
The claimant’s son had died whilst in the custody of the British Armed Forces in Iraq. His uncle now claimed that his human rights had been infringed. The case ‘raised a fundamental issue of jurisdiction under Article 1 of the ECHR because if the . .
Cited – Tysiac v Poland ECHR 16-Mar-2007
The complainant complained about the failure to afford her an abortion in circumstances where she had an understandable fear that giving birth would lead to her losing her already poor sight, leading to a further six-months of pregnancy and a . .
Cited – In re Officer L HL 31-Jul-2007
Police officers appealed against refusal of orders protecting their anonymity when called to appear before the Robert Hamill Inquiry.
Held: ‘The tribunal accordingly approached the matter properly under article 2 in seeking to ascertain . .
Cited – Hertfordshire Police v Van Colle; Smith v Chief Constable of Sussex Police HL 30-Jul-2008
Police Obligations to Witnesses is Limited
A prosecution witness was murdered by the accused shortly before his trial. The parents of the deceased alleged that the failure of the police to protect their son was a breach of article 2.
Held: The House was asked ‘If the police are alerted . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Police, Human Rights
Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.430653
