Judges: Lord Justice Nolan And Justice Roch Citations: [1991] EWHC 1 (QB), [1991] Crim LR 699, [1991] 3 All ER 439, (1992) 94 Cr App R 272, (1991) 155 JP 1003, [1991] 3 WLR 235, [1991] RTR 271, [1991] 2 QB 532 Links: Bailii Statutes: Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 23(3), Costs in Criminal Cases … Continue reading Director of Public Prosecutions v Denning and Another: QBD 7 Mar 1991
The claimant had been detained by the US in Guantanamo Bay suspected of terrorist involvement. He sought to support his defence documents from the respondent which showed that the evidence to be relied on in the US courts had been obtained by torture, and in particular by the hiding of his detention for many months … Continue reading Mohamed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 1): Admn 21 Aug 2008
The appellant had been released on licence during his sentence but then recalled. He contended that the effect of the newly introduced section 50A was a retrospective increase in his sentencce. Judges: Lord Nueberger MR, Moses, Munby LJJ Citations: [2010] EWCA Civ 848, [2010] 1 WLR 2380 Links: Bailii Statutes: Criminal Justice Act 1991 50A, … Continue reading Robinson, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: CA 19 May 2010
Counsel are to be given an opportunity to address the court if an extended sentence was to be considered. Citations: Times 21-Jul-1994 Statutes: Criminal Justice Act 1991 2(2)(b) Jurisdiction: England and Wales Criminal Practice Updated: 27 August 2022; Ref: scu.87483
The Court considered the procedures when a prisoner is kept in solitary confinement, otherwise described as ‘segregation’ or ‘removal from association’, and principally whether decisions to keep the appellants in segregation for substantial periods were taken lawfully. Held: The segregation was not authorised by the applicable legislation: ‘rule 45 . . (1) enables the governor … Continue reading Bourgass and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: SC 29 Jul 2015
The prisoner complained of the power given to the defendant to block the early release of prisoners sentenced between certain dates for serious offences, saying that such a decision was for the courts only. Held: The provision was incompatible with the claimant’s human rights. Judges: Lord Justice May, Lord Justice Latham and Lord Justice Moore-Bick … Continue reading Black, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: CA 15 Apr 2008
The claimant had challenged the findings of the Parole Board in his case, saying that the Board was not an independent tribunal as required under human rights law, since it was subject to direction from the Home Secretary. Held: The Home Secretary’s appeal succeeded. The meaning of the word ‘directions’ depended on its context. The … Continue reading Girling v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Another: CA 21 Dec 2006
The applcant, a girl aged 17 was in a young offender institution. She complained that she had been removed to segregation without first giving her chance to be heard. The respondent argued that there were sufficient post decision safeguards to ensure fairness. Held: Modern standards of fairnesss required that she be given opportunity to be … Continue reading Secretary of State for the Home Department v SP: CA 21 Dec 2004
The applicant was a Moroccan national who arrived in Belgium in 1965 when he was aged under 2. In 1984, nineteen years later, after a career of juvenile crime, he was deported, but the deportation order was suspended in 1989 and he returned to Belgium. He complained that his deportation had violated his right to … Continue reading Moustaquim v Belgium: ECHR 18 Feb 1991
If a defendant wished the court to consider whether he was fit to plead, he must provide reports from two medical experts to comply with the statute. In this case, the court had been provided with only one, and was therefore unable to consider the plea. Judges: Lord Justice Stanley Burnton, Mr Justice Penry-Davey and … Continue reading Regina v Ghulam: CACD 21 Oct 2009
The divisional court should intervene where a defendant has been deprived of a fair opportunity to present his case because of his own unavoidable absence. Citations: [1991] Crim LR 848, [1991] 155 JP 612 Cited by: Cited – Ronald and John Popely and Another v D G Scott (Kent County Council) Admn 21-Dec-2000 This was … Continue reading Regina v Bolton Magistrates’ Court, ex parte Merna; Regina v Richmond Justices, ex parte Haines: 1991
The court considered what would constitute a child being ‘settled’ under the 1985 Act: ‘I now turn to the last matter, which is art. 12, as to whether in these circumstances it has been demonstrated that Katharine in now settled in her new environment. Mr Karsten submitted that the President made no finding on this … Continue reading Re S (A Minor) (Abduction): CA 1991
1. Sections 32 to 40 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 come into force on 1 October 1992. They make radical changes with regard to sentences. 2. Remission is abolished. 3. Parole will affect only those sentenced to four years’ imprisonment and above. 4. Where the sentence of the court is less than four years … Continue reading Practice Statement (Crime: Sentencing): LCJ 1992
Magistrates returning prisoner on licence to prison because of other offences did not impose further sentence by doing so. Citations: Times 21-Jul-1997, [1997] EWHC Admin 589 Statutes: Criminal Justice Act 1991 40, Magistrates Courts Act 1980 133 Jurisdiction: England and Wales Criminal Sentencing Updated: 28 April 2022; Ref: scu.88350
The prisoner challenged the decision to place him in segregation under Prison Rule 43. Under rule 43(1) the initial power to segregate was given to ‘the governor’. The case arose from the fact that the governor of one prison had purported to authorise the segregation of a prisoner on his arrival at another prison to … Continue reading Regina v Deputy Governor of Parkhurst Prison, Ex parte Hague, Weldon v Home Office: HL 24 Jul 1991
A prisoner serving an extended sentence for a sex crime had no right to an oral Parole hearing. Citations: Times 21-Mar-1996 Statutes: Criminal Justice Act 1991 2(2)(b) Criminal Sentencing, Prisons Updated: 09 April 2022; Ref: scu.87527
Parents of children had falsely and negligently been accused of abusing their children. The children sought damages for negligence against the doctors or social workers who had made the statements supporting the actions taken. The House was asked if the suffering of psychiatric injury by the parent was a foreseeable result of making it and … Continue reading JD v East Berkshire Community Health NHS Trust and others: HL 21 Apr 2005
The claimant had served an asset freezing order on the bank in respect of one of its customers. The bank paid out on a cheque inadvertently as to the order. The Commissioners claimed against the bank in negligence. The bank denied any duty of care. Held: The bank’s appeal succeeded. The bank owed a duty … Continue reading HM Customs and Excise v Barclays Bank Plc: HL 21 Jun 2006
Extended Determinate Sentence created Other Status The prisoner was subject to an extended determinate sentence (21 years plus 4) for 10 offences of rape. He complained that as such he would only be eligible for parole after serving two thirds of his sentence rather than one third, and said that this was discriminatory. Held: The … Continue reading Stott, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: SC 28 Nov 2018
The claimants, Pakistani students in the UK on student visas, had been arrested and held by the defendants under the 2000 Act before being released 13 days later without charge. They were at first held incognito. They said that their arrest and detentions had been unlawful since they had not been given sufficient information about … Continue reading Sher and Others v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and Others: Admn 21 Jul 2010
Tenants invited the court to construe the terms of a rent review provision in the sub-underlease under which they held premises. The provision had been construed in a sense adverse to them in earlier proceedings before Walton J, but they had been unable to challenge his decision on appeal. Later cases threw doubt on his … Continue reading Arnold v National Westminster Bank Plc: HL 1991
The claimant had been employed by the defendant as editor of a newspaper. On leaving they entered into an agreement which the claimant said required the defendant to pay his legal costs in any action arising regarding his editorship. The defendant had later refused to do so, saying that it was not obliged to pay … Continue reading Coulson v Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd: QBD 21 Dec 2011
The applicant was in breach of his community service order. He applied for legal aid, on the basis that he risked losing his liberty. At the hearing the officer indicated he was not seeking revocation of the order. The court refused legal aid. ‘Proceedings for breach of a community service order – and I would … Continue reading Regina v Harlow Justices ex parte Gumble: Admn 21 Oct 1997
The father applied to the court to have the media excluded from the hearing into the residence and contact claims relating to his daughter. Held: It was for the party seeking such an order to justify it. In deciding whether or not to exclude the press in the welfare or privacy interests of a party … Continue reading Child X (Residence and Contact- Rights of Media Attendance) (Rev 2): FD 14 Jul 2009
The Solicitor General sought the committal of the respondent for alleged contempt of court. There had been repeated litigation between the respondent and her former husband as to whether the children should live in Spain with the father or in Wales with the mother. An order, with penal notice attached requiring the respondent to return … Continue reading Jones, Re (Alleged Contempt of Court): FD 21 Aug 2013
Third Party Costs – Director of Insolvent Company (Organic Village) The Court considered the circumstances Limited in which a director and shareholder of an insolvent company may be personally liable for some or all of that company’s costs liabilities incurred in unsuccessful litigation, pursuant to s.51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981. The particular question … Continue reading Goknur v Aytacli: CA 13 Jul 2021
In each case the prisoners challenged their transfer to cellular confinement or segregation within prison or YOI, saying that the transfers infringed their rights under Article 6, saying that domestic law, either in itself or in conjunction with recent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, acknowledged that serving prisoners have a right to … Continue reading King, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: CA 27 Mar 2012
The claimants alleged that a connection between a member of the Restrictive Practices Court, who was to hear a complaint and another company, disclosed bias against them. She had not recused herself. Held: When asking whether material circumstances in a case might give rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias, the test was whether objectively … Continue reading In Re Medicaments and Related Classes of Goods (No 2); Director General of Fair Trading v Proprietary Association of Great Britain and Proprietary Articles Trade Association: CA 21 Dec 2000
The appellant complained that the system for considering the release of a life prisoner did not comply with the Convention when the decision was made by the Secretary of State and not by the Parole Board, or the court. The Board had recommended his release, but that had been overriden by the respondent. had not … Continue reading Black, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice: HL 21 Jan 2009
There was no violation of Article 6 where the statement of a co-habitee was read at the trial without her being called to give evidence but, in Austrian law, a co-habitee cannot be compelled to be a witness and the court said that the right on which . .
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The Lord Chief Justice had expressed his view as to the proper determinitive part of the defendant’s life sentence, but the Home Secretary had declined to give effect to it. Held: In the few remaining cases transitional between the former and newer systems for setting the sentence to be served by life prisoners, the Home … Continue reading Nejad, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: CA 3 Feb 2004
The defendants had published remarks on its website about the reliability of the claimant. When sued in defamation, they pleaded fair comment, but that was rejected by the Court of Appeal. Held: The defendants’ appeal succeeded, and the fair comment defence was re-instated. The phrase ‘honest comment’ should now be used to reflect the nature … Continue reading Spiller and Another v Joseph and Others: SC 1 Dec 2010
Fair Coment on Political Activities The defendant newspaper had published articles wrongly accusing the claimant, the former Prime Minister of Ireland of duplicity. The paper now appealed, saying that it should have had available to it a defence of qualified privilege because of the claimant’s status as a politician. Held: The appeal failed (Lords Hope … Continue reading Reynolds v Times Newspapers Ltd and others: HL 28 Oct 1999
The applicant had failed in appeals against conviction and sentence for offences of fraud and forgery before the Belgian Cour de Cassation. He complained that he had not enjoyed the right to a fair trial recognised by Article 6(1) of the Convention because a member of the Procureur general’s department, which was attached to the … Continue reading Delcourt v Belgium: ECHR 17 Jan 1970
The public right of navigation (PRN) is a right to public use of the river. The river may be used by the public for purposes of exercise and recreation as well as transport and commerce. At common law PRN cannot be lost by lack of use over time. ‘A public right of way on highways … Continue reading Wills Trustees v Cairngorm Canoeing and Sailing School: HL 1976
Appeals were brought complaining as to the apparent reversal of the burden of proof in road traffic cases and in cases under the Terrorism Acts. Was a legal or an evidential burden placed on a defendant? Held: Lord Bingham of Cornhill said: ‘The overriding concern is that a trial should be fair, and the presumption … Continue reading Sheldrake v Director of Public Prosecutions; Attorney General’s Reference No 4 of 2002: HL 14 Oct 2004
The claimant sought to enforce an arbitration award made in 1983. Time might otherwise have expired, but the claimants relied on a fax which they said was an acknowledgement of the debt, and also upon a finding in a Romanian court which created an issue estoppel. Held: A typed signature on a fax was capable … Continue reading Good Challenger Navegante S A v Metalexportimport SA: CA 24 Nov 2003
Claimants sought damages for personal injuries incurred when, in Pristina, Kosovo and during a riot, British soldiers on a UN peacekeeping expedition fired on a car. Held: The incidents occurred in the course of peace-keeping duties. It was not argued that they occurred in combat, and it was established that in cases of riot, soldiers … Continue reading Bici and Bici v Ministry of Defence: QBD 7 Apr 2004
The defendant had been wrongly convicted of IRA bombings. She said that the prosecution had failed to disclose evidence. Held: The prosecution’s forensic scientists are under a common law duty to disclose to the defence anything they may discover which may assist the defendant. ‘Non-disclosure is a potent source of injustice and even with the … Continue reading Regina v Ward (Judith): CACD 15 Jul 1992
(Plenary Court) The applicant was held in prison in the UK, pending extradition to the US to face allegations of murder, for which he faced the risk of the death sentence, which would be unlawful in the UK. If extradited, a representation would be made to the judge at the time of sentencing that the … Continue reading Soering v The United Kingdom: ECHR 7 Jul 1989
An application was made by a local authority to restrict publication of the name of a defendant in criminal proceedings in order to protect children in their care. The mother was accused of having assaulted the second respondent by knowingly transmitted HIV/Aids to him by having unprotected sex but hiding her HIV status. Held: The … Continue reading A Local Authority v W L W T and R; In re W (Children) (Identification: Restrictions on Publication): FD 14 Jul 2005
The defendant appealed sentences of ten years for indecency offences against young boys. He had a long history of such offending. The sentence was the maximum, and was declared by the judge to be an extended sentence. But for that, the appropriate sentence would have been three to four years. There must be a relationship … Continue reading Regina v Cleaver: CACD 14 Jul 1997
Appeal against conviction dismissed. Appeal against sentence for offences of false imprisonment, indecent assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The sentences were life imprisonment for the offence of false imprisonment, with six-and-a-half years’s being specified as the period to be served under section 34 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991, 10 years concurrently for … Continue reading Regina v Willoughby: CACD 5 Nov 1998
The appellant had been charged with and disciplined for a prison offence. He was refused legal assistance at his hearing, and it was accepted that the proceedings involved the determination of a criminal charge within the meaning of article 6 of the Convention, that the deputy controller was not an independent tribunal and that the … Continue reading Greenfield, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 16 Feb 2005
The Act required the occupier of a licensed racetrack to take all steps necessary to secure that, so long as a totalisator was being lawfully operated on the track, there was available for bookmakers space on the track where they could conveniently carry on bookmaking in connection with dog races run on the track on … Continue reading Cutler v Wandsworth Stadium Ltd: HL 1949
The defendant appealed convictions for sexual assault against four young girls. Held: The admissibility of ‘similar fact’ evidence depends upon the degree of its relevance. If only suggests propensity it is inadmissible. If it goes further and can be shown to be relevant to, and probative of, a particular issue in the case, then it … Continue reading Regina v Venn: CACD 1 Feb 2003
Evidence from 3rd Party Torture Inadmissible The applicants had been detained following the issue of certificates issued by the respondent that they posed a terrorist threat. They challenged the decisions of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission saying that evidence underlying the decisions had probably been obtained by torture committed by foreign powers, and should not … Continue reading A and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department (No 2): HL 8 Dec 2005
Anonymised Party to Proceedings The BBC challenged an order made by the Court of Session in judicial review proceedings, permitting the applicant review to delete his name and address and substituting letters of the alphabet, in the exercise (or, as the BBC argues, purported exercise) of a common law power. The court also gave directions … Continue reading A v British Broadcasting Corporation (Scotland): SC 8 May 2014
Twins were conjoined (Siamese). Medically, both could not survive, and one was dependent upon the vital organs of the other. Doctors applied for permission to separate the twins which would be followed by the inevitable death of one of them. The parents, devout Roman Catholics, resisted. Held: The parents’ views were subject to the overriding … Continue reading In Re A (Minors) (Conjoined Twins: Medical Treatment); aka In re A (Children) (Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation): CA 22 Sep 2000
Representative claims were made against the respondents, hospitals, pathologists etc with regard to the removal of organs from deceased children without the informed consent of the parents. They claimed under the tort of wrongful interference. Held: Organ removal when a post mortem had been ordered by the coroner was not tortious. In English law there … Continue reading AB and others v Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust: QBD 26 Mar 2004
The prisoner disputed the calculation of the date when she would become entitled to consideration for early release under a Home Detention Curfew. The Secretary of State appealed against a decision that his policy guidance was unlawful. Held: The appeal succeeded. Where several offences were imposed at the same time, those sentences under one year … Continue reading Noone, Regina (on the Application of) v HMP Drake Hall and Another: CA 17 Oct 2008
The mother had brought the child to the UK wrongfully. She had hidden their identity for more than a year. Upon discovering her, the father came to England and began proceedings for the child’s return to the US. Held: Because the child’s identity had been hidden, that period could not be counted as settled existence … Continue reading Cannon v Cannon: CA 19 Oct 2004
The applicant having been released on licence had his licence revoked. The decision had been made at a hearing which considered evidence on paper only, which he said was unfair. Held: The case law had maintained a proper distinction between the determination of a criminal charge and otherwise. The first required an oral hearing for … Continue reading Regina (Smith) v Parole Board (No 2): CA 31 Jul 2003
Inherent High Court power may restrain Publicity The claimant child’s mother was to be tried for the murder of his brother by poisoning with salt. It was feared that the publicity which would normally attend a trial, would be damaging to S, and an application was made for reporting restrictions to be applied to avoid … Continue reading In re S (a Child) (Identification: Restrictions on Publication): HL 28 Oct 2004
The appellants were magazines and journalists who published, after committal proceedings, the name of a witness, a member of the security services, who had been referred to as Colonel B during the hearing. An order had been made for his name not to be disclosed during the hearing, but the court had had no power … Continue reading Attorney-General v Leveller Magazine Ltd: HL 1 Feb 1979
Presumption in Favour of Open Proceedings There had been an unauthorised dissemination by the petitioner to third parties of the official shorthand writer’s notes of a nullity suit which had been heard in camera. An application was made for a committal for contempt. Held: The House equated the contempt to a breach of an injunction … Continue reading Scott v Scott: HL 5 May 1913
The claimant appealed from the refusal by the magistrate to issue summonses for the prosecution for blashemous libel of the Director General of the BBC and the producers of a show entitled ‘Jerry Springer – The Opera.’ Held: The gist of the crime of blasphemous libel is material relating to the Christian religion, or its … Continue reading Green, Regina (on the Application of) v The City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Thoday, Thompson: Admn 5 Dec 2007
The claimants had been detained under the 1971 Act, after completing sentences of imprisonment pending their return to their home countries under deportations recommended by the judges at trial, or chosen by the respondent. They challenged as unlawful the respondent’s, at first unpublished, policy introduced in 2006, that by default, those awaiting deportation should be … Continue reading Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: SC 23 Mar 2011
Challenge to decision not to prosecute senior Intelligence Service officials for alleged offences in connection with his unlawful rendition and mistreatment in Libya. The issue here was whether on the hearing of the application for judicial review, it would be open to the Court to receive closed material disclosed only to the court and a … Continue reading Belhaj and Another v Director of Public Prosecutions and Another: SC 4 Jul 2018
False Imprisonment Damages / Immigration Detention The respondent had held the claimant in custody, but had failed to follow its own procedures. The claimant appealed against the rejection of his claim of false imprisonment. He had overstayed his immigration leave, and after convictions had served a prison sentence. When about to be released, an order … Continue reading Kambadzi (previously referred to as SK (Zimbabwe)) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: SC 25 May 2011
(Gibraltar) The appellants sought to argue that the failure to allow an acquitted defendant any possible order for costs was a breach of the Constitution. Held: Section 8 of the Constitution, like its analogue article 6 of the European Convention, seeks to guarantee the procedural fairness of the criminal process. Though the Convention is not … Continue reading Her Majesty’s Attorney General for Gibraltar v Shimidzu (Berllaque, Intervenor): PC 28 Jun 2005
The defendant appealed conviction for inflicting grievous bodily harm on three women, by having unprotected sexual intercourse knowing that he was HIV positive, but without telling the women. Each contracted HIV. The allegation was that he had behaved recklessly on the basis that knowing that he was suffering from the HIV virus, and its consequences, … Continue reading Konzani, Regina v: CACD 17 Mar 2005
The applicant was a foreign national serving a long-term prison sentence. He complained that UK nationals would have had their case referred to the parole board before his. Held: The right to be referred to the parole board was a statutory right, which was not the same as an article 3 right to liberty and … Continue reading Secretary of State for the Home Department v Hindawi and Headley: CA 13 Oct 2004
The defendant appealed a sentence for contempt of court. The judge had imposed a sentence, and then stated that he was not to be released before a particular date. Held: The court was not free to impose such a condition. Calculation of release dates was governed by statute, which in this case allowed the defendant … Continue reading Thompson v Mitchell: CACD 23 Aug 2004
The defendant had committed a murder when aged 16, and after conviction sentenced to be detailed during Her Majesty’s Pleasure. His tarriff had been set at 18 years, reduced to 16 years after review. Held: ‘What is at issue is the general right to a ‘fair and public hearing’ in article 6(1). There is no … Continue reading Dudson, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: HL 28 Jul 2005
The accused had been charged with the murder of an infant who had been given into their care by the child’s mother after payment of a fee. They appealed after admission of evidence that several other infants had been received by the accused persons from other mothers and that their bodies were found buried in … Continue reading Makin v Attorney-General for New South Wales: PC 12 Dec 1893
The claimants had been imprisoned for many years before their convictions were quashed. They claimed compensation under the Act. The assessor said that there should be deducted from the award the living expenses they would have incurred if they had not been in prison. Held: The statutory scheme replaced an ex gratia scheme, and there … Continue reading Independent Assessor v O’Brien, Hickey, Hickey: CA 29 Jul 2004
The discretionary life-prisoner faced a parole board. The Secretary of State wished to present evidence, but wanted the witness to be protected. The Parole Board appointed special counsel to hear the evidence on behalf of the prisoner on terms that the prisoner was not to know of the evidence. The prisoner appealed. Held: The appeal … Continue reading Roberts v Parole Board: CA 28 Jul 2004
Two defendants appealed in respect of alleged offences under common law of causing a public nuisance. One had sent race hatred material, and the other bomb hoaxes, through the post. Both claimed that the offence was so ill defined as to be an infringement of their rights. Held: The offence of causing a public nuisance … Continue reading Goldstein, Rimmington v Regina: CACD 28 Nov 2003
The defendants had been required to enter into a recognisance to be of good behaviour after disrupting a hunt by blowing of a hunting horn. They were found to have unlawfully caused danger to the dogs. Though there had been no breach of the peace, they had acted contrac bonos mores. They complained that the … Continue reading Hashman and Harrup v The United Kingdom: ECHR 25 Nov 1999
The applicants, discretionary life prisoners, complained of a violation on the ground that they were not able to have the continued lawfulness of their detention decided by a court at reasonable intervals throughout their imprisonment. Held: A discretionary life sentence in English law was composed of a punitive element followed by a security element giving … Continue reading Thynne, Wilson and Gunnell v The United Kingdom: ECHR 25 Oct 1990
The court considered the required basis for a reasonable suspicion to found an arrest without a warrant: ‘The ‘reasonableness’ of the suspicion on which an arrest must be based forms an essential part of the safeguard against arbitrary arrest and detention which is laid down in Article 5(1)(c). The court agrees with the Commission and … Continue reading Fox, Campbell and Hartley v The United Kingdom: ECHR 30 Aug 1990
The threshold criterion for imprisonment that ‘so serious that only custodial sentence justified’ was not best described in terms of view of ‘right thinking members of the public’ but rather the court should look to the need to protect the public and other aims. A community penalty might in some cases be appropriate on a … Continue reading Regina v Howells, etc: CACD 30 Jul 1998
The plaintiff was serving a sentence of imprisonment. Her detention was correctly calculated in accordance with the law as understood. That method was later disapproved when the Divisional Court laid down (everyone has assumed correctly) a different method of calculation. If that new method of calculation was adopted the plaintiff had been detained for 59 … Continue reading Regina v Governor HM Prison Brockhill, ex parte Michelle Carol Evans (No 2): CA 19 Jun 1998
The prisoner had been sentenced to an extended term of five years imprisonment for indecent assault. He had been released, and then recalled for alleged breaches of his licence. The respondent appealed findings that such a recall was subject to article 5, and that his release would be mandatory under s44A(b) if his continued detention … Continue reading Regina (Sim) v Parole Board: CA 18 Dec 2003
Magistrates could not pass separate probation and community service sentences at same sentencing hearing, must allow for restrictions of combination orders Citations: Times 20-May-1998, [1998] EWHC Admin 469 Links: Bailii Statutes: Criminal Justice Act 1991 6 11 Criminal Sentencing Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.80821
The parties had lived together in a house owned in the defendant’s name and in which she claimed an interest. The claimant’s solicitors notified NCIS that they thought the defendant had acted illegally in setting off against his VAT liability the VAT on works carried out on his own property. Because of the delay which … Continue reading Bowman v Fels (Bar Council and Others intervening): CA 8 Mar 2005
The council had taken the applicant’s children into care alleging that the mother had harmed them. In the light of the subsequent cases casting doubt on such findings, the mother sought the return of her children. She applied now that the hearings be in public. Held: The applicant and her solicitors had already made significant … Continue reading Kent County Council v The Mother, The Father, B (By Her Children’s Guardian); Re B (A Child) (Disclosure): FD 19 Mar 2004
The claimants challenged the instruction that they must squat whilst undergoing a strip search in prison. A dog search had given cause to supect the presence of explosives in the wing, and the officers understood that such explosives might be hidden anally. Held: The common thread in all the cases has been the search to … Continue reading Regina v Carroll and Al-Hasan and Secretary of State for Home Department: Admn 16 Feb 2001
The applicant having been cautioned for an offence under the Companies Act 1985, he objected to being required to answer questions put to him in connection with the matter by the Director of the Serious Fraud Office under the 1987 Act. Held: The duty under the Act to answer SFO questions, continues even after the … Continue reading Regina v Director of Serious Fraud Office, ex Parte Smith: HL 15 Jul 1992
The defendant sought legal aid to defend an action to abate a statutory nuisance under the 1936 Act. Held: Such an action was criminal in nature. The action had been brought under section 99, but the imposition of a penalty under s94 was a criminal sentence. ‘On analysis, the position seem to be that proceedings … Continue reading Regina v Inner London Crown Court ex parte Bentham: QBD 1989
Administrative Discretion to be Used Reasonably The applicant challenged the manner of decision making as to the conditions which had been attached to its licence to open the cinema on Sundays. It had not been allowed to admit children under 15 years of age. The statute provided no appeal procedure, and the applicant sought a … Continue reading Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation: CA 10 Nov 1947
Once the punitive or tariff term of imprisonment on a convicted murderer, is completed, risk to life and limb provides the sole ground for continued detention. The Parole Board, being subject to directions from the Home Secretary, was not an independent tribunal which could satisfy the claimant’s right to a fair trial. Judges: Walker J … Continue reading Girling v Parole Board and Secretary of State for the Home Department: Admn 8 Apr 2005
The non-referral of lifers to the Parole Board till the minimum tariff had expired was unreasonable. A decision of the Parole Board, which is chaired by a High Court judge, can be the subject of judicial review. Citations: Times 06-Oct-1995, Independent 04-Oct-1995, [1995] 7 Admin LR 861 Statutes: Criminal Justice Act 1991, European Convention on … Continue reading Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Another, Ex Parte Norney and Others: QBD 6 Oct 1995
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, which the police investigated and in respect … Continue reading Osman v The United Kingdom: ECHR 28 Oct 1998
Upon the allegedly negligent release of the claimant from mental health care, she had, while in the midst of a serious psychotic episode, derived from the schizophrenia, killed her mother and been convicted of manslaughter. She now sought damages in negligence. The defendant relied upon a defence of illegality. Held: All the heads of claim … Continue reading Henderson v Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust: CA 3 Aug 2018
The deceased was a prisoner known to be at risk of committing suicide. Whilst in police custody he hanged himself in his prison cell. The Commissioner accepted that he was in breach of his duty of care to the deceased, but not that that breach was caustive of the death by suicide. Held: Police and … Continue reading Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis v Reeves (Joint Administratix of The Estate of Martin Lynch, Deceased): HL 15 Jul 1999
A diesel tank was in a yard which drained into a river. It was surrounded by a bund to contain spillage, but that protection was over ridden by an extension pipe from the tank to a drum outside the bund. Someone opened a tap on that pipe so that diesel flowed into the drum until … Continue reading Empress Car Company (Abertillery) Ltd v National Rivers Authority: HL 22 Jan 1998
The applicant sought a declaration that the defendant had acted in breach of the Act, in accepting sums by way of deposit, without being authorised, and had made prohibited statements to attract such deposits. Could a civil court make such a finding which would be equivalent to a finding of guilt of a criminal offence? … Continue reading Financial Services Authority v Rourke: ChD 19 Oct 2001
Presumption of Damage in Defamation is rebuttable The defendant complained that the presumption in English law that the victim of a libel had suffered damage was incompatible with his right to a fair trial. They said the statements complained of were repetitions of statements made by US authorities. The claimant had asserted that no more … Continue reading Dow Jones and Co Inc v Jameel: CA 3 Feb 2005
The defendant had been convicted and made subect to a confiscation order in 1996. A final order for enforcement was made in late 2002. The defendant said the delay in the enforcement proceedings was a breach of his right to a trial within a reasonable time. Held: The reasonable time guarantee afforded by Article 6.1 … Continue reading Lloyd v Bow Street Magistrates Court: Admn 8 Oct 2003
Reference to Parliamentary Papers behind Statute The inspector sought to tax the benefits in kind received by teachers at a private school in having their children educated at the school for free. Having agreed this was a taxable emolument, it was argued as to whether the taxable benefit was the cost to the employer, or … Continue reading Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart: HL 26 Nov 1992
Rehearing/Review – Little Difference on Appeal The appellant asked the Court to reverse a decision on the facts reached in the lower court. Held: The appeal failed (Majority decision). The court’s approach should be the same whether the case was dealt with as a rehearing or as a review. Tanfern was limited to appeals from … Continue reading Assicurazioni Generali Spa v Arab Insurance Group (BSC): CA 13 Nov 2002
The court was asked whether it was lawful for the Secretary of State to make subordinate legislation imposing a cap on the amount of welfare benefits which can be received by claimants in non-working households, equivalent to the net median earnings of working households. The challenge was under the 1998 Act on the basis that … Continue reading SG and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 18 Mar 2015
Grand Chamber – The appellant claimed damages for being held in prison beyond the term of his sentence. Having been released on licence from a life sentence for murder, he was re-sentenced for a cheque fraud. He was not released after the end of the sentence he served for that offence. He said there was … Continue reading Stafford v The United Kingdom: ECHR 28 May 2002
Several lone parents challenged the benefits cap, saying that it was discriminatory. Held: (Hale, Kerr LL dissenting) The parents’ appeals failed. The legislation had a clear impact on lone parents and their children. The intention was to encourage claimants back into work. It was said that thus contradicted the other policy of providing no free … Continue reading DA and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 15 May 2019
The respondent’s child lived with the estranged father for most of each week. She was obliged to contribute child support. She now lived with a woman, and complained that because her relationship was homosexual, she had been asked to pay more than someone in a heterosexual relationship. Held: The claim failed. The regulations had now … Continue reading Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v M: HL 8 Mar 2006
Club, not members, prosecutable for breach The Environment Agency appealed against dismissal of charges against the defendants who were officers in an unincorporated members’ golf club on whose land there had been pollution. The judge had ruled that the unincorporated association could have been prosecuted under the 1978 Act, and that a prosecution would not … Continue reading Regina v RL and JF: CACD 28 Aug 2008
