The applicants were prisoners who sought judicial review of the use made by the Parole Board of its powers to review their sentences, saying that the Parole Board was not sufficiently independent of the government to guarantee their human rights.
Held: The applications succeeded, and the court gave a declaration that the applicants’ rights under article 5.4 had been infringed. Several recent Acts had together moved away from the courts the effective power to decide sentences, and the release of a prisoner was now effectively in the hands of the parole board. These additional powers required a re-examination of the independece of the Board. Whilst nobody doubted the independence of mind of the Board, the right required the satisfaction of the common law test of procedural fairness by the absence of apparent bias. Responsibility for the Board had recently been transferred to the Ministry of Justice, whose departmental sponsorship of the Board combined with the lack of security of tenure of its members meant that there was now no longer a sufficient independence. There were now regular confidential meetings between the Board and the Department, and its electronic communications were integrated with the ministry.
Judges:
Hughes LJ, Treacy J
Citations:
[2007] EWHC 2277 (Admin), Times 18-Oct-2007
Links:
Statutes:
European Convention on Human Rights 5.4, Criminal Justice Act 1991, Crime (Sentences) Act 1998, Criminal Jutice Act 2003, Criminal Justice Act 1967 59
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Prisons, Human Rights
Updated: 04 December 2022; Ref: scu.260002