Category: Human Rights

The Financial Services Authority v William Matthews Patricia Janet Matthews: ChD 21 Dec 2004

The Authority sought a finding that the respondents had infringed their duties in providing financial advice with respect to the moving of personal pensions and had failed to comply with an order an order for compensation. The defendants asserted that the award made was incorrect and infringed their human rights.
Held: The parties had been notified of the time limits for appealing the original findings, and had not appealed. There had been no procedural unfairness. The order stood. As to the amount payable, in view of the defendants’ limited means, an order foir a top-up rather than a re-instatement would be substituted for the original.

Judges:

Smith The Honourable Mr Justice Peter Smith

Citations:

[2004] EWHC 2966 (Ch)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 382

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Wilson v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; Wilson v First County Trust Ltd (No 2) HL 10-Jul-2003
The respondent appealed against a finding that the provision which made a loan agreement completely invalid for lack of compliance with the 1974 Act was itself invalid under the Human Rights Act since it deprived the respondent lender of its . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Financial Services, Human Rights

Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.220950

Szuluk, Regina (on the Application of) v HM Prison Full Sutton: Admn 20 Feb 2004

The prisoner was receiving long term health treatment, and objected that his correspondence with the doctor was being read. He was held as a category B prisoner but in a prison also holding category A prisoners, whose mail would be read. The prison settled upon a routine of the prison doctor reading the mail.
Held: The case was truly exceptional, and the prison should revert to its initial policy which did not require a pre-reading of the correspondence.

Judges:

Collins J

Citations:

[2004] EWHC 514 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 8

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Silver And Others v The United Kingdom ECHR 25-Mar-1983
There had been interference with prisoners’ letters by prison authorities. The Commission considered Standing Orders and Circular Instructions in relation to restrictions on correspondence. The rules were not available to prisoners and were . .
Cited – Z v Finland ECHR 25-Feb-1997
A defendant had appealed against his conviction for manslaughter and related offences by deliberately subjecting women to the risk of being infected by him with HIV virus. The applicant, Z, had been married to the defendant, and infected by him with . .

Cited by:

Appeal from – Regina on the Application of Szuluk v The Governor of HMP Full Sutton and the Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 29-Oct-2004
Right of prison to read correspondence with doctor . .
At administrative court – Edward Szuluk v United Kingdom ECHR 3-Jun-2009
The prisoner complained that the prison had monitored his conversations and communications with his doctor.
Held: The actions were a violation of the prisoner’s article 8 rights. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Prisons, Human Rights

Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.194914

The Secretary of State for Health, Dorset County Council v The Personal Representative of Christopher Beeson: CA 18 Dec 2002

The deceased had been adjudged by his local authority to have deprived himself of his house under the Regulations. Complaint was made that the procedure did not allow an appeal and therefore deprived him of his rights under article 6.
Held: The applicant’s human rights were engaged by the decision. When looking at whether judicial review was a sufficient remedy, the court must look to the statutory context. The first recommendation by the panel lacked the necessary independence, but that decision was not rendered valueless. The availability of judicial review would very likely cure any defect in the initial decision in the absence of some special feature. Laws LJ said that there is some danger of undermining legal certainty by excessive debates over how many angels can stand on the head of the article 6 pin.
Laws LJ said: ‘The basis of judicial review rests in the free-standing principle that every action of a public body must be justified by law, and at common law the High Court is the arbiter of all claimed justifications.’

Judges:

Lord Justice Laws, Lord Justice Waller, The President

Citations:

Times 02-Jan-2003, Gazette 13-Mar-2003, [2002] EWCA Civ 1812

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 6, National Assistance (Assessment of Resources) Regulations 1992 (1992 No 2977) 25, Local Authority Social Services (Complaints Procedure) Order 1990 (1990 No 2244) 7B(3)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Regina (Holding and Barnes plc) v Secretary of State for Environment Transport and the Regions; Regina (Alconbury Developments Ltd and Others) v Same and Others HL 9-May-2001
Power to call in is administrative in nature
The powers of the Secretary of State to call in a planning application for his decision, and certain other planning powers, were essentially an administrative power, and not a judicial one, and therefore it was not a breach of the applicants’ rights . .
Cited – McLellan v Bracknell Forest Borough Council; Reigate Borough Council v Benfield and Another CA 16-Oct-2001
The tenant was issued with a notice to quit for unpaid rent, within the first year, during an ‘introductory tenancy.’ She sought judicial review on the basis that the reduced security of tenure infringed her human rights.
Held: Review was . .
Cited – London Borough of Tower Hamlets v Runa Begum CA 6-Mar-2002
The applicant had applied for rehousing as a homeless person. She was offered interim accommodation but refused it. Her case was reviewed, and her reasons rejected. She claimed the procedure was unfair, in that the authority was looking at decisions . .
Appeal from – Regina (on the Application of the Personal Representatives of Christopher Beeson) v Dorset County Council and Another QBD 30-Nov-2001
The Council had provided financial assistance for the care of the claimant’s father before his death in a residential home. Those costs were in part recoverable as a civil debt. His father had given him the house by deed of gift. The regulations . .

Cited by:

Appealed to – Regina (on the Application of the Personal Representatives of Christopher Beeson) v Dorset County Council and Another QBD 30-Nov-2001
The Council had provided financial assistance for the care of the claimant’s father before his death in a residential home. Those costs were in part recoverable as a civil debt. His father had given him the house by deed of gift. The regulations . .
Cited – Runa Begum v London Borough of Tower Hamlets (First Secretary of State intervening) HL 13-Feb-2003
The appellant challenged the procedure for reviewing a decision made as to the suitability of accomodation offered to her after the respondent had accepted her as being homeless. The procedure involved a review by an officer of the council, with an . .
Cited – Feld, Lord Mayor and Citizens of the City of Westminster v London Borough of Barnet, Lord Mayor and Citizens of the City of Westminster CA 18-Oct-2004
The applicants sought housing as homeless people. After the refusal of their applications, they sought a review, and in due course a second review. That second review was conducted by the same officer who had conducted the first. The appellant . .
Cited – Tomlinson and Others v Birmingham City Council SC 17-Feb-2010
The appellant asked whether the statutory review of a housing authority’s decision on whether he was intentionally homeless was a determination of a civil right, and if so whether the review was of the appropriate standard. The claimant said that . .
Cited – Michalak v General Medical Council and Others SC 1-Nov-2017
Dr M had successfully challenged her dismissal and recovered damages for unfair dismissal and race discrimination. In the interim, Her employer HA had reported the dismissal to the respondent who continued their proceedings despite the decision in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Administrative, Human Rights, Judicial Review

Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.178524

Young, James and Webster v The United Kingdom: ECHR 13 Aug 1981

Employees claimed religious objections to being obliged to members of a Trades Union.
Held: It is the obligation of states which have ratified the Convention to secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms which it protects.

Judges:

Wiarda P

Citations:

7806/77, 7601/76, (1981) 4 EHRR 38, [1981] ECHR 4

Links:

Worldlii, Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 11

Jurisdiction:

Human Rights

Cited by:

Cited – Parochial Church Council of the Parish of Aston Cantlow and Wilmcote with Billesley, Warwickshire v Wallbank and another HL 26-Jun-2003
Parish Councils are Hybrid Public Authorities
The owners of glebe land were called upon as lay rectors to contribute to the cost of repairs to the local church. They argued that the claim was unlawful by section 6 of the 1998 Act as an act by a public authority incompatible with a Convention . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for Education and Employment and others ex parte Williamson and others HL 24-Feb-2005
The appellants were teachers in Christian schools who said that the blanket ban on corporal punishment interfered with their religious freedom. They saw moderate physical discipline as an essential part of educating children in a Christian manner. . .
see also – Young, James And Webster v The United Kingdom ECHR 18-Oct-1982
Hudoc Judgment (Just satisfaction) Pecuniary damage – financial award; Non-pecuniary damage – financial award; Costs and expenses award – Convention proceedings
ECHR . .
Cited – Parkwood Leisure Ltd v Alemo-Herron and Others SC 15-Jun-2011
The claimants had been employed by a local authority and then transferred to the respondents. They had had the benefit that their terms of employment were subject to collective agreement. The respondent was not part of the negotiation of later . .
Cited – AXA General Insurance Ltd and Others v Lord Advocate and Others SC 12-Oct-2011
Standing to Claim under A1P1 ECHR
The appellants had written employers’ liability insurance policies. They appealed against rejection of their challenge to the 2009 Act which provided that asymptomatic pleural plaques, pleural thickening and asbestosis should constitute actionable . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights

Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.164895

Rahmatullah and Another v The Ministry of Defence and Another: QBD 21 Nov 2019

The claimants were Pakistani nationals both of whom alleged that they were captured by British forces in Iraq in February 2004. They contend that they were subsequently handed over to United States’ control and, thereafter, taken to Afghanistan where they were subjected to prolonged detention, torture and mistreatment.

Judges:

Turner J

Citations:

[2019] EWHC 3172 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Human Rights, Armed Forces

Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.645966

Director of Public Prosecutions v Ziegle and Others: Admn 22 Jan 2019

Appeals by case stated from failures at trials of charges of obstructing the public highway in the course of protests at the opening of a Defence and Security fair.
Held: The DPP’s appeals were granted for the first four defendants but rejected for the second group as being without jurisdiction. As to the first four cases: ‘the assessment as to proportionality by the District Judge was in all the circumstances wrong. This is because (i) he took into account certain considerations which were irrelevant; and (ii) the overall conclusion was one that was not sustainable on the undisputed facts before him, in particular that the carriageway to the Excel Centre was completely blocked and that this was so for significant periods of time, between approximately 80 and 100 minutes.’
The Court gave a helpful rubric setting out the questions which will need to be considered when Articles 10 or 11 are applied in the context of s.137 of the Highways Act 1980.

Judges:

Singh LJ, Farbey J

Citations:

[2019] EWHC 71 (Admin), [2019] WLR(D) 81, [2020] QB 253, [2019] 2 WLR 1451

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Highways Act 1980 137

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Cited – Dolan and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Another CA 1-Dec-2020
Lockdown Measures not Ultra Vires the 1984 Act
The appellants, a businessman, and mother, appealed from refusal of leave to challenge regulations made in response to the Covid-19 pandemic on 26 March 2020 and since which introduced what was commonly known as a ‘lockdown’ in England. They . .
Applied – Leigh and Others v Commissioner of The Police of The Metropolis and Another Admn 12-Mar-2021
No declaration to require police to allow vigil
The claimants requested an interim declaration so as to allow them to hold a peaceful vigil on Clapham Common in memory of the late Sarah Everard. They challenged the failure of the respondent to permit it as an exercise of their human rights.
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Criminal Practice, Human Rights

Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.633146

C, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: SC 1 Nov 2017

This case is about how the Department for Work and Pensions (the DWP), in administering our complex welfare benefits system, treats people with a reassigned gender, and specifically whether certain policies conflict (1) with the Gender Recognition Act 2004; (2) with the Human Rights Act 1998; or (3) with the Equality Act 2010. The claimant was distressed that the respondent’s computer system gave access to her historical gender despite the issue of a gender recognition certificate under the 2004 Act.
Held: The Retention and SRC policies are not inconsistent with, or prohibited by, any provision of the Gender Recognition Act 2004.
The courts below were entitled to reach the conclusion that the CIS Retention policy was a proportionate means of achieving its legitimate aims and I share their view. In reaching this conclusion, I in no way seek to minimise the importance to the appellant and others in her situation of the intrusion into her privacy which is entailed by the policy. For her, and for others, it must be good news that the Department has taken their concerns seriously, and that they will be differently catered for when Universal Credit is rolled out throughout the country.
Retaining details of earlier identities was not directly discriminatory because the respondent retained such information about all claimants.
‘ the concerns which the appellant has raised before and during these proceedings are very real and important to her, and no doubt to other transgender customers of the DWP. The proceedings have already brought about some change in DWP policy and no doubt the DWP will continue to consider how the service it offers to transgender customers could be improved. The introduction of Universal Credit is an opportunity to do this. But for all the reasons given earlier the Retention and SCR policies are not unlawful under either the Human Rights Act 1998 or the Equality Act 2010 and this appeal must be dismissed.’

Judges:

Baroness Hale of Richmond PSC, Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore, Lord Wilson, Lord Carnwath, Lord Hughes JJSC

Citations:

[2017] UKSC 72

Links:

Bailii, WLRD

Statutes:

Equality Act 2010 19, Gender Recognition Act 2004 9 22, Human Rights Act 1998

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

At First Instance – C, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Another Admn 18-Jul-2014
The court was asked as to the extent to which the State should retain personal information about citizens, and whether its policies or practices for doing so comply with the human rights of those citizens. It arose in the instant case in a . .
Appeal from – C, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions CA 9-Feb-2016
The Court was asked whether, in the context of awarding Jobseeker’s Allowance, the State has unjustifiably interfered with the right of transgender persons to have information about their gender reassignment kept private.
Held: The appeal . .
Cited – Goodwin v The United Kingdom ECHR 11-Jul-2002
The claimant was a post operative male to female trans-sexual. She claimed that her human rights were infringed when she was still treated as a man for National Insurance contributions purposes, where she continued to make payments after the age at . .
Cited – Bellinger v Bellinger HL 10-Apr-2003
Transgender Male to Female not to marry as Female
The parties had gone through a form of marriage, but Mrs B had previously undergone gender re-assignment surgery. Section 11(c) of the 1973 Act required a marriage to be between a male and a female. It was argued that the section was incompatible . .
Cited – J v C and E (a Child) (Void Marriage: Status of Children) CA 15-May-2006
The parties had lived together as a married couple. They had had a child together by artificial insemination. It was then revealed that Mr J was a woman. The parties split up, and Mr J applied for an order for contact with the child.
Held: The . .
Cited – Identoba And Others v Georgia ECHR 12-May-2015
The Strasbourg court found a breach of article 3 where the authorities had failed to protect LGBTI demonstrators from attack by homophobic counter-demonstrators. . .
Cited – Thlimmenos v Greece ECHR 6-Apr-2000
(Grand Chamber) The applicant was a Jehovah’s Witness who had been convicted of insubordination under the Military Criminal Code for refusing to wear a military uniform at a time of general mobilisation. He was subsequently refused appointment as a . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Discrimination, Human Rights, Administrative

Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.598453

C, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Another: Admn 18 Jul 2014

The court was asked as to the extent to which the State should retain personal information about citizens, and whether its policies or practices for doing so comply with the human rights of those citizens. It arose in the instant case in a heightened form because the information relates to the sensitive personal data of those who have had, or are in the process of having, gender reassignment. The result was that though having a gender recognition certificate, the claimant’s gender re-assignment history was available to DWP staff she dealt with.
Held: The policies in place were not sufficiently clear, precise and accessible to be ‘in accordance with the law’ for the purpose of justifying them under article 8(2) and granted a declaration to that effect. However, they pursued the legitimate aims of enabling accurate calculations of state pension entitlement and of reducing opportunities for identity theft and benefit fraud and were a proportionate means of doing so. It was more doubtful whether the SCR policy even engaged article 8(2), as it was designed to protect privacy, rather than to interfere with it, although it did tend to have the opposite effect of drawing attention to transgender customers; but he held that it was in any event justified by the need to protect DWP staff. Simon J rejected the claim based on direct discrimination, because the appellant was not treated less favourably than other customers because of her gender reassignment. He was prepared to assume that the policies were indirectly discriminatory, in that they put transgender customers at a particular disadvantage when compared with others, but they were justified under the 2010 Act for the same reasons that they were justified under the Convention.

Judges:

Simon J

Citations:

[2014] EWHC 2403 (Admin)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 8 14, Equality Act 2010

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

Appeal from – C, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions CA 9-Feb-2016
The Court was asked whether, in the context of awarding Jobseeker’s Allowance, the State has unjustifiably interfered with the right of transgender persons to have information about their gender reassignment kept private.
Held: The appeal . .
At First Instance – C, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions SC 1-Nov-2017
This case is about how the Department for Work and Pensions (the DWP), in administering our complex welfare benefits system, treats people with a reassigned gender, and specifically whether certain policies conflict (1) with the Gender Recognition . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Administrative, Discrimination

Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.551941

OPO v MLA and Another: QBD 18 Jul 2014

A boy now sought an interim injunction to restrain his father, the defendant classical musician, from publishing his autobiography which mentioned him. The book would say that the father had suffered sexual abuse as a child at school.
Held: OPO’s claim was an attempt by the mother to stop the father from selling his life story to the public because she believes that it would traumatise their child if he were to learn about it. He found that the danger to the child was not the publication of the Work but the fact that extracts from it would become available on the internet: ‘The factual evidence is that it is most unlikely that the claimant would come into possession of the book as such: but that he is a bright 11 year old who does Google searches on his father which would lead him to reviews of the book, extracts from it or references to its contents in (for example) his father’s Wikipedia entry. In a witness statement, filed during the hearing before me, the mother states that the claimant found a reference to his father having been abused as a child and asked her what that meant. The mother has blocked certain sites on the claimant’s computer but of course will not have the same degree of control over what he might view at school or elsewhere.’
There was no cause of action for MPI because the information was about MLA, not about the private lives of OPO or his mother.
There was no cause of action in negligence on the grounds of policy. Negligence requires a duty of care, breach of the duty of care and damage. The judge held that on policy grounds the law did not impose a duty of care on a parent to his child in respect of matters arising out of the child’s upbringing.

Judges:

Bean J

Citations:

[2014] EWHC 2468 (QB)

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights 8 10

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Cited – Wilkinson v Downton 8-May-1997
Thomas Wilkinson, the landlord of a public house, went off by train, leaving his wife Lavinia behind the bar. A customer of the pub, Downton played a practical joke on her. He told her, falsely, that her husband had been involved in an accident and . .
Cited – Wainwright and another v Home Office HL 16-Oct-2003
The claimant and her son sought to visit her other son in Leeds Prison. He was suspected of involvement in drugs, and therefore she was subjected to strip searches. There was no statutory support for the search. The son’s penis had been touched . .
Cited – OPO v MLA and Another QBD 18-Jul-2014
A boy now sought an interim injunction to restrain his father, the defendant classical musician, from publishing his autobiography which mentioned him. The book would say that the father had suffered sexual abuse as a child at school.
Held: . .
Cited – Murray v Express Newspapers Plc and Another ChD 7-Aug-2007
The claimant, now aged four and the son of a famous author, was photographed by use of a long lens, but in a public street. He now sought removal of the photograph from the defendant’s catalogue, and damages for breach of confidence.
Held: The . .
Cited – Murray v Big Pictures (UK) Ltd; Murray v Express Newspapers CA 7-May-2008
The claimant, a famous writer, complained on behalf of her infant son that he had been photographed in a public street with her, and that the photograph had later been published in a national newspaper. She appealed an order striking out her claim . .
Cited – ZH (Tanzania) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 1-Feb-2011
The respondent had arrived and claimed asylum. Three claims were rejected, two of which were fraudulent. She had two children by a UK citizen, and if deported the result would be (the father being unsuitable) that the children would have to return . .
Cited – Wong v Parkside Health NHS Trust and Another CA 16-Nov-2001
The claimant had sued her former employer for post-traumatic stress resulting from alleged harassment at her place of work. The claimant appealed against an order refusing damages. The court had held that outside the 1997 Act which was not in force . .
Cited – Campbell v Mirror Group Newspapers Ltd (MGN) (No 1) HL 6-May-2004
The claimant appealed against the denial of her claim that the defendant had infringed her right to respect for her private life. She was a model who had proclaimed publicly that she did not take drugs, but the defendant had published a story . .
Cited – Ash and Another v McKennitt and others CA 14-Dec-2006
The claimant was a celebrated Canadian folk musician. The defendant, a former friend, published a story of their close friendship. The claimant said the relationship had been private, and publication infringed her privacy rights, and she obtained an . .
Cited – In re Guardian News and Media Ltd and Others; HM Treasury v Ahmed and Others SC 27-Jan-2010
Proceedings had been brought to challenge the validity of Orders in Council which had frozen the assets of the claimants in those proceedings. Ancillary orders were made and confirmed requiring them not to be identified. As the cases came to the . .
Cited – ZH (Tanzania) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 1-Feb-2011
The respondent had arrived and claimed asylum. Three claims were rejected, two of which were fraudulent. She had two children by a UK citizen, and if deported the result would be (the father being unsuitable) that the children would have to return . .
Cited – ZH (Tanzania) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 1-Feb-2011
The respondent had arrived and claimed asylum. Three claims were rejected, two of which were fraudulent. She had two children by a UK citizen, and if deported the result would be (the father being unsuitable) that the children would have to return . .
Cited – ETK v News Group Newspapers Ltd CA 19-Apr-2011
The claimant appealed against refusal of an injunction to restrain the defendant newspaper from publishing his name in connection with a forthcoming article. The claimant had had an affair with a co-worker. Both were married. The relationship ended, . .
Cited – Cream Holdings Limited and others v Banerjee and others HL 14-Oct-2004
On her dismissal from the claimant company, Ms Banerjee took confidential papers revealing misconduct to the local newspaper, which published some. The claimant sought an injunction to prevent any further publication. The defendants argued that the . .

Cited by:

Cited – OPO v MLA and Another CA 9-Oct-2014
The claimant child sought to prevent publication by his father of an autobiography which, he said, would be likely to cause him psychological harm. The father was well known classical musician who said that he had himself suffered sexual abuse as a . .
Cited – OPO v MLA and Another QBD 18-Jul-2014
A boy now sought an interim injunction to restrain his father, the defendant classical musician, from publishing his autobiography which mentioned him. The book would say that the father had suffered sexual abuse as a child at school.
Held: . .
Appeal From – OPO v MLA and Another CA 9-Oct-2014
The claimant child sought to prevent publication by his father of an autobiography which, he said, would be likely to cause him psychological harm. The father was well known classical musician who said that he had himself suffered sexual abuse as a . .
At First Instance – Rhodes v OPO and Another SC 20-May-2015
The mother sought to prevent a father from publishing a book about her child’s life. It was to contain passages she said may cause psychological harm to the 12 year old son. Mother and son lived in the USA and the family court here had no . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Media, Human Rights

Updated: 01 October 2022; Ref: scu.553269