North Yorkshire Police Authority, Regina (on The Application of) v The Independent Police Complaints Commission: Admn 8 Jul 2010

No Review of IPCC’s Decision to Investigate

A complainant wanted the police force to investigate his mother’s treatment in a care home. When a decision was made that no criminal activity had been revealed, he asked the Police Authority to investigate, but they declined saying that the issue raised related to direction and control and was not one they could accept to deal with. The Police Authority now sought judicial review of the decision of the IPCC that it should have accepted the complaint.
Held: The request was refused. The court did not accept the argument by the respondent that ‘conduct’ in section 12 of the 2002 Act was to be read as misconduct: ‘The word ‘conduct’ in its ordinary or natural meaning, which is that of behaviour, does not carry with it the notion that the behaviour must be of a particular quality, whether good or bad.’ The term ‘direction and control’ in this context ‘is essentially concerned with matters which are of a general nature. On this basis, a decision by a chief officer which is confined to a particular subject falls outside the scope of direction and control.’

Langan QC J
[2010] EWHC 1690 (Admin), [2011] 3 All ER 106, [2012] PTSR 268
Bailii
Police Reform Act 2002 9 10 12
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, Ex parte Blackburn CA 1968
Answerability of Chief Constables
The constitutional status of the Commissioner had never been defined, either by statute or by the courts. By common law police officers owe to the general public a duty to enforce the criminal law. The court considered the extent to which a court . .
Cited – Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire HL 28-Apr-1987
No General ty of Care Owed by Police
The mother of a victim of the Yorkshire Ripper claimed in negligence against the police alleging that they had failed to satisfy their duty to exercise all reasonable care and skill to apprehend the perpetrator of the murders and to protect members . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of Sussex, ex Parte International Trader’s Ferry Limited HL 2-Apr-1998
Chief Constable has a Wide Discretion on Resources
Protesters sought to prevent the appellant’s lawful trade exporting live animals. The police provided assistance, but then restricted it, pleading lack of resources. The appellants complained that this infringed their freedom of exports under . .
Cited – Herd, Regina (on The Application of) v Independent Police Complaints Commission Admn 12-Oct-2009
The claimant had sought to lodge with the police authority a complaint about the way the Suffolk Constabulary regarding his criminal record. He had wanted an older conviction to be ‘stepped down’ and complained of what he believed to have been an . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.420426

Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co (Europe) Ltd and Another v The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime: ComC 12 Sep 2013

In the lead case, Sony’s warehouse at Enfield had been severely damaged in what were said to be riots in August 2011. The court considered preliminary issues as to whether the events constituted a riot within the 1886 Act, and the extent of damages claimable under the 1886 Act, and in particular whether consequential losses were payable.
Held: It was cear that the statutory elements were in place, thought the court considered more carefully wether the rioters were, within the Act ‘tumultuosuly assembled together’.
Held: As to damages, these were limited to damage to property, and did not extend to consequential losses.
Simple acts of theft would not go to make up a riot. There had to be shown some additional apparent intention to damage property. In this case such an intention had generally been shown.

Flaux J
[2013] EWHC 2734 (Comm), [2013] WLR(D) 356
Bailii, WLRD
Riot (Damages) Act 1886
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – The Kate 1899
The Kate was totally lost in a collision with the defendants’ ship, whilst on the ballast leg of a charterparty. The issue was whether in a case of total loss as opposed to partial loss of a ship without a cargo, the plaintiffs could recover only . .

Cited by:
At ComC – Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co (Europe) Ltd and Others v Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime CA 20-May-2014
The appellant had suffered damage in a riot, and, under the 1886 Act, the respondent was liable to pay compensation.
Held: The MOPC was liable to pay compensation by way of indemnity. Analysis of section 2(1) suggested compensation for loss . .
At ComC – The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime v Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co (Europe) Ltd and Others SC 20-Apr-2016
The Court considered the quantification of damages to be awarded to a business suffering under riots under the 1886 Act, and in particular whether such recoverable losses included compensation for consequential losses, including loss of profits and . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Damages

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.515244

Beghal v Director of Public Prosecutions: SC 22 Jul 2015

Questions on Entry must be answered

B was questioned at an airport under Schedule 7 to the 2000 Act, and required to answer questions asked by appropriate officers for the purpose set out. She refused to answer and was convicted of that refusal , contrary to paragraph 18 of that Schedule. She appealed, saying that Schedule 7 was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and in particular with articles 8 5 and 6.
Held: Her appeal failed (Lord Kerr dissenting). Althought the detention and questioning was an interference with her humand rights, that interference was in accordance with a law providing sufficient protections, and was proportionate and had a proper founding in the need to prevent and detect terrorism. The detention had been for no longer than was necessary for these purposes. Answers given under such questioning should not be expected to put her at risk of prosecution, since they would in all likelihood not be admissible under s78 of the 1984 Act.
Lord Hughes said: ‘The Schedule 7 powers are patently not aimed at the obtaining of information for the purpose of prosecuting either the person questioned or his spouse. Whilst that does not by itself mean that there is no real risk that such information could be so used subsequently, it is an indicator that the process of information gathering is not to be limited by the operation of privilege. The reality is that Schedule 7 powers would be rendered very largely nugatory if privilege applied. The necessary implication is that it does not.
Lord Kerr said: ‘The opportunity to exercise a coercive power in an arbitrary or discriminatory fashion is antithetical to its legality’

Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury PSC, Lord Dyson MR, Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore, Lord Hughes, Lord Hodge JJSC
[2015] UKSC 49, [2015] WLR(D) 330, [2016] AC 88, [2015] HRLR 15, [2015] 2 Cr App R 34, [2016] 1 All ER 483, [2015] 3 WLR 344, UKSC 2013/0243
Bailii, WLRD, Bailii Summary, SC, Sc Summary
Terrorism Act 2000, European Convention on Human Rights 8 5 6, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 78
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Beghal v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 28-Aug-2013
The court considered the compatibility of the powers in Schedule 7 of the 2000 Act to ‘stop, question, and search’ with a detainee’s human rights.
Held: The powers were valid and required. . .
Cited – Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom ECHR 4-Dec-2008
(Grand Chamber) The applicants complained that on being arrested on suspicion of offences, samples of their DNA had been taken, but then despite being released without conviction, the samples had retained on the Police database.
Held: . .
Cited – MM v The United Kingdom ECHR 13-Nov-2012
ECHR The applicant complained about the retention and disclosure in the context of a criminal record check of data concerning a caution she received from the police. he applicant, who lived in Northern Ireland, . .
Cited – Regina v Boyes 1860
A witness, an accomplice in a criminal offence, who has received the pardon of the Crown under the Great Seal for that offence, has no privilege of refusing to answer questions relating to the offence, which may tend to criminate himself. He is . .
Cited – Regina v Hertfordshire County Council, ex parte Green Environmental Industries Ltd and Another HL 17-Feb-2000
A notice was given to the holder of a waste disposal licence to require certain information to be provided on pain of prosecution. The provision of such information could also then be evidence against the provider of the commission of a criminal . .
Cited – Rotaru v Romania ECHR 4-May-2000
Grand Chamber – The applicant, a lawyer, complained of a violation of his right to respect for his private life on account of the use against him by the Romanian Intelligence Service of a file which contained information about his conviction for . .
Cited – Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation v Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Re Westinghouse Electric Corpn Uranium Contract Litigation MDL Docket No 235 (No 2) HL 1977
The court considered a claim that a party was not compelled to give evidence where it might incriminate him: ‘No one is bound to furnish information against himself. It [the common law] says: ‘If a witness claims the protection of the court, on the . .
Cited – United States v Ramsey 6-Jun-1977
United States Supreme Court – Title 19 U.S.C. ss 482 and implementing postal regulations authorize customs officials to inspect incoming international mail when they have a ‘reasonable cause to suspect’ that the mail contains illegally imported . .
Cited – Rank Film Distributors v Video Information Centre CA 1980
The plaintiff film companies accused the defendants of pirating their films. They obtained Anton Piller orders which required the defendants to permit the plaintiffs to enter their premises to inspect and remove any unauthorised films, and three . .
Cited – Regina v Simmons 1988
(Supreme Court of Canada) A contraband search based on reasonable suspicion of the presence of smuggled material is an exception to the usual requirements for searches imposed by section 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Dickson CJ said: . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for The Home Department Ex Parte Simms HL 8-Jul-1999
Ban on Prisoners talking to Journalists unlawful
The two prisoners, serving life sentences for murder, had had their appeals rejected. They continued to protest innocence, and sought to bring their campaigns to public attention through the press, having oral interviews with journalists without . .
Cited – Amann v Switzerland ECHR 16-Feb-2000
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 8 with regard to interception of telephone call; Violation of Art. 8 with regard to creation and storing of information card; Preliminary objection . .
Cited – Amann v Switzerland ECHR 16-Feb-2000
(Grand Chamber) Complaint as to non-disclosure of prosecution evidence.
Held: The holding and use of the information in question had not been ‘in accordance with the law’, as required by article 8(2), because of the absence from the relevant . .
Cited – Gillan and Quinton v The United Kingdom ECHR 12-Jan-2010
The claimants had been stopped by the police using powers in the 2000 Act. They were going to a demonstration outside an arms convention. There was no reason given for any suspicion that the searches were needed.
Held: The powers given to the . .
Cited – T and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department and Another SC 18-Jun-2014
T and JB, asserted that the reference in certificates issued by the state to cautions given to them violated their right to respect for their private life under article 8 of the Convention. T further claims that the obligation cast upon him to . .
Cited – Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis and Another v Times Newspapers Ltd and Another QBD 18-Apr-2011
The defendant had been sued in defamation, and now sought release of police records as to the claimant. . .
Cited – Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis and Another v Times Newspapers Ltd and Another QBD 24-Oct-2011
The claimant accused the defendant newspaper and journalist of breach of confidence, conversion and Data Protection breach. They said that he had received and published extracts from a confidential internal document leaked to him. . .
Cited – Austin and Others v The United Kingdom ECHR 15-Mar-2012
Grand Chamber – The applicants complained that their restriction within a police cordon (a measure known as ‘kettling’) for up to seven hours during the course of a demonstration in central London amounted to a deprivation of their liberty in breach . .
Cited – Ferdinand Jozef Colon v The Netherlands ECHR 15-May-2012
Acting under the Municipalities Act, with the authority of a byelaw passed by the local council, the Burgomaster of Amsterdam designated most of the old centre of Amsterdam as a security risk area for a period of six months and again for a further . .
Cited – Sociedade Nacional de Combustatives de Angola UEE v Lundqvist CA 1990
Large quantities of crude oil had been sold at an undervalue by a dishonest consultant and his associates. A Mareva injunction had been granted. The defendant objected to being required to disclose the extent of his foreign assets saying that such . .
Cited – Saunders v The United Kingdom ECHR 17-Dec-1996
(Grand Chamber) The subsequent use against a defendant in a prosecution, of evidence which had been obtained under compulsion in company insolvency procedures was a convention breach of Art 6. Although not specifically mentioned in Article 6 of the . .
Cited – Rekvenyi v Hungary ECHR 20-May-1999
Hudoc Grand Chamber – No violation of Art. 10; No violation of Art. 11; No violation of Art. 14+10; No violation of Art. 14+11 Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1999-III
The level of precision required of . .
Cited – Swiggs and others v Nagarajan HL 15-Jul-1999
Bias may not be intentional
The applicant claimed that he had been denied appointment to a job with London Regional Transport because he had brought a number of previous race discrimination claims against it or associated companies. An industrial tribunal had upheld his claim . .
Cited – Igen Ltd v Wong CA 18-Feb-2005
Proving Discrimination – Two Stage Process
Each appeal raised procedural issues in discrimination cases, asking where, under the new regulations, the burden of proof had shifted.
Held: The new situation required a two stage process before a complaint could be upheld. First the claimant . .
Cited – Gillan and Quinton v The United Kingdom ECHR 12-Jan-2010
The claimants had been stopped by the police using powers in the 2000 Act. They were going to a demonstration outside an arms convention. There was no reason given for any suspicion that the searches were needed.
Held: The powers given to the . .
Cited – Ambrose v Harris, Procurator Fiscal, Oban, etc SC 6-Oct-2011
(Scotland) The appellant had variously been convicted in reliance on evidence gathered at different stages before arrest, but in each case without being informed of any right to see a solicitor. The court was asked, as a devolution issue, at what . .
Cited – Quila and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 12-Oct-2011
Parties challenged the rule allowing the respondent to deny the right to enter or remain here to non EU citizens marrying a person settled and present here where either party was under the age of 21. The aim of the rule was to deter forced . .
Cited – Bank Mellat v Her Majesty’s Treasury (No 2) SC 19-Jun-2013
The bank challenged measures taken by HM Treasury to restrict access to the United Kingdom’s financial markets by a major Iranian commercial bank, Bank Mellat, on the account of its alleged connection with Iran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic . .
Cited – Gahramanov v Azerbaijan ECHR 15-Oct-2013
(Admissibility) The applicant was prevented for (on his own case) some four hours from leaving, after being stopped at an airport.
Held: The complaint was inadmissible on the ground that it had not been shown that he had been obliged to remain . .
Cited – Lord Carlile of Berriew QC, and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 12-Nov-2014
The claimant had supported the grant of a visa to a woman in order to speak to members of Parliament who was de facto leader of an Iranian organsation which had in the past supported terrorism and had been proscribed in the UK, but that proscription . .

Cited by:
Cited – Roberts, Regina (on the application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and another SC 17-Dec-2015
The Court considered the validity of suspicionless stop and search activities under s 60 of the 1994 Act, by police officers.
Held: The claimant’s appeal failed. The safeguards attending the use of the s 60 power, and in particular the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Police, Crime

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.550389

C, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department and Another: CA 19 Jan 2011

The Chief Constable appealed against an order made against him on the disclosure made on replying to an Enhanced Criminal Record Certificate request, of unproven sexual misconduct allegations against the claimant. The judge had found the disclosure disproportionate given the circumstances of the allegation. The allegations were some 15 years old, and the judge found that insufficient consideration had been given by the appellant to the position applied for.
Held: The appeal system within the Act related only to the accuracy of the information provided. It should be practice before proceedings to allow the claimant to make representations. In this case the respondent had applied the inapplicable criteria, and had not taken any representations. The judge had been able to quash the decision. He had however gone beyond that to grant declaratory and injunctive relief, and those were set aside.

Lord Neuberger MR, Wilson, Toulson LJJ
[2011] EWCA Civ 175, [2011] PTSR D41, [2011] 2 FLR 383, [2011] Fam Law 581
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 8, Police Act 1997
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina (X) v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police CA 30-Jul-2004
The claimant had been accused of offences, but the prosecution had been discontinued when the child victims had failed to identify him. The police had nevertheless notified potential employers and he had been unable to obtain work as a social . .
Cited – L, Regina (On the Application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis SC 29-Oct-2009
Rebalancing of Enhanced Disclosure Requirements
The Court was asked as to the practice of supplying enhanced criminal record certificates under the 1997 Act. It was said that the release of reports of suspicions was a disproportionate interference in the claimants article 8 rights to a private . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Human Rights

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.430224

Khan v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis: CA 4 Jun 2008

An arrested person had given a false address. The police used their powers under search that address. The occupier obtained an award of damages. The Commissioner appealed.
Held: Police powers to enter premises and search them on the basis that they were occupied or controlled by somebody under arrest required as a fact that the person detained was actually the person in control of the premises. The defendant’s appeal failed.

Pill LJ, May LJ, Moses LJ
[2008] EWCA Civ 723, Times 16-Jun-2008
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 18(1)
England and Wales

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.270570

White, Frost and others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and others: HL 3 Dec 1998

No damages for Psychiatric Harm Alone

The House considered claims by police officers who had suffered psychiatric injury after tending the victims of the Hillsborough tragedy.
Held: The general rules restricting the recovery of damages for pure psychiatric harm applied to the plaintiffs’ claims as employees. An employer has a duty to protect his employees from physical but not psychiatric harm unless there was also a physical injury. A rescuer, not himself exposed to physical risk by being involved in a rescue was a secondary victim, and as such not entitled to claim. Primary victims are ‘victims who are imperilled or reasonably believe themselves to be imperilled by the defendant’s negligence’.
Lord Steyn said: ‘the law on the recovery of compensation for pure psychiatric harm is a patchwork quilt of distinctions which are difficult to justify. The first is to wipe out recovery in tort for pure psychiatric injury. The case for such a course has been argued by Professor Stapleton. But that would be contrary to precedent and, in any event, highly controversial. Only Parliament could take such a step. The second solution is to abolish all the special limiting rules applicable to psychiatric harm. That appears to be the course advocated by Mullany and Handford, Tort Liability for Psychiatric Damage. They would allow claims for pure psychiatric damage by mere bystanders: see (1997) 113 LQR 410, 415. Precedent rules out this course and, in any event, there are cogent policy considerations against such a bold innovation. In my view the only sensible general strategy for the courts is to say thus far and no further. The only prudent course is to treat the pragmatic categories as reflected in in authoritative decisions such as the Alcock case and Page v. Smith as settled for the time being, but by and large to leave any expansion or development in this corner of the law to Parliament. In reality there are no refined analytical tools which will enable the courts to draw lines by way of compromise solution in a way that is coherent and morally defensible. It must be left to Parliament to undertake the task of radical law reform.’

Lord Steyn and Lord Hoffmann, Lord Browne-Wilkinson
Gazette 13-Jan-1999, [1999] 1 All ER 1, [1999] 2 AC 455, [1998] UKHL 45, [1999] ICR 216, [1998] 3 WLR 1509, [1999] IRLR 110, (1999) 45 BMLR 1
House of Lords, Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Frost and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire and Others CA 31-Oct-1996
The distinction normally made between primary and secondary victims claiming damages for shock in witnessing a terrible event does not apply to employees who were obliged by their contract to be present. . .
Cited – Alcock and Others v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police HL 28-Nov-1991
The plaintiffs sought damages for nervous shock. They had watched on television, as their relatives and friends, 96 in all, died at a football match, for the safety of which the defendants were responsible. The defendant police service had not . .
Regretted – Page v Smith HL 12-May-1995
The plaintiff was driving his car when the defendant turned into his path. Both cars suffered considerable damage but the drivers escaped physical injury. The Plaintiff had a pre-existing chronic fatigue syndrome, which manifested itself from time . .
Cited – Hambrook v Stokes Brothers CA 1925
The defendant’s employee left a lorry at the top of a steep narrow street unattended, with the engine running and without having taken proper steps to secure it. The lorry ran violently down the hill. The plaintiff’s wife had been walking up the . .
Cited – King v Phillips CA 1952
Denning LJ said: ‘there can be no doubt since Bourhill v. Young that the test of liability for shock is foreseeability of injury by shock.’ A person ‘who suffers shock on being told of an accident to a loved one cannot recover damages from the . .
Cited – McFarlane v E E Caledonia Ltd CA 10-Sep-1993
The court will not extend a duty of care to mere bystanders of horrific events. Nor is any duty of care owed to a rescuer lacking ordinary courage. Whether a person is to be regarded as a rescuer will be a question of fact to be decided on the . .
Cited – Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v Morts Dock and Engineering Co Ltd (The Wagon Mound No 1) PC 18-Jan-1961
Foreseeability Standard to Establish Negligence
Complaint was made that oil had been discharged into Sydney Harbour causing damage. The court differentiated damage by fire from other types of physical damage to property for the purposes of liability in tort, saying ‘We have come back to the plain . .
Cited – Chadwick v British Railways Board 1967
Mr Chadwick tried to bring relief and comfort to the victims of the Lewisham train disaster in December 1967. His widow claimed in nervous shock, saying that it had eventually led to his own death.
Held: Where an accident is of a particular . .
Cited – Best v Samuel Fox and Co Ltd 1952
The court considered liability for injury to secondary victims. Lord Morton of Henryton: ‘it has never been the law of England that an invitor, who has negligently but unintentionally injured an invitee, is liable to compensate other persons who . .
Cited – Mount Isa Mines Ltd v Pusey 1970
The court considered how progress is made in developing the law of liability for damages for psychiatric injury, saying ‘The field is one in which the common law is still in course of development. Courts must therefore act in company and not alone. . .
Cited – Malcolm v Broadhurst QBD 1970
The principle of foreseeability of psychiatric injury is subject to the qualification that, where the psychiatric injury suffered by the plaintiff is consequential upon physical injury for which the defendant is responsible in law, the defendant . .
Cited – Brice v Brown 1984
The plaintiff, a lady with a hysterical personality disorder since childhood, had a minor taxi accident and then developed a major psychiatric illness – bizarre behaviour, suicide attempts, pleading with people to cut her head off – in response to a . .
Criticised – Page v Smith HL 12-May-1995
The plaintiff was driving his car when the defendant turned into his path. Both cars suffered considerable damage but the drivers escaped physical injury. The Plaintiff had a pre-existing chronic fatigue syndrome, which manifested itself from time . .
Mentioned – Walker v Northumberland County Council QBD 16-Nov-1994
The plaintiff was a manager within the social services department. He suffered a mental breakdown in 1986, and had four months off work. His employers had refused to provide the increased support he requested. He had returned to work, but again, did . .
Cited – Hinz v Berry CA 1970
Then plaintiff saw her husband killed and her children injured by a runaway motor car. At trial she was awarded damages for nervous shock. The question was whether, having regard to the fact that she had suffered sorrow and grief it would not be to . .

Cited by:
Cited – Keen v Tayside Contracts OHCS 26-Feb-2003
The claimant sought damages for post traumatic stress disorder. He was a road worker instructed to attend by the defendant immediately after a terrible accident.
Held: It was a classic case of nervous shock. He was not a rescuer, and nor had . .
Cited – Glen and Other v Korean Airlines Company Ltd QBD 28-Mar-2003
The claimant sought damages for personal injuries under the Act. The injuries were psychiatric, being suffered when they witnessed a crash from the ground.
Held: Psychiatric injury is a recognised form of personal injury, and no statute . .
Cited – Salter v UB Frozen Chilled Foods OHCS 25-Jul-2003
The pursuer was involved in an accident at work, where his co-worker died. He suffered only psychiatric injury.
Held: Being directly involved, the pursuer was a primary victim, and accordingly not subject to the limits on claiming for . .
Cited – Mullaney v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police CA 15-May-2001
The claimant police officer was severely injured making an arrest. He claimed damages from the respondent for contributory negligence of other officers in failing to come to his assistance.
Held: If a police officer owes a duty of care to . .
Cited – McLoughlin v Jones; McLoughlin v Grovers (a Firm) CA 2002
In deciding whether a duty of care is established the court must go to the ‘battery of tests which the House of Lords has taught us to use’, namely: ‘. . the ‘purpose’ test (Banque Bruxelles Lambert SA v Eagle Star Insurance Co Ltd); the ‘assumption . .
Considered – Campbell v North Lanarkshire Council and Scottish Power Plc SCS 30-Jun-1999
. .
Cited – Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd and Another CA 26-Jan-2006
Each claimant sought damages after being exposed to asbestos dust. The defendants resisted saying that the injury alleged, the development of pleural plaques, was yet insufficient as damage to found a claim.
Held: (Smith LJ dissenting) The . .
Cited – Barber v Somerset County Council HL 1-Apr-2004
A teacher sought damages from his employer after suffering a work related stress breakdown.
Held: The definition of the work expected of him did not justify the demand placed upon him. The employer could have checked up on him during his . .
Cited – Waters v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis HL 27-Jul-2000
A policewoman, having made a complaint of serious sexual assault against a fellow officer complained again that the Commissioner had failed to protect her against retaliatory assaults. Her claim was struck out, but restored on appeal.
Held: . .
Cited – French and others v Chief Constable of Sussex Police CA 28-Mar-2006
The claimants sought damages for psychiatric injury. They were police officers who had been subject to unsuccessful proceedings following a shooting of a member of the public by their force.
Held: The claim failed: ‘these claimants have no . .
Cited – Johnston v NEI International Combustion Ltd; Rothwell v Chemical and Insulating Co Ltd; similar HL 17-Oct-2007
The claimant sought damages for the development of neural plaques, having been exposed to asbestos while working for the defendant. The presence of such plaques were symptomless, and would not themselves cause other asbestos related disease, but . .
Cited – Calvert v William Hill Credit Ltd ChD 12-Mar-2008
The claimant said that the defendant bookmakers had been negligent in allowing him to continue betting when they should have known that he was acting under an addiction. The defendant company had a policy for achieving responsible gambling, . .
Cited – Taylor v A Novo (UK) Ltd CA 18-Mar-2013
The deceased had suffered a head injury at work from the defendant’s admitted negligence. She had been making a good recovery but then collapsed and died at home from pulmonary emboli, and thrombosis which were a consequence of the injury. The . .
Cited – Zurich Insurance Plc UK Branch v International Energy Group Ltd SC 20-May-2015
A claim had been made for mesothelioma following exposure to asbestos, but the claim arose in Guernsey. Acknowledging the acute difficultis particular to the evidence in such cases, the House of Lords, in Fairchild. had introduced the Special Rule . .
Cited – Paul and Another v The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust QBD 4-Jun-2020
Nervous shock – liability to third parties
The claimants witnessed the death of their father from a heart attack. They said that the defendant’s negligent treatment allowed the attack to take place. Difficult point of law about the circumstances in which a defendant who owes a duty of care . .
Cited – James-Bowen and Others v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis SC 25-Jul-2018
The Court was asked whether the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (‘the Commissioner’) owes a duty to her officers, in the conduct of proceedings against her based on their alleged misconduct, to take reasonable care to protect them from . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Personal Injury, Police, Damages, Negligence

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.158976

Phillips v Newsgroup Newspapers Ltd and Others: ChD 17 Nov 2010

The claimant had been assistant to a well known publicist. The defendant had settled an action brought by her principal for hacking his mobile telephone, in the course of which it appeared that the claimant’s phone had also been hacked. She now sought disclosure of documents from the defendants, including from the police investigation. Other orders were sought for disclosure of information related to the instructions given to the hacking agents.
Held: The information was information to which the claimant was entitled. Orders were made for production of the documents subject to the protection of third parties. As to the claim for protection from self incrimination, there would have been such a claim but for section 72 of the 1981 Act.

Mann J
[2010] EWHC 2952 (Ch)
Bailii
Senior Courts Act 1981 72
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Marcel v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 1992
A writ of subpoena ad duces tecum had been issued requiring the production by the police for use in civil proceedings of documents seized during a criminal fraud investigation. The victim of the fraud needed them to pursue his own civil case.
Cited – Frankson and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Johns v Same CA 8-May-2003
The claimants sought damages for injuries alleged to have been received at the hands of prison officers whilst in prison. They now sought disclosure by the police of statements made to the police during the course of their investigation.
Held: . .
Cited – Regina v Boyes 27-May-1861
A defendant seeking to avoid answering questions so as not to incriminate himself is to be given some understanding and latitude in respecting his own interpretation. The beneficiary of a pardon could be called upon to incriminate himself because he . .
Cited – Blunt v Park Lane Hotel Ltd CA 1942
The court considered the rule against self incrimination. Lord Justice Goddard said: ‘The rule is that no one is bound to answer any questions if the answer thereto would, in the opinion of the judge, have a tendency to expose the defendant to any . .
Cited – Rio Tinto Zinc Corporation v Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Re Westinghouse Electric Corpn Uranium Contract Litigation MDL Docket No 235 (No 2) HL 1977
The court considered a claim that a party was not compelled to give evidence where it might incriminate him: ‘No one is bound to furnish information against himself. It [the common law] says: ‘If a witness claims the protection of the court, on the . .
Cited – Veolia Es Nottinghamshire Ltd v Nottinghamshire County Council and Others CA 29-Oct-2010
An elector sought disclosure under the 1988 Act concerning a contract with certain contractors. The authority refused saying that they were commercially sensitive, and the company said that doisclosure would affect its own human rights.
Held: . .
Cited – Den Norske Bank ASA v Antonatos and Another CA 7-Apr-1998
The defendants appealed orders requiring them to attend court and provide evidence under cross-examination. They claimed a prvilege against self-incrimination.
Waller LJ said: ‘A witness is entitled to claim the privilege in relation to any . .
Cited – Saunders v The United Kingdom ECHR 17-Dec-1996
(Grand Chamber) The subsequent use against a defendant in a prosecution, of evidence which had been obtained under compulsion in company insolvency procedures was a convention breach of Art 6. Although not specifically mentioned in Article 6 of the . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Coogan v News Group Newspapers Ltd etc CA 1-Feb-2012
The claimants said that their voicemail accounts had been hacked by one defendant on behalf of the other. They sought discovery of records, and the defendants argued for the benefit of the privilege against self incrimination.
Lord Neuberger MR . .
At First Instance – Phillips v Mulcaire SC 24-May-2012
The claimant worked as personal assistant to a well known public relations company. She alleged that the defendant had intercepted telephone message given by and left for her. The court was asked first as to whether the information amounted to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Litigation Practice, Police, Information

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.426063

Adorian v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis: CA 23 Jan 2009

The claimant received injuries when arrested. He was later convicted of resisting arrest. The defendant relied on section 329 of the 2003 Act. The claimant said that the force used against him was grossly disproportionate. The commissioner appealed against a refusal to strike out the claim, saying that consent to the action should have been obtained.
Held: The Commissioner’s appeal failed. The section is not directed primarily at protecting the police. Interpreting the section as a jurisdictional bar rather than a procedural one would complicate further limit the applicable limitation periods. An application for consent would have to be made on notice. ‘Section 329 stipulates only that a claimant who sues someone for assaulting him in trying to prevent a crime or to apprehend him for committing it will have to show merits sufficient to defeat the special statutory defence if his action is to be allowed to proceed. It makes it legitimate to visit in costs an application which is made later than it should have been, but it does not either explicitly or implicitly involve the drastic step of nullifying proceedings, however sound, which have been initiated without first clearing this hurdle.’

Sedley LJ, Keene LJ, Smith LJ
[2009] EWCA Civ 18, Times 23-Feb-2009, [2009] CP Rep 21, [2009] 1 WLR 1859
Bailii
Criminal Justice Act 2003 329
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Rendall v Blair 1890
Where a statute requires leave to commence proceedings to be granted, a failure to obtain such consent does not automatically render the proceedings a nullity.
Bowen LJ said: ‘this section is not framed in the way in which sections are framed . .
Cited – Barras v Aberdeen Steam Trawling and Fishing Co HL 17-Mar-1933
The court looked at the inference that a statute’s draughtsman could be assumed when using a phrase to rely on a known interpretation of that phrase.
Viscount Buckmaster said: ‘It has long been a well established principle to be applied in the . .
Cited – In re Saunders (A Bankrupt) ChD 1997
Very emphatic language was required in a statute before want of leave should, without more, result in proceedings being treated as a nullity. Leave could in appropriate circumstances be granted after the event notwithstanding the proceedings had . .
Appeal from – Adorian v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis QBD 19-May-2008
Claim for damages for assault during arrest. It became necessary for the claimant to issue proceedings very quickly after the decision in Hoare, and he failed to obtain consent under the 2003 Act before issuing his claim.
Held: The requirement . .
Cited – A v Hoare HL 30-Jan-2008
Each of six claimants sought to pursue claims for damages for sexual assaults which would otherwise be time barred under the 1980 Act after six years. They sought to have the House depart from Stubbings and allow a discretion to the court to extend . .
Cited – Seal v Chief Constable of South Wales Police HL 4-Jul-2007
The claimant had sought to bring proceedings against the respondent, but as a mental patient subject to the 1983 Act, had been obliged by the section first to obtain consent. The parties disputed whether the failure was a procedural or substantial . .
Cited – Winch v Jones CA 1986
The court asked as to the criteria which should be applied when considering an application by a mental patient for leave to bring proceedings under section 139: ‘section 139 protects the defendant unless and until the applicant obtains leave. This . .
Cited – Pepper (Inspector of Taxes) v Hart HL 26-Nov-1992
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 . .

Cited by:
Cited – Park v Cho and Others ChD 24-Jan-2014
The parties disputed the chairmanship of a charity. The claimant succeeded, but a third party later intervened saying that permission had not first been obtained from the Charity Commission as required. The defendant now appealed against the lifting . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Personal Injury, Litigation Practice

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.280131

Syed v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 13 Jan 2010

The defendant appealed by case stated against his conviction for assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty. Three officers responded to a report of a disturbance and entered his house despite his struggle. The officers purported to use their powers under section 17 of the 1984 Act.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The entry was unlawful. The magistrates had accepted as a test that the officers had acted out of concern for the welfare of somebody in the house. That test was too low: ‘Parliament intended that the right of entry by force without any warrant should be limited to cases where there was an apprehension that something serious was otherwise likely to occur, or perhaps had occurred, within the house, hence the adjective ‘serious’ applied to any question of damage . . it again indicates a serious matter – that what had happened in the premises, or what might happen in the premises, would involve some serious injury to an individual therein.’

Mr Justice Collins and Mr Justice Silber
[2010] 1 Cr App Rep 34, (2010) 174 JP 97, [2010] EWHC 81 (Admin), Times 26-Jan-2010
Bailii
Police Act 1996 89(1), Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 17(1)(e)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Bourne (Inspector of Taxes) v Norwich Crematorium Ltd 1967
Stamp J said: ‘Sentences are not mere collections of words to be taken out of the sentence, defined separately by reference to the dictionary or decided cases, and then put back again into the sentence with the meaning which one has assigned to them . .
Cited – Baker v Crown Prosecution Service Admn 27-Jan-2009
Complaint was made as to the entry by police officers into premises seeking a knife.
Held: May LJ said: ‘The expression ‘saving life or limb’ is a colourful, slightly outmoded expression. It is here used in close proximity with the expression . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Crime

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.393392

Love v National Crime Agency: 10 May 2016

(City of Westminster Magistrates Court) The NCA had made a request to the court for an order that the now claimant surrender, under the 1897 Act, passwords to encrypted computer files. An application had already been made under the 2000 Act, to which the claimant had replied that he did not have the passwords sought. On his application for the return of the computers held, the NCA sought orders under case management rules for the disclosure of the passwords. The claimant now objected that the request was an abuse of process, and that the police had and should use the 2000 Act which provided appropriate safeguards.
Held: The NCA’s request was refused. The correct procedure was under the 2000 Act with the inherent HRA safeguards incorporated therein. Case management rules are necessary to fulfil their objectives which include the early identification of the real issues in the case and, as per the new CPR relating to applications under the PPA, the applicant to explain his interest in the property

District Judge (Magistrate’s Court) N Tempia
011503187270
Judiciary
Police Property Act 1897, Computer Misuse Act 1990 1(1), Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000, Magistrates Court Rules 1981 3A, Criminal Procedure (Amendment)
Rules 2016, European Convention on Human Rights 1 8
England and Wales

Police, Human Rights

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.563252

T, Regina (on The Application of) v Greater Manchester Police and Another: Admn 9 Feb 2012

The claimant challenged the terms of an enhanced Criminal Records Certificate issued by the defendant. He had been warned in 2002 for suspicion of theft of two cycles. The record had been stepped down in 2009, but then re-instated. He wished to enter a sports studies degree.
Held: The application for review was unsuccessful. Parker J said: ‘I feel constrained by binding authority to conclude that the challenged provisions of the 1997 Act are compatible with Article 8 ECHR, although if I had not been so constrained I would have found that the present system that allows no exceptions and provides no mechanism for review was disproportionate and not compatible with Article 8.’
Parker J described principles he derived from the cases and the 1997 Act: ‘the so far as concerns information under Section 115(6)(a)(ii) of the 1997 Act there is a two-stage procedure to determine the proportionality under Article 8 of disclosure. First, the information must be considered potentially relevant to the decision for which disclosure is required and secondly disclosure should be made only after consideration of other factors . . The person to whom information relates must also have an opportunity to make representations about whether the information is reliable and relevant and whether, in all the circumstances, it ought to be disclosed. However, in my respectful opinion, Lord Neuberger made it clear at paragraph 76 that this two-stage procedure did not apply to convictions and cautions. In the case of convictions and cautions, the information in question is almost certain to be correct and the information conclusively evidences the commission of a criminal offence. There might be debate about the relevance of the conviction or caution to the decision for which disclosure is required in any particular case but in that event the prospective employer is at liberty and under current legislation entitled to know that the prospective employee has committed a crime, and to assess for herself any potential risk in offering employment to that person. ‘

Parker J
[2012] EWHC 147 (Admin)
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights, Police Act 1997 113B 115(6)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Chief Constable of Humberside Police and Others v The Information Commissioner and Another CA 19-Oct-2009
Complaints had been made that the police were not deleting from their criminal records very old records of minor convictions. The police appealed against a finding that they should do so under Data Protection Principles. The Police had used a policy . .
Binding – L, Regina (On the Application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis SC 29-Oct-2009
Rebalancing of Enhanced Disclosure Requirements
The Court was asked as to the practice of supplying enhanced criminal record certificates under the 1997 Act. It was said that the release of reports of suspicions was a disproportionate interference in the claimants article 8 rights to a private . .
Cited – Carson, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; Reynolds v Same HL 26-May-2005
One claimant said that as a foreign resident pensioner, she had been excluded from the annual uprating of state retirement pension, and that this was an infringement of her human rights. Another complained at the lower levels of job-seeker’s . .
Cited – Mosley v The United Kingdom ECHR 10-May-2011
The claimant complained of the reporting of a sexual encounter which he said was private.
Held: The reporting of ‘tawdry allegations about an individual’s private life’ does not attract the robust protection under Article 10 afforded to more . .
Cited – F and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 21-Apr-2010
The defendants had been convicted and sentenced for offences which under the 2003 Act would mean that they stayed permanently on the Sex Offenders’ register without possibility of a review. The Secretary of State appealed aganst a finding that the . .
Mentioned – Bouchacourt v France ECHR 17-Dec-2009
The applicant had been sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for rape and sexual assault on minors. His name had been placed automatically on a Register of Sexual and Violent Offenders, and had had to confirm his address every year and to give notice . .
Mentioned – Wilson, Regina (on the Application of) v Wychavon District Council and Another CA 6-Feb-2007
The claimants said that an enforcement notice issued against them under a law which would prevent such a notice against the use of a building as a dwelling, but not against use of a caravan as a dwelling, discriminated against them as gypsies.
Cited – Animal Defenders International, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport HL 12-Mar-2008
The applicant, a non-profit company who campaigned against animal cruelty, sought a declaration of incompatibility for section 321(2) of the 2003 Act, which prevented adverts with political purposes, as an unjustified restraint on the right of . .
Cited – Security Industry Authority v Stewart and Sansara Admn 17-Oct-2007
Various parties challenged the granting and withholding of licenses to operate as door supervisors (bouncers). The SIA regulated the grant of licences, and published criteria for their grant. It had been said that the inclusing of very minor . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Human Rights

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.451001

Hayes v Merseyside Police: CA 29 Jul 2011

The claimant had been arrested after a complaint of harassment. The officer then contacted the complainant who then withdrew his complaint. The officer went to visit the complainant to discuss it further. On his return the claimant was released from custody. He now sought damages, saying that the officer had not considered alternatives to arrest, and that he should have concluded that the claimant had been co-operative and that an arrest was unnecessary.
Held: The claimant’s appeal failed. The correct test was in two stages. The officer must have reasonable grounds for suspecting that an arrestable offence had been committed and that the suspect was responsible. Second: ‘that he had reasonable grounds for believing that it was necessary to arrest him to allow the prompt and effective investigation of the offence or of the conduct of’ the suspect. The court rejected the suggestion that the officer must also ‘actively consider all possible courses of action alternative to arrest; he must have taken into account all relevant considerations and have excluded all irrelevant ones’, accepting the defendant’s argument that that proposed test ‘is not to be found in the Act, is unnecessary, and would mean that the decision of the constable on the spot, often in difficult circumstances, would have to survive what is in effect a public law reasons challenge.’
The provisions of the Code of Practice were consistent with the approach taken here.
Hughes LJ said: ‘it is not the case that a voluntary attendance is always as effective a form of investigation as interview after arrest. Section 29 of the Act reminds officers of their duty, if inviting voluntary attendance, to tell the suspect that he may leave at any time he chooses. It would not be honest for an officer to invite a person to attend a voluntary interview if he intended to arrest him the moment he elected to leave. Nor would it be effective. It would mean that the suspect could interrupt the questioning the moment it reached a topic he found difficult. Even if it were possible simply then to arrest him, the interview could not continue until all the important formalities of reception into custody, checks on health, notification of friends or relatives and so on had been complied with.’

Ward, Richards, Hughes LJJ
[2011] EWCA Civ 911, [2011] 2 Cr App R 30, [2012] 1 WLR 517
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 24
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Dallison v Caffery CACD 1965
It is for the detaining authority to justify all periods of detention.
The court described the common law duty on a prosecutor to disclose material. Lord Denning MR said: ‘The duty of a prosecuting counsel or solicitor, as I have always . .
Cited – Castorina v Chief Constable of Surrey CA 10-Jun-1988
Whether an officer had reasonable cause to arrest somebody without a warrant depended upon an objective assessment of the information available to him, and not upon his subjective beliefs. The court had three questions to ask (per Woolf LJ): ‘(a) . .
Distinguished – Richardson v The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police QBD 29-Mar-2011
The claimant, a teacher, said he had been unlawfully arrested and detained after an allegation of assault from a pupil. Having attended the police station voluntarily, he said that the circumstances did not satisfy the required precondition that an . .
Cited – Shields v Merseyside Police CA 17-Nov-2010
The claimant appealed against rejection of her claim for assault and false imprisonment. The officer arresting her wrongly believed that she had already been arrested, and it was said that he could not have gone through the steps necessary for an . .
Cited – Wilding v Chief Constable of Lancashire CA 22-May-1995
The court considered a claim by a woman for wrongful arrest and unlawful detention by police officers who had reasonably suspected her of burglary of the house of her former partner. In interview by the police, she denied the offence and made . .
Cited – Alexander, Farrelly and Others, Re Judicial Review QBNI 5-Mar-2009
Each claimant said that they had been wrongfully arrested, the arresting police officers having either failed to ask whether the arrest was necessary (Farrelly), or mistakenly concluding so.
Held: The Order now contained in regulation . .
Cited – O’Hara v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary HL 21-Nov-1996
The plaintiff had been arrested on the basis of the 1984 Act. The officer had no particular knowledge of the plaintiff’s involvement, relying on a briefing which led to the arrest.
Held: A reasonable suspicion upon which an arrest was founded . .

Cited by:
Cited – Fitzpatrick and Others v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis QBD 11-Jan-2012
fitzpatrick_compolQBD2012
The claimants, two solicitors and their employer firm sought damages alleging trespass and malicious procurement by police officers in obtaining and executing search warrants against the firm in 2007 when they were investigating suspected offences . .
Cited – Lord Hanningfield of Chelmsford v Chief Constable of Essex Police QBD 15-Feb-2013
The claimant sought damages alleging unlawful arrest and search and detention. He had served a term of imprisonment for having made false expenses claims to the House of Lords. This raid occurred on his release. The arrest was planned and made to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.442417

Howarth v Gwent Constabulary and Another: QBD 1 Nov 2011

The claimant alleged malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office against the defendant. He had been charged with perverting the course of justice. He had worked for a firm of solicitors specialising in defending road traffic prosecutions. A client and family members had been convicted of giving false evidence, after, following acquittal, material was disclosed suggesting that the claimant’s firm were aware of the falsity of the defence put forward. It was suggested by an officer that the client had then also implicated the claimant, and he was prosecuted.
Held: The claim failed. At the time of the decision the officers had adequate material to support ‘reasonable and probable cause’. Whatever their shortcomings) genuinely believed that there was a case fit to be placed before a jury.

Eady J
[2011] EWHC 2836 (QB)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Martin v Watson HL 13-Jul-1995
The plaintiff had been falsely reported to the police by the defendant, a neighbour, for indecent exposure whilst standing on a ladder in his garden. He had been arrested and charged, but at a hearing before the Magistrates’ Court, the Crown . .
Cited – Alford v Cambridgeshire Police CA 24-Feb-2009
The claimant police officer had been held after an accident when he was in a high speed pursuit of a vehicle into the neighbouring respondent’s area. The prosecution had been discontinued, and he now appealed against rejection of his claims for . .
Cited – Williams v Taylor 1829
No action will lie for the institution of legal proceedings, however malicious, unless they have been instituted without reasonable and probable cause. Tindal CJ said: ‘Malice alone is not sufficient, because a person actuated by the plainest malice . .
Cited – Lister v Perryman HL 1870
In a case alleging malicious prosecution, the existence of reasonable and probable cause is a question for the judge and not for the jury.
Lord Chelmsford said: ‘[T]here can be no doubt since the case of Panton v Williams, in which the question . .
Cited – Herniman v Smith HL 1938
The court considered the tort of malicious prosecution.
Held: It is the duty of a prosecutor to find out not whether there is a possible defence, but whether there is a reasonable and probable cause for prosecution. The House approved the . .
Cited – Tims v John Lewis and Co Ltd CA 1951
The plaintiff said that the defendant’s allegation against him leading to a prosecution which failed was malicious.
Held: Lord Goddard CJ said: ‘It is quite easy to imagine a case in which a person was thoroughly justified in bringing . .
Cited – BT v Crown Prosecution Service CA 16-Dec-1997
The plaintiff appealed against dismissal of his claim for malicious prosecution brought against the Service.
Held: Actions for malicious prosecution, against the Crown Prosecution Service are to be examined closely to ensure that they are not . .
Cited – Ravenga v Mackintosh 8-May-1824
It is a good defence to an action for a malicious arrest, that the defendant, when he caused the plaintiff to be arrested, acted bona fide upon the opinion of a legal adviser of competent skill and ability, and believed that he had a good cause of . .
Cited – Dawson v Vansandau QBD 1863
The plaintiff, Dawson, a solicitor, had been charged by the defendant with conspiracy to defraud, in the form of collusion with a client and others to defraud the client’s creditors. When the charge was first laid, the only evidence available to the . .
Cited – John Lewis and Co Ltd v Tims HL 1952
There had been an arrest by shop detectives of two customers who were believed to have stolen goods, the arrest taking place after they had left the shop. The shop detectives returned with them to the shop in order to allow a senior person in . .
Cited – Tempest v Snowden 1952
Decision too charge – whether was warranted
A custody officer is not required to be sure that the accused person is guilty before charging him, but rather he should believe that a charge is warranted . .
Cited – Moulton v Chief Constable of The West Midlands CA 13-May-2010
The claimant appealed against dismissal of his claim for damages for malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office. He had been arrested and held on allegations of serious sexual assaults, but then released when the matter came to the Crown . .
Cited – Coudrat v Revenue and Customs CA 26-May-2005
The claimant appealed against dismissal of his claim for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution against the Customs and Excise. He was arrested and held accused of VAT fraud. Proceedings were discontinued. He had signed an application for . .
Cited – Darker v Chief Constable of The West Midlands Police HL 1-Aug-2000
The plaintiffs had been indicted on counts alleging conspiracy to import drugs and conspiracy to forge traveller’s cheques. During the criminal trial it emerged that there had been such inadequate disclosure by the police that the proceedings were . .
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others v Governor and Company of The Bank of England HL 18-May-2000
The applicants alleged misfeasance against the Bank of England in respect of the regulation of a bank.
Held: The Bank could not be sued in negligence, but the tort of misfeasance required clear evidence of misdeeds. The action was now properly . .
Cited – Abbott v Refuge Assurance Co CA 1961
The plaintiff appealed against rejection of his private prosecution for malicious prosecution.
Held: On the evidence the defendant had had reasonable and probable grounds to believe that there was sufficient evidence to convict and therefore . .
Cited – Re NP Engineering and Security Products Ltd; Official Receiver and Another v Pafundo and Another CA 22-Oct-1996
The official receiver began director disqualification proceedings, but before the proceedings commenced, the company was wound up. Where, on an application for the disqualification of a director, the official receiver and the Secretary of State . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.448161

Greater Manchester Police v Wigan Athletic AFC Ltd: CA 19 Dec 2008

The parties disputed the amounts payable by a football club to the police for the attendance of police officers at matches. The defendant appealed against a finding that it had requested the services for which charges had been made under section 25 of the 1996 Act. The judge had acted on the basis that a request could be implied. The club also said that the disagreement was as to the appropriate number of police officers to be allocated.
Held: The club’s appeal succeeded. The police mistakenly thought they did not have a choice not to police the event. Had no police been available, no safety certificate would have been given, and the match would not have been allowed. No effective request for the services had been made: ”the request’ must match the special police services supplied. The match need not be exact because it is for the Chief Constable to determine the level of policing required. So, if a person asks the police authority to provide special police services at a private event and the services are provided at the level the police authority considers to be necessary it is no answer to the police authority’s claim for reimbursement of the costs that the request had not specified the level of policing actually supplied.’ The judge had incorrectly distinguished the BAGS case. The club’s appeal succeeded. Kay LJ dissenting.

Lord Chancellor, Kay LJ, Smith LJ
[2008] EWCA Civ 1449, [2009] 1 WLR 1580
Bailii
Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975, Police Act 1996 25
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Glasbrook Brothers Limited v Glamorgan County Council HL 1925
A colliery manager asked for police protection for his colliery during a strike. He wanted police officers to be billeted on the premises. The senior police officer for the area was willing to provide protection by a mobile force, but he refused to . .
Cited – Harris v Sheffield United Football Club Ltd CA 1987
The court was asked whether services provided by the police at Sheffield United Football Club for the club’s home fixtures were ‘special police services’ so that, if they were provided at the club’s request, the police could charge for them. Up . .
Appeal from – Greater Manchester Police v Wigan Athletic AFC Ltd ChD 21-Dec-2007
The claimant sought payment under section 25 from the defendant football club for the costs of policing football matches. The defendant said that the sums were not due since the events had been over-policed, and had not been agreed or requested.
Cited – Reading Festival Ltd v West Yorkshire Police Authority CA 3-May-2006
The organisers of a music festival in Leeds appealed a decision that they were liable to pay in full a bill from the police for additional services in policing the festival.
Held: The organisers appeal succeeded. Whilst it was a matter for the . .
Cited – Bookmakers’ Afternoon Greyhound Services Ltd v Wilf Gilbert (Staffordshire) Ltd 1994
The bookmaker defendant received a broadcast information service for which he was prepared to pay. That service carried another information service (‘BAGS’) for which the second provider also sought payment. The bookmaker was not prepared to pay for . .
Cited – Rowe, Regina (on the Application of) v Vale of White Horse District Council Admn 7-Mar-2003
The local council sought to claim payment for sewerage services enjoyed by a householder.
Held: Where a supplier has supplied services to another and there is no contractual relationship in existence, the law may afford to the supplier . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Contract

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.278978

Castle and Others v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis: Admn 8 Sep 2011

The claimants, all under 17 years old, took a peaceful part in a substantial but disorderly demonstration in London. The police decided to contain the section of crowd which included the claimants. The claimants said that the containment of children was unlawful within section 11 of the 2004 Act, and had been excessive in time.
Held: The claims failed. A police officer will not be deterred from performing his public duty to detect or prevent crime just because a child is affected but when he does perform that duty he must, as the circumstances require, have regard to the statutory need under the 2004 Act: ‘section 11 Children Act 2004 requires chief officers of police to carry out their functions in a way that takes into account the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children . . However . . we do not consider that the defendant was in breach of this duty or of any of his public law duties.’ There was evidence that many in the crowd were armed, and much delay was caused by searching protesters as they were released: ‘the claim based upon unlawful detention at common law and interference with the claimants’ right to liberty under Articles 5 must fail.’
‘The chief officer’s statutory obligation is not confined to training and dissemination of information. It is to ensure that decisions affecting children have regard to the need to safeguard them and to promote their welfare.’ . . But . . ‘This does not mean that the duties and functions of the police have been re-defined by section 11 . . the guidance accurately states the obligation of chief officers of police ‘to carry out their existing functions in a way which takes into account the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children’.’

Pitchford LJ, Supperstone J
[2011] EWHC 2317 (Admin), [2014] 1 All ER 953
Bailii
Children Act 2004 11, Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 60, European Convention on Human Rights 5 8 19 11
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Austin and Another v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis HL 28-Jan-2009
The claimants had been present during a demonstration policed by the respondent. They appealed against dismissal of their claims for false imprisonment having been prevented from leaving Oxford Circus for over seven hours. The claimants appealed . .
Cited – TS, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department Admn 26-Oct-2010
The claimant had sought asylum as a child, declaring that he had not applied for asylum elsewhere. His fingerprints were matched to an applicant in Belgium.
Held: Wyn Williams J construed section 55 and the statutory guidance referred to in . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the application of ) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire HL 13-Dec-2006
The claimants had been in coaches being driven to take part in a demonstration at an air base. The defendant police officers stopped the coaches en route, and, without allowing any number of the claimants to get off, returned the coaches to London. . .
Cited – Austin and Another v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 15-Oct-2007
The claimants appealed dismissal of their claims for false imprisonment and unlawful detention by the respondent in his policing of a demonstration. They had been held within a police cordon in the streets for several hours to prevent the spread of . .
Cited – Re E (Children) (Abduction: Custody Appeal) SC 10-Jun-2011
Two children were born in Norway to a British mother (M) and Norwegian father (F). Having lived in Norway, M brought them to England to stay, but without F’s knowledge or consent. M replied to his application for their return that the children would . .
Cited – Austin and Another v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis HL 28-Jan-2009
The claimants had been present during a demonstration policed by the respondent. They appealed against dismissal of their claims for false imprisonment having been prevented from leaving Oxford Circus for over seven hours. The claimants appealed . .
Cited – Moos and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Commissioner of the Police of The Metropolis Admn 14-Apr-2011
The claimants, demonstrators at the G20 summit, complained of the police policy of kettling, the containment of a crowd over a period of time, not because they were expected to to behave unlawfully, but to ensure a separation from those who were. . .
Cited – Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 23-Mar-2011
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 . .
Cited – Pieretti v London Borough of Enfield CA 12-Oct-2010
The claimant sought a declaration that the duty set out in the 1995 Act applies to the discharge of duties, and to the exercise of powers, by local housing authorities under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 being the part entitled ‘Homelessness’. . .
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 by:
Cited – Nzolameso v City of Westminster SC 2-Apr-2015
The court was asked ‘When is it lawful for a local housing authority to accommodate a homeless person a long way away from the authority’s own area where the homeless person was previously living? ‘ The claimant said that on applying for housing she . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Police, Children, Human Rights

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.443762

Hussain v West Mercia Constabulary: CA 3 Nov 2008

The claimant taxi driver complained of misfeasance in public office in the way the defendant had responded to the several calls for assistance made by him to the police.
Held: His appeal against the striking out failed. The damages pleaded were nominal at best and did not justify the expense of a trial. Transient physical symptoms caused by anxiety or stress did not amount either to psychiatric or physical injury and were insufficient to constitute material damage, an essential ingredient of the tort of misfeasance in public office. The claimant had other and more appropriate remedies.

Sir Anthony Clarke, Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Lord Justice Stanley Burnton
[2008] EWCA Civ 1205
Bailii, Times
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – McLoughlin v O’Brian HL 6-May-1982
The plaintiff was the mother of a child who died in an horrific accident, in which her husband and two other children were also injured. She was at home at the time of the accident, but went to the hospital immediately when she had heard what had . .
Cited – Watkins v Home Office and others HL 29-Mar-2006
The claimant complained of misfeasance in public office by the prisons for having opened and read protected correspondence whilst he was in prison. The respondent argued that he had suffered no loss. The judge had found that bad faith was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Police

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.277383

Kuddus v Chief Constable of Leicestershire Constabulary: HL 7 Jun 2001

There is no rule of law preventing the award of exemplary damages against police officers. The fact that no case of misfeasance in public office had led to such awards before 1964, did not prevent such an award now. Although damages are generally not to be punitive, they might be so in appropriate cases. The distinction in Rookes v Barnard between misbehaviour by government officers and officers of independent companies should no longer be followed. The test was whether the basic criteria set down in Rookes v Barnard were met.
Lord Nicholls said: ‘Exemplary damages or punitive damages, the terms are synonymous, stand apart from awards of compensatory damages. They are additional to an award which is intended to compensate a plaintiff fully for the loss he has suffered, both pecuniary and non-pecuniary. They are intended to punish and deter.’ and ‘The availability of exemplary damages has played a significant role in buttressing civil liberties, in claims for false imprisonment and wrongful arrest. From time to time cases do arise where awards of compensatory damages are perceived as inadequate . . . The nature of the defendant’s conduct calls for a further response from the courts. On occasion conscious wrongdoing by a defendant is so outrageous, his disregard for the plaintiff’s rights so contumelious, that something more is needed to show that the law will not tolerate such behaviour. Without an award of exemplary damages, justice will not have been done. Exemplary damages, as a remedy of last resort, fill what would otherwise be a regrettable lacuna.’ Exemplary damages could in principle be awarded where misfeasance in public office was established.
Lord Hutton discussed Rookes v Barnard saying: ‘In a case in which exemplary damages are appropriate, a jury should be directed that if, but only if, the sum which they have in mind to award as compensation (which may, of course, be a sum aggravated by the way in which the defendant has behaved to the plaintiff) is inadequate to punish him for his outrageous conduct, to mark their disapproval of such conduct and to deter him from repeating it, then it can award some larger sum.’ The conduct had to be ‘outrageous’ and to be such that it called for exemplary damages to mark disapproval, to deter and to vindicate the strength of the law.

Lord Nicholls, Lord Hutton
Times 13-Jun-2001, Gazette 12-Jul-2001, [2001] UKHL 29, [2002] 2 AC 122, [2001] 3 All ER 193, [2001] 2 WLR 1789, (2001) 3 LGLR 45
House of Lords, Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Rookes v Barnard (No 1) HL 21-Jan-1964
The court set down the conditions for the award of exemplary damages. There are two categories. The first is where there has been oppressive or arbitrary conduct by a defendant. Cases in the second category are those in which the defendant’s conduct . .
Appeal from – Kuddus v Chief Constable of Leicestershire CA 10-Feb-2000
Misfeasance in public office was not a tort in which exemplary damages would be available before 1964, and, following the restriction on such awards in Rookes v Barnard was not now a tort for which such damages night be payable. Kindred torts, which . .

Cited by:
Cited – Keegan and Others v Chief Constable of Merseyside CA 3-Jul-2003
The police had information suggesting (wrongly) that a fugitive resided at an address. An armed raid followed, and the claimant occupant sought damages.
Held: The tort of malicious procurement of a search warrant required it to be established . .
Cited – Keegan and Others v Chief Constable of Merseyside CA 3-Jul-2003
The police had information suggesting (wrongly) that a fugitive resided at an address. An armed raid followed, and the claimant occupant sought damages.
Held: The tort of malicious procurement of a search warrant required it to be established . .
Cited – Design Progression Limited v Thurloe Properties Limited ChD 25-Feb-2004
The tenant applied for a licence to assign. The landlord failed to reply, anticipating that delay would allow it to generate a better lease renewal.
Held: The delay was unreasonable and a breach of the landlord’s statutory duty, and was an act . .
Cited – Watkins v Secretary of State for The Home Departmentand others CA 20-Jul-2004
The claimant complained that prison officers had abused the system of reading his solicitor’s correspondence whilst he was in prison. The defendant argued that there was no proof of damage.
Held: Proof of damage was not necessary in the tort . .
Cited – Borders (UK) Ltd and others v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and Another CA 3-Mar-2005
The second defendant had received large numbers of stolen books and sold them from his stall. An application for compensation was made at his trial. Compensatory and exemplary damages were sought, but the court had to consider how to estimate the . .
Cited – Watkins v Home Office and others HL 29-Mar-2006
The claimant complained of misfeasance in public office by the prisons for having opened and read protected correspondence whilst he was in prison. The respondent argued that he had suffered no loss. The judge had found that bad faith was . .
Cited – A v Bottrill PC 9-Jul-2002
PC (New Zealand) The defendant was a pathologist who carried out cervical smears. His actions were found to be negligent.
Held: The Board considered whether it would be correct to require an additional . .
Cited – Rowlands v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police CA 20-Dec-2006
The claimant succeeded in her claims for general damages against the respondent for personal injury, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution, but appealed refusal of the court to award aggravated damages against the chief constable.
Held: . .
Cited – Mosley v News Group Newspapers Ltd QBD 24-Jul-2008
mosley_newsgroupQBD2008
The defendant published a film showing the claimant involved in sex acts with prostitutes. It characterised them as ‘Nazi’ style. He was the son of a fascist leader, and a chairman of an international sporting body. He denied any nazi element, and . .
Cited – Devenish Nutrition Ltd and others v Sanofi-Aventis SA (France) and others ChD 19-Oct-2007
The claimant sought damages for the losses it had suffered as a result of price fixing by the defendant companies in the vitamin market. The European Commission had already fined the defendant for its involvement.
Held: In an action for breach . .
Cited – Muuse v Secretary of State for The Home Department CA 27-Apr-2010
The claimant, a Dutch national, was detained pending deportation. He was arrested ‘for immigration’ after being given bail in other proceedings. It had been found that that detention was unlawful. He did not come within the criteria for deportation, . .
Cited – Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 23-Mar-2011
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 . .
Cited – Al Rawi and Others v The Security Service and Others SC 13-Jul-2011
The claimant pursued a civil claim for damages, alleging complicity of the respondent in his torture whilst in the custody of foreign powers. The respondent sought that certain materials be available to the court alone and not to the claimant or the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other, Damages

Leading Case

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.162837

McClure and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis: CA 19 Jan 2012

The Commissioner appealed against a decision that certain aspects of its crowd control procedures exercised during a public protest were unlawful.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The issue came down to whether the commanding officer genuinely held a view that his actions were required to prevent an imminent breach of the peace, and whether his decision to contain was unjustifiable on is own evidence. The judge had relied upon hs own assessment of what was imminent rather than looking at the reasonableness of the officer’s belief. The court had therefore applied the wrong test. Further, on the facts as found by the Court, there was no justifiable basis for concluding that Mr Johnson’s apprehension that such a breach was imminent was unreasonable.

Lord Neiberger MR, Hughes, Sullivan LJJ
[2012] EWCA Civ 12
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Moos and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Commissioner of the Police of The Metropolis Admn 14-Apr-2011
The claimants, demonstrators at the G20 summit, complained of the police policy of kettling, the containment of a crowd over a period of time, not because they were expected to to behave unlawfully, but to ensure a separation from those who were. . .
Cited – Redmond-Bate v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 23-Jul-1999
The police had arrested three peaceful but vociferous preachers when some members of a crowd gathered round them threatened hostility.
Held: Freedom of speech means nothing unless it includes the freedom to be irritating, contentious, . .
Cited – Austin and Another v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis HL 28-Jan-2009
The claimants had been present during a demonstration policed by the respondent. They appealed against dismissal of their claims for false imprisonment having been prevented from leaving Oxford Circus for over seven hours. The claimants appealed . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the application of ) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire HL 13-Dec-2006
The claimants had been in coaches being driven to take part in a demonstration at an air base. The defendant police officers stopped the coaches en route, and, without allowing any number of the claimants to get off, returned the coaches to London. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.450345

Privacy International, Regina (on The Application of) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal: Admn 2 Feb 2017

PI appealed from a ruling of the IPT that the provision which empowered the Secretary of State to authorise ‘the taking . . of such action as is specified in the warrant in respect of any property so specified’ was wide enough to encompass computer and network exploitation or, in colloquial language, hacking of computers including mobile devices on a thematic basis, i.e. in respect of a class of property or people or a class of such acts. The Tribunal replied that section 67 of the 2000 Act disallowed any appeal. PI responded that that should not include a request for judicial review of an error in law.
Held: The section did indeed preclude such a request. The judges disagreed.
PI sought judicial review of a decision of the IPT as to the proper construction of section 5 of the 1994 Act.

Sir Brian Leveson P QBD, Leggatt J
[2017] EWHC 114 (Admin)
Bailii
Intelligence Services Act 1994 5, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 67(8)
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Liberty (The National Council of Civil Liberties) v The Government Communications Headquarters and Others IPT 5-Dec-2014
The Claimants’ complaints alleged the unlawfulness pursuant to Article 8 (and collaterally Article 10) of the European Convention of Human Rightsof certain assumed activities of the Security Service (also, and colloquially, known as MI5), the Secret . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Privacy International, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Others CA 23-Nov-2017
The claimant sought to bring judicial review against the IPT. The IPT argued that section 67(8) of the 2000 Act prevented such a claim. . .
At Admn – Privacy International, Regina (on The Application of) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal and Others SC 15-May-2019
The Court was asked whether the actions of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal were amenable to judicial review: ‘what if any material difference to the court’s approach is made by any differences in context or wording, and more particularly the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Judicial Review, Human Rights

Leading Case

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.573929

Nunn v Suffolk Constabulary and Another: Admn 4 May 2012

The claimant had been convicted of murder and his appeal had failed. He now sought disclosure of the forensic material held by the police to his own legal team.
Held: Permission to apply for review was granted, but the claim failed. ‘It is necessary to show something that materially may cast doubt upon the safety of the conviction before the duty of the police and the CPS as set out in the Attorney General’s Guidelines and the CPS Guidance arises . . there is nothing in all the material which has been put before us so carefully by Ms Hickman, Dr Short and Mr Southey QC which might cast doubt on the safety of the conviction or from which we could conclude that there are items which, if tested, might reasonably be anticipated to provide a result which might affect the safety of the conviction. There is, therefore, nothing which gives rise to a duty to make disclosure of the files of the Forensic Science Service or to enable material to be re-tested.’

May LJ P, Haddon-Cave J
[2012] EWHC 1186 (Admin)
Bailii
Prosecution of Offences Act 1985, Criminal Procedure and Investigation Act 1996 7A
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Puddick 1865
Crompton J directed the jury as to the duty of the prosecutor in a criminal trial: ‘I hope that in the exercise of the privilege granted by the new Act to counsel for the prosecution of summing up the evidence, they will not cease to remember that . .
Cited – Rex v Banks 1916
. .
Cited – Boucher v The Queen 1954
(Supreme Court of Canada) The prosecutor in a criminal case has a duty to act impartially with no notion of winning or losing.
Randall J said: ‘It cannot be over-emphasised that the purpose of a criminal prosecution is not to obtain a . .
Cited – McIlkenny v Chief Constable of the West Midlands CA 1980
The appellant had been convicted of an IRA bombing, causing loss of many lives. The appellant and his other co-accused alleged that their confessions had been induced by police violence. The trial judge ruled that their confessions were voluntary . .
Cited – Regina v Stinchombe 1991
(Supreme Court of Canada) Sopinka J described the fruits of a police investigation as: ‘not the property of the Crown for use in securing a conviction, but the property of the public to be used to ensure that justice is done.’ . .
Cited – Regina v Ward (Judith) CACD 15-Jul-1992
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 . .
Cited – Regina v Mills, Regina v Poole HL 24-Jul-1997
The prosecution have a duty to disclose to the defence the statement of an adverse witness and not just to provide the name and address, even though that person was not seen as credible witness by the prosecution. ‘the rule in Bryant and Dickson is . .
Cited – Hodgson, Regina v CACD 18-Mar-2009
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder.
Held: The appeal succeeded. After many years in prison, the original exhibits had been located and subjected to DNA analysis which proved that the defendant could not, despite his . .
Cited – Taylor and Others v Director of The Serious Fraud Office and Others HL 29-Oct-1998
The defendant had requested the Isle of Man authorities to investigate the part if any taken by the plaintiff in a major fraud. No charges were brought against the plaintiff, but the documents showing suspicion came to be disclosed in the later . .
Cited – A v Secretary of State for the Home Department, and X v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 16-Dec-2004
The applicants had been imprisoned and held without trial, being suspected of international terrorism. No criminal charges were intended to be brought. They were foreigners and free to return home if they wished, but feared for their lives if they . .
Cited – Regina v Connor and another; Regina v Mirza HL 22-Jan-2004
The defendants sought an enquiry as to events in the jury rooms on their trials. They said that the secrecy of a jury’s deliberations did not fit the human right to a fair trial. In one case, it was said that jurors believed that the defendant’s use . .
Cited – Randall v The Queen PC 16-Apr-2002
(Cayman Islands) The defendant complained that the conduct of prosecuting counsel at his trial had been such as to undermine the fairness of his trial. Counsel had repeatedly and disparagingly interrupted cross-examinations, and the summing up.
Cited – Regina v Criminal Cases Review Commission ex parte Pearson Admn 18-May-1999
The defendant sought judicial review of the decision not to refer her case back to the court of appeal. She had been convicted of the murder of her hsuband’s new partner. She said it had been her husband.
Held: The court set out the approach . .
Cited – Practice Direction (Justices: Clerk to Court) 2-Oct-2000
Lord Woolf gave guidance as to the duties of the clerk to the magistrates as to the manner of assistance to be provided to them. He set out that it was the responsibility of the legal adviser to provide the justices with any advice they might . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Nunn, Regina (on The Application of) v Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary and Another SC 18-Jun-2014
Limits to Duty To Investigate
The claimant had been convicted of a murder. He continued to protest his innocence, and now sought judicial review of the respondent’s decision not to act upon his requests for further investigations which might prove his innocence.
Held: The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Criminal Practice

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.454583

Bhatti and Others v Croydon Magistrates’ Court and Others: Admn 3 Feb 2010

The claimant challenged the valiity of search warrants used at his home. He said they were deficient in not including the information as required by the Act. The police said that they were in accordance with the Home Office guidance.
Held: There was a clear breach of section 16(5). The officers had followed the guidance, but that was itself incorrect. The police ‘argument is that since no complete assurance or guarantee of authenticity can be offered, there is no point in providing any. I do not accept that, and more importantly Parliament has not done so. It has stipulated what the householder should be told by way of assurance that the searchers have the authority they claim, and it has done so by requiring a copy of the warrant, not a copy of part only supplemented by further information provided by the executing officer, which is in essence what the current practice provides. Moreover, the fact that with an all premises warrant it will not necessarily be possible to satisfy the householder that the particular premises have been identified in the warrant does not invalidate the need to do so when the premises can be so identified.’
A copy of the warrant, including particulars of the premises to be searched must be supplied to the occupier as a mandatory requirement: ‘the wording of section 15(1) is plain and non-compliance renders entry, search and seizure unlawful. Whether or not the property can be admitted in a criminal trial raises quite separate issues. It depends upon whether the property is available to the prosecution at that time and admissibility will be determined in the normal way, subject to section 78 of PACE.’

Elias LJ, Calvert Smith J
[2010] EWHC 522 (Admin), (2010) 174 JP 213, [2011] 1 WLR 948
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 16(5)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Longman QBD 1988
Lord Lane CJ expressed reservations as to the construction of this provision: whether the consequence of a breach of section 15 or section 16 or both would render a search of premises under a warrant unlawful and he expressed the tentative view, . .
Cited – Redknapp and Another v Commissioner of the City of London Police and Another Admn 23-May-2008
The claimant challenged the legality of a search warrant and the method of its execution on his home. He complained that the police had ensured publicity for the execution of the warrant.
Held: The obtaining of a search warrant is never to be . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable for Warwickshire and Others Ex Parte Fitzpatrick and Others QBD 1-Oct-1997
Judicial Review is not the appropriate way to challenge the excessive nature of a search warrant issues by magistrates. A private law remedy is better. Jowitt J said: ‘Judicial review is not a fact finding exercise and it is an extremely . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of the Lancashire Constabulary ex parte Parker Admn 2-Jan-1993
There was a two paged document headed ‘warrant to enter and search premises’ which set out all the information required by section 15(6)(a). It did not, however, on its face identify the articles or persons to be sought in subparagraph (b). That . .
Cited – Fisher and Another v Chief Constable of Cumbria Constabulary CA 29-Jul-1997
The Chief Constable appealed against an award of pounds 750 made after a police officer serving a search warrant forgetfully failed to leave a copy with the occupier. . .
Cited – Regina v Chesterfield Justices and Others, Ex Parte Bramley QBD 10-Nov-1999
When police officers executed a search warrant, it was not proper to remove articles at large, in order later to sift through them, and then to return material not covered by the warrant. There is no absolute prohibition against removing articles . .
Cited – Entick v Carrington KBD 1765
The Property of Every Man is Sacred
The King’s Messengers entered the plaintiff’s house and seized his papers under a warrant issued by the Secretary of State, a government minister.
Held: The common law does not recognise interests of state as a justification for allowing what . .

Cited by:
Cited – Global Cash and Carry Ltd, Regina (on The Application of) v Birmingham Magistrates’ Court and Others Admn 19-Feb-2013
The claimant sought an order quashing a search warrant, and for damages. The officer had said that he had evidence that the claimants were storing an distributing from the premises large quantities of counterfeit goods and drugs.
Held: The . .
Cited – Mills and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Sussex Police and Another Admn 25-Jul-2014
The claimants faced criminal charges involving allegations of fraud and corruption. They now challenged by judicial review a search and seizure warrant saying that it was unlawful. A restraint order had been made against them and they had complied . .
See Also – Bhatti and Others v Regina CACD 30-Jul-2015
The defendants appealed against their convictions for conspiracy to facilitate breaches of immigration law, saying that they had been based on evidence obtained by the police from credit reference agencies in breach of their rights under the 1984 . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Criminal Evidence

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.403322

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.
Held: The declaration was refused. The law was as stated in Ziegle and Dolan: ‘it is now clear that there is no real dispute here that that approach is also applicable when looking at the interaction between Articles 10 and 11 and Regulation 10(1) of the 2020 Regulations. So, for example, it is relevant to consider whether a person is exercising rights given by Article 10 or 11. It is also relevant to consider whether a public authority, in this case the police, would be interfering with those rights by enforcing the 2020 Regulations. Then, the legitimacy of the aim of those Regulations is a relevant consideration, together with the question whether the interference is necessary to achieve that aim. The 2020 Regulations are aimed at the protection of public health. All this gives rise to the proportionality exercise described’

Holgate J
[2021] EWHC 661 (Admin)
Bailii, Judiciary
Serious Crime Act 2007, Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (All Tiers) (England) Regulations 2020
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – 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 . .
Applied – 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 . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.659862

Pryor v Greater Manchester Police: CA 30 Jun 2011

The claimant had purchased a car, but not yet received confirmation of its registration in his name. After verifying his friend’s insurance he lent the car to him. The friend was stopped by officers, the non-registrations noted and the car was impounded and destroyed. He appealed against rejection of his claim.
Held: The appeal was allowed. The conditions for seizure had not been met. It was only after a relevant certificate of insurance has not been provided that it can be asked whether the officer had reasonable grounds for suspecting an offence under section 143. The certificate satisfied the requirement as ‘the relevant certificate of insurance’, and doubts later acquired did not enlarge the powers under section 165.

Ward, Stanley Burnton, Black LJJ
[2011] EWCA Civ 749, [2011] RTR 33, (2011) 175 JP 492
Bailii
Road Traffic Act 1988 143 165A
England and Wales

Road Traffic, Police

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.441394

Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police v Khan: HL 11 Oct 2001

The claimant was a police sergeant. After many years he had not been promoted. He began proceedings for race discrimination. Whilst those were in course, he applied for a post elsewhere. That force wrote to his own requesting a reference. In the light of the discrimination claim, they were advised not to reply for fear of compromising their case. The Court of Appeal held this to be victimisation. The Force appealed.
Held: Victimisation occurs when a party is treated less favourably for doing a protected act. That act must be within a relevant context (here employment), less favourable, and ‘by reason that.’ That last condition did not require a causal connection as such, but must provide an answer to the question of how the act arose. This is a question of fact. Causation is a legal question. In this case, the force would have refused a reference, whatever the nature of the complainant’s dispute with the force. The causal issues underlying race victimisation claims, are not the same as those which arise in sex discrimination cases.
Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead: The primary object of the victimisation provisions in section 2 [of the Race Relations Act 1976] is to ensure that persons are not penalised or prejudiced because they have taken steps to exercise their statutory rights or are intending to do so’.

Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, Lord Mackay of Clashfern Lord Hoffmann Lord Hutton Lord Scott of Foscote
Times 16-Oct-2001, Gazette 01-Nov-2001, [2001] UKHL 48, [2001] ICR 1065, [2001] 1 WLR 1947, [2001] 4 All ER 834, [2001] IRLR 830, [2001] Emp LR 1399
House of Lords, Bailii
Race Relations Act 1976
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Kirby v Manpower Services Commission EAT 1980
The applicant, an employee at a job centre was demoted because he had disclosed confidential information about possible contraventions of the race relations legislation. He complained of race discrimination, saying his disclosure was a protected . .
Approved – Aziz v Trinity Street Taxis Ltd CA 26-Feb-1988
An Asian member of the respondent association of taxi cab operators secretly recorded conversations with other members to gather evidence for a claim under the Act. He was expelled from the association for this conduct. He alleged race . .
Cited – TNT Express Worldwide (UK) Ltd v Brown CA 18-Apr-2000
An employee pursuing a claim of racial discrimination against his employers requested time off to see his adviser on the claim. The company refused, he took the time off, and was later dismissed. Since the company normally allowed on short notice . .
Approved – Cornelius v University College of Swansea CA 1987
A college declined to act on an employee’s transfer request or to operate their grievance procedure while proceedings under the 1975 Act, brought by the employee against the college, were still awaiting determination. The college was trying to . .
Appeal from – Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police and Others v Khan CA 24-Feb-2000
A police sergeant had made a complaint of race discrimination against his force. He applied for a post elsewhere, but his chief constable refused a reference claiming that he wished not to prejudice the force’s defence of the action. This was held . .

Cited by:
Cited – The Law Society v Kamlesh Bahl EAT 7-Jul-2003
EAT Sex Discrimination – Direct
The complainant had been suspended from her position as Vice President of the Law Society. The Society and its officers appealed findings of sex and race discrimination . .
Cited – Shamoon v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary HL 27-Feb-2003
The applicant was a chief inspector of police. She had been prevented from carrying out appraisals of other senior staff, and complained of sex discrimination.
Held: The claimant’s appeal failed. The tribunal had taken a two stage approach. It . .
Cited – St Helens Metroploitan Borough Council v Derbyshire and others CA 29-Jul-2005
The employees commenced a series of sex discrimination claims against the appellant. Many had settled, and the council wrote directly to the remaining claimants. The claimants said this amounted to intimidation because the council had not gone . .
Cited – St Helens Borough Council v Derbyshire and others HL 25-Apr-2007
The claimants were pursuing an action for equal pay. Several others settled their own actions, and the respondents then wrote direct to the claimants expressing their concern that the action ws being continued and its possible effects. The claimants . .
Cited – Mohammed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Defence CA 1-May-2007
In 2000, the defendant introduced a policy to make compensation payments for those British services personnel who had been imprisoned by the Japanese in the second world war. The appellant, a citizen of Pakistan had served in the Indian Army, was . .
Cited – Balamoody v United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting CA 6-Dec-2001
The claimant had been struck from the register of nurses after convictions arising from failures of his staff at his nursing home with regard to drug management. He had then brought claims of unlawful race discrimination against the health authority . .
Cited – Amnesty International v Ahmed EAT 13-Aug-2009
amnesty_ahmedEAT2009
EAT RACE DISCRIMINATION – Direct discrimination
RACE DISCRIMINATION – Indirect discrimination
RACE DISCRIMINATION – Protected by s. 41
UNFAIR DISMISSAL – Constructive dismissal
Claimant, of . .
Cited – Fosh v Cardiff University EAT 23-Jan-2008
The professor had sought time off to represent another lecturer claiming race discrimination against the University. The University said that her behaviour created a conflict of interest with the University. She continued and herself claimed . .
Cited – E, Regina (On the Application of) v The Governing Body of JFS and Another CA 25-Jun-2009
E challenged the admissions policy of a school which admitted by preference children acknowledged to be Jewish by the Office of their Rabbi. His mother being Jewish by conversion in a progressive synagogue, E was excluded. The claimant suggested . .
Cited – E, Regina (on The Application of) v Governing Body of JFS and Another SC 16-Dec-2009
E complained that his exclusion from admission to the school had been racially discriminatory. The school applied an Orthodox Jewish religious test which did not count him as Jewish because of his family history.
Held: The school’s appeal . .
Cited – Pothecary Witham Weld (A Firm) and Another v Bullimore and Another EAT 29-Mar-2010
EAT VICTIMISATION DISCRIMINATION
SEX DISCRIMINATION – Burden of Proof
Ex-employee given unfavourable reference – Claim that terms of reference were partly on account of her having previously brought . .
Cited – HM Land Registry v Grant EAT 15-Apr-2010
hmlr_grantEAT10
EAT SEXUAL ORIENTATION DISCRIMINATION/TRANSEXUALISM
HARASSMENT – Conduct
PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE – Appellate Jurisdiction /Reasons /Burns-Barke
An Employment Tribunal accepted that 6 out of 12 . .
Cited – Fecitt and Others v NHS Manchester EAT 23-Nov-2010
EAT VICTIMISATION DISCRIMINATION – Protected disclosure
S.47B of the Employment Rights Act 1996 provides that ‘A worker has the right not to be subjected to any detriment by any act, or any deliberate . .
Cited – Conteh v Parking Partners Ltd EAT 17-Dec-2010
EAT HARASSMENT – Conduct
Where an employee worked in an environment in which her dignity was violated, or which became intimidatory, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive as a result of actions of . .
Cited – Vivian v Bournemouth Borough Council EAT 6-May-2011
EAT UNFAIR DISMISSAL
An act is on the ground that an employer has made a protected disclosure within the meaning of the Employment Rights Act 1996 section 47B if it is done by reason of such a disclosure or . .
Cited – NHS Manchester v Fecitt and Others CA 25-Oct-2011
The appellant challenged reversal by the EAT of a finding that it had not unlawfully victimised the respondents for the making of a protected disclosure. The claimant had reported a co-worker exaggerating his qualifications. After repeated . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Discrimination, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.166571

Diedrick, Regina (on The Application of) v Hampshire Constabulary and Others: Admn 26 Jul 2012

The claimant challenged the alteration of the PACE code of conduct to remove the mandatory requirement on an officer executing a stop and account or stop and search to record the self-defined ethnicity of the person so stopped, and also to challenge the decision of several chief constables to decide not to do so.
Held: Permission to bring a judicial review was refused: ‘ the policy is rational and complies with the SSHD’s equality duty, and as such is beyond challenge by judicial review . . the SSHD plainly did have due regard to the three equality aims set out at paragraph 26 above, and having taken such due regard, decided rationally, proportionately and lawfully that each Chief Constable should decide, again in the light of section 149(1) of the 2010 Act, whether to report Stop and Account. The SSHD will keep the matter under review, in the knowledge that each Chief Constable must himself keep under review any decision not to report Stop and Account.’

Stanley Burnton LJ, Parker J
[2012] EWHC 2144 (Admin)
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 3
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Roberts, Regina (on The Application of) v The Commissioner of The Metropolitan Police Admn 17-Jul-2012
The claimant challenged the legality of section 60 of the 1994 Act as an interference in her article 8 rights. She had been caught on a bus without her fare and gave a false name and address. A direction had been given authorising any person to be . .
Cited – JM and NT, Regina (on The Application of) v Isle of Wight Council Admn 11-Nov-2011
The claimants, disabled adults receiving community care services challenged changes to the eligibility threshold for such services.
When carrying out their functions, public authorities must have ‘due regard’ to six ‘needs’ identified in the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police

Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.463169

Morris v Beardmore: HL 1981

Parliament does not intend to authorise tortious conduct except by express provision. It is not for the courts to alter the balance between individual rights and the powers of public officials. The right of privacy is fundamental.
Lord Scarman said: ‘When for the detection, prevention or prosecution of crime Parliament confers upon a constable a power or right which curtails the rights of others, it is to be expected that Parliament intended the curtailment to extend no further than its express authorisation. A constable, who in purported execution of his duty has infringed rights which Parliament has not expressly curtailed, will not, therefore, be able to show that he has acted in execution of his duty, unless (and this will be rare) it can be shown by necessary implication that Parliament must have intended to authorise such infringement . .
[I]t is not the task of judges, exercising their ingenuity in the field of implication, to go further in the invasion of fundamental private rights and liberties than Parliament has expressly authorised.’
Lord Roskill said that in Sang the House of Lords had carefully defined the limits of judicial discretion to exclude evidence otherwise clearly admissible, setting at rest many doubts which had previously existed as to its existence and scope, and that it would be a retrograde step to enlarge upon its now narrow limits or to engraft an exception, merely in order to meet the situation under discussion in that case.

Lord Diplock, Lord Edmund-Davies, Lord Scarman
[1981] AC 446, [1980] 2 All ER 753, [1980] RTR 321, (1980) 71 Cr App R 256, [1980] 3 WLR 283, (1980) 144 JP 331
England and Wales
Citing:
Explained – Regina v Sang HL 25-Jul-1979
The defendant appealed against an unsuccessful application to exclude evidence where it was claimed there had been incitement by an agent provocateur.
Held: The appeal failed. There is no defence of entrapment in English law. All evidence . .

Cited by:
Cited – Regina on the Application of PW v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, The London Borough of Richmond-Upon-Thames Admn 20-Jul-2005
W, a child of 14 sought judicial review of an order to remove persons under the age of 16 from dispersal areas in Richmond.
Held: The issue was whether the power given to police to remove youths was permissive or coercive. The power given ‘is . .
Cited – Gillies v Procurator Fiscal, Elgin HCJ 1-Oct-2008
The police went to the defendant’s flat to find her boyfriend. She refused them access, but when they saw him, the police officers called out that he was under arrest under the 1995 Act, and forced their way past the door and the defendant. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Police, Evidence

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.228926

Holgate-Mohammed v Duke: HL 1984

A police officer had purported to arrest the plaintiff under the 1967 Act, suspecting her of theft. After interview she was released several hours later without charge. She sought damages alleging wrongful arrest. The judge had found that he had reasonable grounds for suspicion, and that the period of detention was not excessive. However the use of an arrest to place her under pressure was improper. On appeal the chief constable succeeded, the court saying that the question was whether the decision to arrest was Wednesbury unreasonable; was it made in good faith, and did it take into account any irrelevant factors.
Held: The idea that a suspect might more readily confess at a police station under arrest was a proper consideration, and given the reasonable cause for suspicion, the arrest was lawful.
A police officer’s use of his discretion to make an arrest where reasonable grounds for suspicion exist cannot be questioned except on Wednesbury grounds. Lord Diplock discussed ‘the compromise which the law had by that stage evolved for the accommodation of the two rival public interests’ of the liberty of the subject and bringing criminals to justice: ‘So, applying Wednesbury principles, the question of law to be decided by your Lordships may be identified as this: ‘Was it a matter Detective Constable Offin should have excluded from his consideration as irrelevant to the exercise of his statutory power of arrest, that there was a greater likelihood (as he believed) that Mrs Holgate-Mohammed would respond truthfully to questions about her connection with or knowledge of the burglary, if she were questioned under arrest at the police station, than if, without arresting her, questions were put to her by Detective Constable Offin at his own home from which she could peremptorily order him to depart at any moment.’
Discussing the nature of an arrest he said: ‘First, it should be noted that arrest is a continuing act; it starts with the arrester taking a person into his custody (sc. by action or words restraining him from moving anywhere beyond the arrester’s control), and it continues until the person so restrained is either released from custody or, having been brought before a magistrate, is remanded in custody by the magistrate’s judicial act.’

Lord Diplock
[1984] AC 437, [1984] 1 AC 437, [1984] 2 WLR 660, [1984] 1 All ER 1054, [1984] 2 WLR 660
Criminal Law Act 1967 2(4)
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Cumming and others v Chief Constable of Northumbria Police CA 17-Dec-2003
The six claimants sought damages for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. Each had been arrested on an officer’s suspicion. They operated CCTV equipment, and it appeared that tapes showing the commission of an offence had been tampered with. Each . .
Cited – Al-Fayed and others v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and others CA 25-Nov-2004
The appellants appealed from dismissal of their claims for wrongful imprisonment by the respondent. Each had attended at a police station for interview on allegations of theft. They had been arrested and held pending interview and then released. Mr . .
Cited – Murray v Ministry of Defence HL 25-May-1988
The plaintiff complained that she had been wrongfully arrested by a soldier, since he had not given a proper reason for her detention.
Held: The House accepted the existence of an implied power in a statute which would be necessary to ensure . .
Cited – Pounder, Regina (on the Application of) v HM Coroner for the North and South Districts of Durham and Darlington and others Admn 22-Jan-2009
The deceased died aged 14 in a Secure Training Centre by hanging. He had complained of his treatment and restraint methods used. The mother sought judicial review of the conduct of the inquest, wanting the coroner not to have ruled on the legality . .
Cited – Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v Raissi CA 12-Nov-2008
The Commissioner appealed against an award of damages for false imprisonment. The claimant had been arrested shortly after a terrorist attack. The judge had held that they had no reasonable belief of his involvement. The Commissioner did not now . .
Cited – Shields v Merseyside Police CA 17-Nov-2010
The claimant appealed against rejection of her claim for assault and false imprisonment. The officer arresting her wrongly believed that she had already been arrested, and it was said that he could not have gone through the steps necessary for an . .
Cited – Lumba (WL) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 23-Mar-2011
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 . .
Cited – Richardson v The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police QBD 29-Mar-2011
The claimant, a teacher, said he had been unlawfully arrested and detained after an allegation of assault from a pupil. Having attended the police station voluntarily, he said that the circumstances did not satisfy the required precondition that an . .
Cited – Kambadzi (previously referred to as SK (Zimbabwe)) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 25-May-2011
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 . .
Cited – Fitzpatrick and Others v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis QBD 11-Jan-2012
fitzpatrick_compolQBD2012
The claimants, two solicitors and their employer firm sought damages alleging trespass and malicious procurement by police officers in obtaining and executing search warrants against the firm in 2007 when they were investigating suspected offences . .
Cited – Williamson v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago PC 3-Sep-2014
(Trinidad and Tobago) The claimant had been held after arrest on suspicion of theft. He was held for several months before the case was dismissed, the posecution having made no apparent attempt to further the prosecution. He appealed against refusal . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.190130

Roulston v Scottish Police Authority: SIC 6 May 2014

roulstonSIC0514

SIC Transitional arrangements for ACPOS rank officers – On 18 March 2013, Mr Roulston asked the Scottish Police Authority (the SPA) for information on the transitional arrangements for ACPOS rank officers. The SPA responded with some information, but stated that it did not hold other information. Following an investigation, the Commissioner accepted that the SPA did not hold any further information covered by the request.

[2014] ScotIC 100 – 2014
Bailii

Scotland, Information, Police

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.525559

UMBS Online, Regina (on the Application Of) v Serious Organised Crime Agency: CA 21 Mar 2007

Application for leave to appeal against refusal of leave to bring judicial review of a decision of the respondent agency. Leave to appeal was granted, but the matter was returned to the administrative court for review.

Ward LJ, Sedley LJ, Hooper LJ
[2007] EWCA Civ 375, [2008] 1 All ER 465
Bailii
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Regina (ex parte UMBS Online Ltd) v Serious Organised Crime Agency Admn 2007
The customers bank accounts had been frozen at the request of the respondent agency after the bank had reported what it thought was suspicious activity to the Agency. It sought judicial review of the agency’s refusal to allow the bank to resume . .
Cited – Squirrell Ltd v National Westminster Bank Plc ChD 22-Apr-2005
The court conisdered the effects of the provisions of the 2002 Act to be to ‘force a party in NatWest’s position to report its suspicions to the relevant authorities and not to move suspect funds or property either for seven working days or, if a . .

Cited by:
See Also – UMBS Online Ltd, Regina (on the Application Of) v Serious Organised Crime Agency and Another CA 2-May-2007
The bank had reported to the respondent its suspicions about funds it held for the claimant. The accounts were frozen, and the customer now sought a judicial review of the refusal of the Agency to reconsider its decision.
Held: The review was . .
Cited – Shah and Another v HSBC Private Bank (UK) Ltd QBD 26-Jan-2009
The claimants sought damages after delays by the bank in processing transfer requests. The bank said that the delays were made pending reports of suspected criminal activity. The bank’s delay had stigmatised the claimant causing further losses. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Banking, Police

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.251612

McLeod, Mealing (deceased) v Metropolitan Police Commissioner: CA 3 Feb 1994

The plaintiff appealed against the dismissal of her claims for trespass and breach of duty by the defendant’s officers. In divorce proceedings, she had been ordered to return certain household goods to her husband, but had failed yet to do so. The husband attended the property with a solicitor and two police officers without prior notice. The plaintiff was not present at first but returned as goods were being removed. She was angry, but the officer told her to allow the goods to be taken and for matters to be sorted out later between solicitors. The power of entry into private premises for a breach of peace was preserved. When an officer acts to prevent a breach of the peace his apprehension ‘must relate to the near future’.
Neill LJ said: ‘I am satisfied that Parliament in section 17(6) has now recognised that there is a power to enter premises to prevent a breach of the peace as a form of preventive justice. I can see no satisfactory basis for restricting that power to particular classes of premises such as those where public meetings are held. If the police reasonably believe that a breach of the peace is likely to take place on private premises, they have power to enter those premises to prevent it. The apprehension must of course be genuine and it must relate to the near future.’

Neill, Hoffmann, Waite LJJ
Ind Summary 21-Feb-1994, [1994] EWCA Civ 2, [1994] 4 All ER 553
Bailii
Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 17-6, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 17
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Thomas v Sawkins KBD 1935
Police may enter private property to keep peace
Police officers went to a hall where a public meeting which had been extensively advertised was about to take place; the police sergeant in charge of the party was refused admission to the hall but insisted on entering and remaining there during the . .
Cited – McGowan v Chief Constable of Kingston Upon Hull 21-Oct-1967
The defendant police officers had gone into a house where a child was being held in a man’s arms. The police officers said that they had reason to think that a breach of the peace might occur between the man and his mistress. The question arose as . .

Cited by:
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the application of ) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire HL 13-Dec-2006
The claimants had been in coaches being driven to take part in a demonstration at an air base. The defendant police officers stopped the coaches en route, and, without allowing any number of the claimants to get off, returned the coaches to London. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.83567

Salimi, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department and Another: Admn 1 Jul 2011

The claimant said he had been assaulted by Iraqi police and contractors in Baghdad Airport whilst he was being forcibly returned there, and that the defendant had responsibility. He complained that about the failure of the IPCC to investigate his complaints.
Held: The Regulations specifically excluded operations under Part 8 of the 1999 Act, and the claim failed.

Bean J
[2011] EWHC 1714 (Admin)
Bailii
Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 14(1) 147 156, Police Reform Act 2002 10, Police and Justice Act 2006 41
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Secretary of State for Defence v Al-Skeini and others (The Redress Trust Intervening) HL 13-Jun-2007
Complaints were made as to the deaths of six Iraqi civilians which were the result of actions by a member or members of the British armed forces in Basra. One of them, Mr Baha Mousa, had died as a result of severe maltreatment in a prison occupied . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Administrative

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.441399

Police for The Metropolis v Cls: IPT 16 Jun 2021

[2021] UKIPTrib IPT – 20 – 89
Bailii
England and Wales

Police, Human Rights

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.668279

Wilson v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis: IPT 13 Jan 2021

[2021] UKIPTrib IPT – 167 – 01
Bailii
England and Wales

Police, Human Rights

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.668278

Prothero, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department: Admn 18 Sep 2013

The claimant challenged the 2012 Regulations saying the the requirement for him to provide details of his banking and other accounts infringed his Article 8 rights.
Held: The Regulations were not incompatible: ‘We do not consider that the means employed are in any way inappropriate or disproportionate. They are plainly a practical and proportionate means of providing further protection to prevent other persons becoming potential victims of those on the Sexual Offenders Register. In reaching that judgment we have taken into account the fact that no power is given to access the accounts and that the information provided by an offender will be securely held. ‘

Sir John Thomas P QBD, Kickinbottom J
[2013] WLR(D) 350, [2013] EWHC 2830 (Admin)
Bailii, WLRD
Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Notification Requirements) (England and Wales) Regulations 2012
England and Wales

Police, Human Rights

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.515310

X and Another v Z (Children) and Another: CA 5 Feb 2015

The Court was asked as to the circumstances in which DNA profiles obtained by the police in exercise of their criminal law enforcement functions can, without the consent of the data subject, be put to uses which are remote from the field of criminal law enforcement. The claimant was a prisoner serving a life term for having killed the children’s mother. He asserted that he was the father of the children, and sought contact, but had refused to undergo a DNA test.
Held: The appeal succeeded. Lord Dyson MR aid: ‘if section 22(1) and (2) were to be interpreted as meaning that the police have the power to retain and use DNA or other biometric material for purposes other than criminal law enforcement purposes, then it would violate article 8, since it would not be ‘in accordance with the law’. It would entail the existence of an arbitrary and unjustified distinction between Part II biometric material and Part V biometric material to which sections 63D, section 63R and section 63S apply. It would also mean that the exercise of the discretion given by section 22 would be indeterminate and unclear . . upon its true construction section 22 does not permit the police to retain and use biometric material seized under section 19 for any other purpose than criminal law enforcement.’
If section 22(1) and (2) were to be interpreted as meaning that the police have the power to retain and use DNA or other biometric material for purposes other than criminal law enforcement purposes, then it would violate article 8, since it would not be ‘in accordance with the law’. It would entail the existence of an arbitrary and unjustified distinction between Part II biometric material and Part V biometric material to which sections 63D, section 63R and section 63S apply. It would also mean that the exercise of the discretion given by section 22 would be indeterminate and unclear.

Dyson MR L, McFarlane, Beatson LJJ
[2015] EWCA Civ 34, [2015] 1 FLR 1100, [2015] 4 All ER 205, [2015] 1 Cr App R 28, [2015] Fam Law 369, [2015] 1 WLR 2501, [2015] WLR(D) 76
Bailii, WLRD
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 22, European Convention on Human Rights 8
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Re Z (Children) FD 18-Jun-2014
The father, X, asserted that he was such, but refused to undergo a DNA test, and ‘The question arises in the most appalling circumstances: X murdered the children’s mother, in particularly horrible circumstances. He is serving a sentence of life . .
Cited – CG And Others v Bulgaria ECHR 24-Apr-2008
The applicants alleged that the first applicant’s expulsion from Bulgaria amounted to unjustified interference with their right to respect for their family life, enshrined in Article 8 of the Convention.
‘The Court is naturally mindful of the . .
Cited – Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom ECHR 4-Dec-2008
(Grand Chamber) The applicants complained that on being arrested on suspicion of offences, samples of their DNA had been taken, but then despite being released without conviction, the samples had retained on the Police database.
Held: . .
Cited – Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza HL 21-Jun-2004
Same Sex Partner Entitled to tenancy Succession
The protected tenant had died. His same-sex partner sought a statutory inheritance of the tenancy.
Held: His appeal succeeded. The Fitzpatrick case referred to the position before the 1998 Act: ‘Discriminatory law undermines the rule of law . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Human Rights, Information

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.542268

Coker, Regina (on The Application of) v Independent Police Complaints Commission: QBD 16 Nov 2010

The claimant sought judicial review of a decision made by the respondents on her complaint, which was that no misconduct proceedings had been brought. Her brother had been arrested and died in custody. The Commission had recommended such proceedings, but then, after receiving representations from the officer and his refusal to accept a written warning, had changed its decision, and recommended words of advice. She had argued that upon issuing its decision, the Commission was functus officio, and was unable to change its mind.
Held: The Commission was not functus officio. The situation was compared to the continuing duty of the CPS to keep a decision to prosecute under review. As to the suggestion that the decision to recommend words of advice was ultra vires, it was not (see Manning), and nor was it irrational.

Calvert Smith J
[2010] EWHC 3625 (Admin)
Bailii
Police Act 1996 87
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Dennis, Regina (on the Application of) v Independent Police Complaints Commission Admn 6-May-2008
The claimant was stood at her door when she was taken by police officers, an armed gun pointed at her, laid on the ground and her hands bound. She was held for fifteen minutes. She was entirely innocent, but the officers were looking for armed . .
Cited – Leveratt v Independent Police Complaints Commission CA 2010
The claimant had said that he wished to appeal against the decision made by the respondent on his complaint. The Commission replied that it was functus officio.
Held: Wall LJ said: ‘The IPCC took the view that it was in the lawyer’s phrase, . .
Cited – Clare, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of Police; Independent Police Complaint Commission Admn 15-Apr-2005
The complainant had made a complaint against police officers of assault. Criminal proceedings against the complainant were discontinued by the Crown Prosecution Service. Following that acquittal her solicitors wrote with her complaint against them, . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.467073

Kotova v Director of Public Prosecutions: Admn 8 Dec 2015

The claimant had been convicted of criminal offences in Russia. She now objected that a continued fiminal investigation in the UK was as to the matters for which she had already served imprisonment, and was therefore oppressive.
Held: The request fro review failed. There was no double jeopardy: ‘The claimant was charged in an indictment and convicted at trial of one attempted bribe in connection with the Canbaikal project. She has never been charged in Russia with any bribe or corruption charge in connection with Vostok Energy. The recital of the facts concerned with the Vostok bribe, in the judgment of the Russian court, was designed to demonstrate the falsity of her defence that she was removed as director of the Bank for political reasons rather than her criminality and was also part of the relevant background.’

Lllyd Jones LJ, Coulson J
[2015] EWHC 4111 (Admin)
Bailii
England and Wales

Police

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.562473

Regina v Chief Constable of Sussex, ex Parte International Trader’s Ferry Limited: HL 2 Apr 1998

Chief Constable has a Wide Discretion on Resources

Protesters sought to prevent the appellant’s lawful trade exporting live animals. The police provided assistance, but then restricted it, pleading lack of resources. The appellants complained that this infringed their freedom of exports under community law.
Held: Police do not have an absolute duty to prevent breaches of the peace. A Chief Constable must have a wide discretion as to how his resources are applied. He had no duty to apply all the resources required to prevent a breach of peace. The actions of the police did not amount to a restraint on exports.
LMA Where the Authorities had taken some action, providing policing of demonstrations by animal rights protestors against the export of live animals on three days a week, but this was not enough to eliminate the effects of demonstrations on the export of live animals by the applicant. The HL found for the authorities but would the UK be seen to be in breach of its obligations had the question been referred to the ECJ. The majority of the HL suggested that, were the case to turn on the question of whether the Chief Constable’s decision as to the appropriate level of policy constituted a measure having an equivalent effect or not, that questions would have been referred.

Lord Slynn of Hadley, Lord Nolan, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Cooke of Thorndon, Lord Hope of Craighead
Gazette 10-Dec-1998, Times 16-Nov-1998, [1998] UKHL 40, [1999] 1 CMLR 1320, [1998] 3 WLR 1260, [1999] 2 AC 418, [1999] 1 All ER 129
House of Lords, Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Regina v Chief Constable of Sussex Ex Parte International Trader’s Ferry Ltd CA 28-Jan-1997
A restriction placed by a chief constable on the police support he would make available to support a lawful trade was reasonable, even though it might amount to trade interference. The allocation of resources available to the Chief Constable was for . .
Cited – Regina v Coventry Airport Ex Parte Phoenix Aviation; Regina v Dover Harbour Board Ex Parte Gilder Admn 12-Apr-1995
A local authority operator of an airport suspended flights on aircraft transporting livestock; a harbour authority refused to allow cross-Channel services for the export of live animals; and a local authority challenged the decision of a statutory . .
Cited – Chief Constable of the North Wales Police v Evans HL 1982
The Court found the probationer police constable to have been unlawfully induced to resign, but the court could not order his reinstatement. A power must be exercised by the precise person or body stated in the statute. Though courts may review the . .
Cited – Harris v Sheffield United Football Club Ltd CA 1987
The court was asked whether services provided by the police at Sheffield United Football Club for the club’s home fixtures were ‘special police services’ so that, if they were provided at the club’s request, the police could charge for them. Up . .
Cited – Beatty v Gillbanks QBD 13-Jun-1882
The appellants assembled with others for a lawful purpose, and with no intention of carrying it out unlawfully, but with the knowledge that their assembly would be opposed, and with good reason to suppose that a breach of the peace would be . .
Cited – Regina v Pierre Bouchereau ECJ 27-Oct-1977
ECJ The different language versions of a community text must be given a uniform interpretation and hence in the case of divergence between the versions the provision in question must be interpreted by reference . .
Cited – Henri Cullet and Chambre syndicale des reparateurs automobiles et detaillants de produits petroliers v Centre Leclerc a Toulouse and Centre Leclerc a Saint-Orens-de-Gameville ECJ 29-Jan-1985
Europa ‘I would add that the acceptance of civil disturbances as justification for encroachments upon the free movement of goods would, as is apparent from experiences of the last year (and before, during the . .
At First Instance – Regina v Chief Constable of Sussex, Ex Parte International Trader’s Ferry Ltd QBD 28-Jul-1995
A Chief Constable may not limit his duty to his immediate community if this interfered with lawful exports within the community. It was for the Chief Constable to decide on the disposition of his forces and the use of his resources. He was fully . .
Cited – Commission v France ECJ 9-Dec-1997
ECJ (Judgment) The Commission said France had failed to fulfil its obligations under the common organisation of the markets in agricultural, products and under Article 30, in conjunction with Article 5, of the EC . .
Cited – Van Gend En Loos v Administratie Der Belastingen ECJ 5-Feb-1963
LMA The Dutch customs authorities had introduced an import charge in breach of Art.12 [Art.25] EC. This Article prohibits MS from introducing between themselves any new customs duties on imports or exports or any . .
Cited – Regina v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, Ex parte Blackburn CA 1968
Answerability of Chief Constables
The constitutional status of the Commissioner had never been defined, either by statute or by the courts. By common law police officers owe to the general public a duty to enforce the criminal law. The court considered the extent to which a court . .
Cited – Associated Provincial Picture Houses Ltd v Wednesbury Corporation CA 10-Nov-1947
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 . .
Cited – Hurd v Jones (Judgment) ECJ 15-Jan-1986
‘ . . . [A] provision produces direct effect in relations between the Member States and their subjects only if it is clear and unconditional and not contingent on any discretionary implementing measure.’ and ‘According to a consistent line of . .
Cited – Commission v Belgium (Judgment) ECJ 14-Jan-1988
A Member State ‘may not plead provisions, practices or circumstances existing in its internal legal system in order to justify a failure to comply with its obligations under Community law’. . .
Cited – Commission v Italy (Judgment) ECJ 12-Jul-1990
The Italian Government was held to have infringed Article 30 by closing all inland frontier posts at which imported grape fruit could be inspected and allowing importation only through certain seaports. . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Brind HL 7-Feb-1991
The Home Secretary had issued directives to the BBC and IBA prohibiting the broadcasting of speech by representatives of proscribed terrorist organisations. The applicant journalists challenged the legality of the directives on the ground that they . .

Cited by:
Cited – The Association of British Civilian Internees – Far Eastern Region (ABCIFER) v Secretary of State for Defence CA 3-Apr-2003
The association sought a judicial review of a decision not to pay compensation in respect of their or their parents or grandparents’ internment by the Japanese in the Second World War. Payment was not made because those interned were not born in . .
Cited – Samaroo and Sezek v Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 17-Jul-2001
Two foreign nationals with leave to remain in this country committed serious crimes. The Secretary of State ordered their deportation.
Held: Where the deportation of a foreigner following a conviction here, would conflict with his human . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the application of ) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire HL 13-Dec-2006
The claimants had been in coaches being driven to take part in a demonstration at an air base. The defendant police officers stopped the coaches en route, and, without allowing any number of the claimants to get off, returned the coaches to London. . .
Cited – Corner House Research and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v The Serious Fraud Office HL 30-Jul-2008
SFO Director’s decisions reviewable
The director succeeded on his appeal against an order declaring unlawful his decision to discontinue investigations into allegations of bribery. The Attorney-General had supervisory duties as to the exercise of the duties by the Director. It had . .
Cited – North Yorkshire Police Authority, Regina (on The Application of) v The Independent Police Complaints Commission Admn 8-Jul-2010
No Review of IPCC’s Decision to Investigate
A complainant wanted the police force to investigate his mother’s treatment in a care home. When a decision was made that no criminal activity had been revealed, he asked the Police Authority to investigate, but they declined saying that the issue . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, European

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.135180

Lord Hanningfield of Chelmsford v Chief Constable of Essex Police: QBD 15 Feb 2013

The claimant sought damages alleging unlawful arrest and search and detention. He had served a term of imprisonment for having made false expenses claims to the House of Lords. This raid occurred on his release. The arrest was planned and made to support the search without the need to establish urgency.
Held: The claim succeeded. Once the arrest was made, there was no reason why a search should only take place if danger was perceived. However the only possible support for the arrest would be under 24(5)(e) of the 1984 Act, that is to allow prompt investigation. ‘in the circumstances of this case I cannot accept that there was any rational basis for rejecting alternative procedures, such as those adopted successfully by the Metropolitan Police. There were simply no solid grounds to suppose that he would suddenly start to hide or destroy evidence, or that he would make inappropriate contacts. There was only the theoretical possibility that he might do so. I can, therefore, see no justification for by-passing all the usual statutory safeguards involved in obtaining a warrant.’ As to the subsequent detention at the police station, ‘ the subsequent detention could not be regarded in itself as lawful simply because the custody officer did not have the same information laid before him.’

Eady J
[2013] EWHC 243 (QB)
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 24(5)(e) 32
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Hayes v Merseyside Police CA 29-Jul-2011
The claimant had been arrested after a complaint of harassment. The officer then contacted the complainant who then withdrew his complaint. The officer went to visit the complainant to discuss it further. On his return the claimant was released from . .
Cited – Richardson v The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police QBD 29-Mar-2011
The claimant, a teacher, said he had been unlawfully arrested and detained after an allegation of assault from a pupil. Having attended the police station voluntarily, he said that the circumstances did not satisfy the required precondition that an . .
Cited – Rawlinson and Hunter Trustee and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Central Criminal Court and Another Admn 31-Jul-2012
The claimants sought to have search warrants issued under the 1987 Act set aside, saying that they had been procured by non-disclosure and misrepresentation.
Held: The search warrants were set aside: ‘the fact that one or more suspects have . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.470998

Morrison v The Independent Police Complaints Commission and Others: Admn 26 Oct 2009

The claimant made a complaint of a serious assault by the police, by the use of a Taser. The defendant had referred the complaint to the IPCC, who said that they should investigate it themselves. The claimant said that to accord with his human rights, the investigator should be fully independent of the force against whom the complaint was made.
Held: The claim failed. A complaint about the lack of independence of a local police investigation should wait and see if the complaints process, coupled with any criminal proceedings could satisfy the investigative duty under Article 3.
The alleged assault was not so serious as to engage the claimant’s article 2 human rights, and require a full independent investigation. The assault alleged had not threatened the claimant’s life; ‘the Claimant suffered significant pain and injuries which, if not justified in the circumstances, would amount to the infliction of inhuman or degrading treatment contrary to Article 3. He is entitled to have that claim effectively investigated. To be effective, the investigation must be independent. It is also accepted that the local investigation currently being carried out by the Metropolitan Police will not be independent. However, if the investigation were to lead to the prosecution of the officers concerned, the criminal trial would be (or, at least, could be) the effective investigation which Article 3 requires. Furthermore, if the Claimant’s mother (who made the complaint to the police about his treatment) is dissatisfied with the information which is provided to her, with the findings of the local investigation or with its outcome, she can appeal to the IPCC. That is a route which is regularly used by complainants and with some success. It increases the possibility that there will be a prosecution. It also allows for the chance that any deficiency in the local investigation can be remedied. All of this means that it cannot be said at this stage that the IPCC’s direction that her complaint should be examined locally will inevitably breach the Claimant’s right to an effective investigation.’
Nicol J discussed the use of tasers: ‘The Taser is a pistol-like device which shoots two probes from an attached cartridge. Wires are attached to the probes. When the trigger is pulled an electric charge of some 50,000 volts is passed through the wires and, if the probes have become attached to the subject, through his body. The electric pulse lasts for some 5 seconds, or longer if the trigger is held down. The Taser can also be operated by holding it against the body of the subject. This is known as the ‘drive stun’ mode. It is the method which the Claimant alleges was applied to him about three times.
The electric charge can cause intense pain. It also (and this is said to be its principal attraction for the police) incapacitates its subject. The electrical stimulus causes an uncontrollable skeletal muscle contraction which will make the individual lose control of his body. This lasts as long as the charge is applied. It stops when the charge stops, although the person concerned may be dazed and confused for a while longer. There may also be small burn marks on the skin nearest to the probes.
The introduction of Tasers goes back to the Patten Report in 1999 (‘A New Beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland’) which had called for substantial investment in research to find an acceptable, effective and less potentially lethal alternative to the plastic baton round. Tasers were developed in the United States. They were first used in the UK in 2003. Originally, their use was confined to firearms officers. A somewhat wider use of them is allowed now by specially trained units (at least in some police forces). It was firearms officers who used them on this occasion, but the Claimant relies on the potentially wider use of Tasers as one reason why this incident merits particularly careful investigation.
The use of Tasers is closely monitored. Every incident in which a Taser is deployed (whether discharged or not) is reported to the Association of Chief Police Officers (‘ACPO’) and the Home Office Scientific Development Branch. A panel of independent medical experts reviews periodically the use of Tasers. They comment that no deaths or serious injuries attributed to Taser use have occurred since the introduction of the device in 2003. They assess the risk of death or serious injury from the use of Tasers within the ACPO Guidance and Policy as very low. It is not zero as there have been two reported incidents in the USA of subjects who sustained fatal head injuries as a result of Taser-induced falls. ACPO guidance is that Tasers should only be used where officers are facing violence or threats of violence of such severity that they need to use force to protect the public, themselves or the subject.
The IPCC’s approach to the use of Tasers has varied over time. In 2003 when they were first introduced, the IPCC’s predecessor, the Police Complaints Authority, required the police to refer to it any incident in which a Taser had been discharged. The PCA supervised the first few investigations into Taser use because of the considerable public interest, but since that time the vast majority of matters have been sent back to the police force concerned for local investigation. In 2005, the IPCC changed the criteria for referral. They were brought into line with referrals where firearms were discharged i.e. referral to the IPCC was required whenever their use: (i) resulted in death or serious injury; (ii) caused danger to the public; or (iii) revealed failings in command. Police forces could, of course, voluntarily refer other uses of Tasers to the Commission. In September 2007, the IPCC responded to the pilot project to allow specially trained units (and not just firearms officers) to use Tasers. In the forces which participated in the pilot, the IPCC required all public complaints concerning the use of Tasers to be referred to it. In November 2008 the extension on use of Tasers to specially trained units was applied nationally. In consequence, from 1st June 2009, the IPCC requires any complaints involving the use of Tasers to be referred to it.’

Nicol J
[2009] EWHC 2589 (Admin)
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 2 3, Police Reform Act 2002
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Assenov and Others v Bulgaria ECHR 28-Oct-1998
An allegation of violence by a police officer did require a thorough, impartial and careful investigation by a suitable and independent state authority: ‘The court considers that in these circumstances, where an individual raises an arguable claim . .
Cited – JL, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice; Regina (L (A Patient)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 26-Nov-2008
The prisoner was left with serious injury after attempting suicide in prison. He said that there was a human rights duty to hold an investigation into the circumstances leading up to this.
Held: There existed a similar duty to hold an enhanced . .
Cited – Saya And Others v Turkey ECHR 7-Oct-2008
The applicants had attended a May Day rally and had been arrested by the police. They alleged that excessive force was used during their arrest. They suffered injuries which included tenderness to back of the legs and back, scratches on the back and . .
Cited – Regina v The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ex Parte Manning, Ex Parte Melbourne QBD 17-May-2000
The applicants sought judicial review of the decision of the Director not to prosecute anybody after the death of their brother in prison custody, and while under restraint by prison officers. The jury at a coroner’s inquest had returned a verdict . .
Cited – Zelilof v Greece ECHR 24-May-2007
The Court considered that entrusting the investigation into an allegation against the police to a special agency of the police dealing with disciplinary investigations was an ‘element that reinforces the independence of the inquiry, as the agent . .
Cited – Banks v United Kingdom ECHR 6-Feb-2007
The applicants complained of maltreatment by prison officers in breach of article 3. The matter had been investigated by the Crown Prosecution Service which had decided not to prosecute. Civil proceedings had been raised and settled. The applicants . .
Cited – Takoushis, Regina (on the Application of) v HM Coroner for Inner North London and others CA 30-Nov-2005
Relatives sought judicial review of the coroner’s decision not to allow a jury, and against allowance of an expert witness. The deceased had been a mental patient but had been arrested with a view to being hospitalised. He was taken first to the . .
Cited – Jordan v United Kingdom; McKerr v United Kingdom; similar ECHR 4-May-2001
Proper Investigation of Deaths with Army or Police
Claims were made as regards deaths of alleged terrorists in clashes with the UK armed forces and police. In some cases the investigations necessary to justify the taking of life had been inadequate. Statements made to the inquiry as to the . .
Cited – Amin, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 16-Oct-2003
Prisoner’s death – need for full public enquiry
The deceased had been a young Asian prisoner. He was placed in a cell overnight with a prisoner known to be racist, extremely violent and mentally unstable. He was killed. The family sought an inquiry into the death.
Held: There had been a . .
Cited – Ramsahai And Others v The Netherlands ECHR 10-Nov-2005
(Grand Chamber) The police had shot someone suspected of stealing a scooter. The family complained that they had not been given full access to the documents seen by the enquiry into his death.
Held: In order to be ‘effective’ as this . .

Cited by:
Cited – Kevin Fox v United Kingdom ECHR 15-Jan-2010
The claimant said that he had been severely assaulted by police officers on his arrest, and that the respondent had failed to provide a proper investigation and or remedy.
Held: The court replied with questions for the parties. . .
Cited – Kevin Fox v United Kingdom ECHR 20-Mar-2012
The claimant said that he had been severely assaulted by police officers when being arrested. He had been ‘tasered’ four times at least. The taser had been applied directly to the skin, rater than from a distance, and psychiatrist compared it to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Human Rights

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.377209

Martin v Watson: HL 13 Jul 1995

The plaintiff had been falsely reported to the police by the defendant, a neighbour, for indecent exposure whilst standing on a ladder in his garden. He had been arrested and charged, but at a hearing before the Magistrates’ Court, the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence, and the charge was dismissed. He appealed against the decision that he could not claim in malicious prosecution.
Held: The appeal succeeded, though there was no English authority on the topic. Since the facts relating to the alleged offence were solely within the complainant’s knowledge, and that as a practical matter the police officer who laid the information could not have exercised any independent discretion, the complainant could be sued for malicious prosecution, and upheld an award of damages against her. The complainant had ‘in substance procured the prosecution’. The police officer to whom the complaint was made had no way of testing the truthfulness of the accusation.
The tort of malicious prosecution can be committed by a informer knowingly and maliciously laying a false complaint to the police. The actions taken by the police are insufficient intervention to interfere with that liability. To ground a claim for malicious prosecution a plaintiff must prove (1) that the law was set in motion against him on a criminal charge; (2) that the prosecution was determined in his favour; (3) that it was without reasonable and proper cause, and (4) that it was malicious.
Lord Keith said: ‘It is common ground that the ingredients of the tort of malicious prosecution are correctly stated in Clerk and Lindsell on Torts ‘In action of malicious prosecution the plaintiff must show first that he was prosecuted by the defendant, that is to say, that the law was set in motion against him on a criminal charge; secondly, that the prosecution was determined in his favour; and thirdly, that it was without reasonable and probable cause; fourthly, that it was malicious.” and ‘The essential feature of malicious prosecution is an abuse of the process of the Court. If that has occurred it is immaterial that the abuse has involved giving evidence in a court of law.’
and ‘Where an individual falsely and maliciously gives a police officer information indicating that some person is guilty of a criminal offence and states that he is willing to give evidence in court of the matters in question, it is properly to be inferred that he desires and intends that the person he names should be prosecuted. Where the circumstances are such that the facts relating to the alleged offence can be within the knowledge only of the complainant, as was the position here, then it becomes virtually impossible for the police officer to exercise any independent discretion or judgment, and if a prosecution is instituted by the police officer the proper view of the matter is that the prosecution has been procured by the complainant.’
Lord Keith also said: ‘Analogies were sought to be drawn with the immunity afforded in respect of evidence given in a court of law, which extends also to statements made to solicitors engaged in preparation for pending proceedings: Watson v M’Ewan . . No such analogy is, however, helpful. The essential feature of malicious prosecution is an abuse of the process of the court. If that has occurred it is immaterial that the abuse has involved giving evidence in a court of law. That was held in Roy v Prior [1971] A.C. 470 in relation to an action for malicious arrest . .
Similar considerations apply to statements made to the police under circumstances where the maker falls to be regarded as having in substance procured the prosecution. There is no way of testing the truthfulness of such statements before the prosecution is brought. To deny any remedy to a person whose liberty has been interfered with as a result of unfounded and malicious accusations in such circumstances would constitute a serious denial of justice.’

Lord Keith of Kinkel, Lord Slynn of Hadley, Lord Lloyd, Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, Lord Steyn
Times 14-Jul-1995, Gazette 06-Sep-1995, Independent 19-Jul-1995, [1996] AC 74, [1995] 3 WLR 318, [1995] 3 All ER 559, [1995] UKHL 25
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Roy v Prior HL 1970
The court considered an alleged tort of maliciously procuring an arrest. The plaintiff had been arrested under a bench warrant issued as a result of evidence given by the defendant. He sued the defendant for damages for malicious arrest.
Held: . .
Appeal from – Martin v Watson CA 26-Jan-1994
The claimant sought damages for malicious prosecution, saying that the defendant had made a complaint to the police knowing it to be false that the claimant had indecently exposed himself. Acting on the complaint the police had arrested and charged . .
Cited – Watson v M’Ewan HL 1905
A claim was brought against a medical witness in respect of statements made in preparation of a witness statement and similar statements subsequently made in court. The appellant was a doctor of medicine who had been retained by the respondent in . .

Cited by:
Cited – Keegan and Others v Chief Constable of Merseyside CA 3-Jul-2003
The police had information suggesting (wrongly) that a fugitive resided at an address. An armed raid followed, and the claimant occupant sought damages.
Held: The tort of malicious procurement of a search warrant required it to be established . .
Cited – Sinclair v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire and British Telecommunications Plc CA 12-Dec-2000
The claimant had been prosecuted, but the charge was dismissed as an abuse of process. He now appealed a strike out of his civil claim for damages for malicious prosecution.
Held: The appeal failed. The decision to dismiss the criminal charge . .
Cited – Mahon, Kent v Dr Rahn, Biedermann, Haab-Biedermann, Rahn, and Bodmer (a Partnership) (No 2) CA 8-Jun-2000
The defendant’s lawyers wrote to a financial services regulatory body investigating the possible fraudulent conduct of the plaintiff’s stockbroking firm. The letter was passed to the Serious Fraud Office who later brought criminal proceedings . .
Cited – Westcott v Westcott QBD 30-Oct-2007
The claimant said that his daughter in law had defamed him. She answered that the publication was protected by absolute privilege. She had complained to the police that he had hit her and her infant son.
Held: ‘the process of taking a witness . .
Cited – Mckie vStrathclyde Joint Police Board and others SCS 24-Dec-2003
. .
Cited – Gregory v Portsmouth City Council CA 5-Nov-1997
The plaintiff councillor had been disciplined by the defendant for allegations. The findings were later overturned, and he now sought damages alleging malicious prosecution.
Held: The categories of malicious prosecution are closed, and it was . .
Leading Case – Westcott v Westcott CA 15-Jul-2008
The defendant was the claimant’s daughter in law. In the course of a bitter divorce she made allegations to the police which were investigated but did not lead to a prosecution. The claimant appealed dismissal of his claim for defamation on the . .
Cited – Alford v Cambridgeshire Police CA 24-Feb-2009
The claimant police officer had been held after an accident when he was in a high speed pursuit of a vehicle into the neighbouring respondent’s area. The prosecution had been discontinued, and he now appealed against rejection of his claims for . .
Cited – Hunt v AB CA 22-Oct-2009
The claimant sought damages from a woman in malicious prosecution, saying that she had made a false allegation of rape against him. He had served two years in prison.
Held: The claim failed. A complainant is not a prosecutor, and is not liable . .
Cited – The Ministry of Justice (Sued As The Home Office) v Scott CA 20-Nov-2009
The claimant had been falsely accused of assault by five prison officers. The defendant appealed against a refusal to strike out a claim of of malicious prosecution.
Held: Proceedings for malicious prosecution cannot be regarded as being . .
Cited – Silcott v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 24-May-1996
The claimant had been convicted of the murder of PC Blakelock. The only substantial evidence was in the form of the notes of interview he said were fabricated by senior officers. His eventual appeal on this basis was not resisted. He now appealed . .
Cited – Gregory v Portsmouth City Council HL 10-Feb-2000
Disciplinary proceedings had been taken by the local authority against Mr Gregory, a council member, after allegations had been made that he had failed to declare conflicts of interest, and that he had used confidential information to secure a . .
Cited – Howarth v Gwent Constabulary and Another QBD 1-Nov-2011
The claimant alleged malicious prosecution and misfeasance in public office against the defendant. He had been charged with perverting the course of justice. He had worked for a firm of solicitors specialising in defending road traffic prosecutions. . .
Cited – Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis v Copeland CA 22-Jul-2014
The defendant appealed against the award of damages for assault, false imprisonment and malicious prosection, saying that the question posed for the jury were misdirections, and that the jury’s decision was perverse. The claimant was attending the . .
Cited – Crawford v Jenkins CA 24-Jul-2014
The parties had divorced but acrimony continued. H now complained of his arrests after allegations from his former wife that he had breached two orders. He had been released and no charges followed. The court had ruled that W’s complaints were . .
Cited – CXZ v ZXC QBD 26-Jun-2020
Malicious Prosecution needs court involvement
W had made false allegations against her husband of child sex abuse to police. He sued in malicious prosecution. She applied to strike out, and he replied saying that as a developing area of law a strike out was inappropriate.
Held: The claim . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.83445

Smart v The Forensic Science Service Ltd: CA 2 Jul 2013

On a search of his house, the police found a bullet cartridge on the claimant’s property. It was sent for testing but due to a mistake it was reported as a live cartridge. The prosecution was only dropped after some months when the mistake was discovered. The plea was re-opened and the charge dismissed by consent. The claimant now appealed after rejection of his claim on the basis that the defendant had witness immunity from negligence, saying that alterations to the records amounted to deceit, and seeking permission to amend his pleadings accordingly. The respondent said that the late amendment should not be allowed.
Held: The appeal and the amendment was allowed, Abn arguable claim in decit had been raised, and: ‘It must be recognised that as a result of interference with the exhibit number the real bullet was falsely attributed to this appellant. The effect of interference with the exhibit numbers, whether it was designed originally to conceal confusion or ‘mix up’ or not, was the same as planting the real bullet in the appellant’s premises. It is alarming that the course of justice appears to have been perverted by the alteration of exhibit numbers and the failure to disclose that that had occurred or any reason why it occurred. I suggest any court would be most reluctant to allow immunity to be deployed in a way which prevents these matters being litigated. All the more so when the suggestion that the matter be rectified in the Magistrates’ Court removed any right of statutory redress.’

Moses, Rimer, Aikens LJJ
[2013] EWCA Civ 783
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Swain Mason and Others v Mills and Reeve (A Firm) CA 20-Jan-2011
The defendant firm appealed against leave given to the claimants to amend their Particulars of Claim . .
Cited – Worldwide Corporation Limited v GPT Limited and GPT (Middle East) Limited CA 2-Dec-1998
Reasons for dismissal of application for leave to appeal – refusals of leave to amend particulars. The court must take into account the public interest in the efficient administration of justice which may be damaged by the disruption and delay . .
Cited – Brown and Others v InnovatorOne Plc and Others ComC 19-Jun-2009
The claimants served proceedings by fax. The defendants denied that it was effective saying that they had not confirmed that they were instructed to accept service or that as required by the rules they had confirmed that they would accept service by . .
Cited – Evans v London Hospital Medical College and Others 1981
The defendants employed by the first defendant carried out a post mortem on the plaintiff’s infant son. They found concentrations of morphine and told the police. The plaintiff was charged with the murder of her son. After further investigation no . .
Cited – Taylor and Others v Director of The Serious Fraud Office and Others HL 29-Oct-1998
The defendant had requested the Isle of Man authorities to investigate the part if any taken by the plaintiff in a major fraud. No charges were brought against the plaintiff, but the documents showing suspicion came to be disclosed in the later . .
Cited – Darker v Chief Constable of The West Midlands Police HL 1-Aug-2000
The plaintiffs had been indicted on counts alleging conspiracy to import drugs and conspiracy to forge traveller’s cheques. During the criminal trial it emerged that there had been such inadequate disclosure by the police that the proceedings were . .

Cited by:
Cited – Singh v Moorlands Primary School and Another CA 25-Jul-2013
The claimant was a non-white head teacher, alleging that her school governors and local authority had undermined and had ‘deliberately endorsed a targeted campaign of discrimination, bullying, harassment and victimisation’ against her as an Asian . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Negligence, Police, Torts – Other, Litigation Practice

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.512054

Zapello v The Chief Constable of Sussex Police: CA 12 Nov 2010

The claimant had been arrested in the course of a neighbour dispute. He had lost his claim for damages for false imprisonment, and now complained that a later costs order had been made without his being given notice.
Held: The decision had been made without adequate notice. On attending the later hearing, the defendant should have told the judge that there had been no agreement, and nor had the judge been informed of the results of an IPCC complaint. The outcome might well have been different had it been disclosed: ‘the reason why no such rapprochement was attempted was that, while civil litigation is conducted on the Chief Constable’s behalf by outside solicitors instructed by a civil claims department, complaints are separately dealt with within the police force. This may well be so, but neither in law nor in practice is it acceptable for a public authority to fall back on the plea that its left hand does not know what its right hand is doing. We have to look at the defendant’s establishment and functions as a single entity, and it is clear that as an entity the Sussex Police treated this litigation as something to be fought and won irrespective of what the IPCC had elicited (or was eliciting in a process reminiscent of drawing teeth) as having gone on or, to an extent, gone wrong.’

Sedley, Moses, Leveson LLJ
[2010] EWCA Civ 1417
Bailii
England and Wales

Police, Costs

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.430484

McGowan (Procurator Fiscal) v B: SC 23 Nov 2011

The appellant complained that after arrest, though he had been advised of his right to legal advice, and had declined the offer, it was still wrong to have his subsequent interview relied upon at his trial.
Held: It was not incompatible with Article 6(1) and 6(3)(c) for the Lord Advocate to lead and rely upon evidence of answers given during a police interview of a suspect in police custody who, before being interviewed, had been informed of his Salduz/Article 6 rights to legal advice, and, without having received advice from a lawyer, had stated that he did not wish to exercise such rights (Lord Kerr dissenting). The requirement of article 6, even though it should be read sufficiently broadly to give effect to the suspect’s right to a fair trial, was not that a suspect in custody must in fact have taken legal advice. Comments in the Jude case which might be read to the contrary should be restated.
The court suggested improvements which might be made to practice to ensure that a detained person properly understood what was being offered, by requesting and recording reasons for declining legal assistence, and also as to confirming arrangements for selecting and paying for a solicitor where a detainee had any doubts.
Since the case came before the cort as a reference rather than an appeal, the right thing to do was to refer back the the second question to the Sheriff.

Lord Hope, Deputy President, Lord Brown, Lord Kerr, Lord Dyson, Lord Hamilton
[2011] UKSC 54, UKSC 2011/0201, [2011] 1 WLR 3121, 2012 SLT 37, 2012 SCCR 109, 2012 SCL 85
Bailii Summary, Bailii, SC, SC Summary
Scotland Act 1998 57(2), European Convention on Human Rights
Scotland
Citing:
Cited – HM Advocate v Scottish Media Newspapers Ltd 2000
Lord Rodger of Earlsferry discussed the fetters place upon the Lord Advocate by the 1998 Act, saying that he simply has no power to move the court to grant any remedy which would be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. . .
Cited – Jude and Others v Her Majesty’s Advocate HCJ 11-May-2011
. .
Cited – Deweer v Belgium ECHR 27-Feb-1980
The applicant, a Belgian butcher, paid a fine by way of settlement in the face of an order for the closure of his shop until judgment was given in an intended criminal prosecution or until such fine was paid.
Held: Since the payment was made . .
Cited – Ambrose v Harris, Procurator Fiscal, Oban, etc SC 6-Oct-2011
(Scotland) The appellant had variously been convicted in reliance on evidence gathered at different stages before arrest, but in each case without being informed of any right to see a solicitor. The court was asked, as a devolution issue, at what . .
Cited – Cadder v Her Majesty’s Advocate SC 26-Oct-2010
Statement without lawyer access was inadmissible
The accused complained that he had been convicted for assault and breach of the peace on the basis of a statement made by him during an interview with the police where, under the 1995 Act, he had been denied access to a lawyer.
Held: The . .
Cited – Dyer v Watson and Burrows PC 29-Jan-2002
Parties challenged the compliance of proceedings with the convention where there had been considerable delay.
Held: The reasonable detention provision (article 5(3)) and the reasonable time requirement (article 6(1)) conferred free-standing . .
Cited – Oberschlick v Austria ECHR 23-May-1991
A journalist was convicted by a court which regarded itself as bound by the opinion of the court of appeal which had remitted his case to the lower court for trial after it had been dismissed by that court. The judge who presided over the court of . .
Cited – Montgomery and Coulter v Her Majesty’s Advocate PC 19-Oct-2000
The test of whether a defendant’s common law right to a fair trial had been damaged by pre-trial publicity was similar to the test under the Convention, and also where there was any plea of oppression. The substantial difference is that no balancing . .
Cited – Millar v Dickson PC 24-Jul-2001
The Board was asked whether the appellants had waived their right to an independent and impartial tribunal under article 6 of the Convention by appearing before the temporary sheriffs without objecting to their hearing their cases on the ground that . .
Cited – Dyer v Watson and Burrows PC 29-Jan-2002
Parties challenged the compliance of proceedings with the convention where there had been considerable delay.
Held: The reasonable detention provision (article 5(3)) and the reasonable time requirement (article 6(1)) conferred free-standing . .
Cited – Jones v The United Kingdom ECHR 9-Sep-2003
The applicant had been absent and unrepresented throughout his trial. He complained of his conviction.
Held: Before a defendant could properly be said to have impliedly through his conduct waived his right it must be shown that he could . .
Cited – Sejdovic v Italy ECHR 10-Nov-2004
The claimant had been tried and convicted of manslaughter in his absence. The respondent said that he had waived his right to appear at trial by becoming untraceable.
Held: The claim succeeded: ‘The Court re-iterates that neither the letter . .
Cited – Colozza v Italy ECHR 12-Feb-1985
The defendant complained that he had been tried and convicted in his absence.
Held: The right to a fair trial had been breached: ‘the object and purpose of [article 6] taken as a whole show that a person ‘charged with a criminal offence’ is . .
Cited – Yoldas v Turkey – French Text ECHR 23-Feb-2010
Yoldas was charged with belonging to an illegal organisation. He had been informed of his rights by the public prosecutor and by the judge who placed him on remand. He signed a form saying that he had the right to appoint a legal representative who . .
Cited – Pishchalnikov v Russia ECHR 24-Sep-2009
(First Section) The applicant was interrogated while he was under arrest in police custody. He asked for the assistance of a lawyer during his interrogation, but this was disregarded by the investigator who proceeded to question him. It was argued . .
Cited – Sejdovic v Italy ECHR 10-Nov-2004
The claimant had been tried and convicted of manslaughter in his absence. The respondent said that he had waived his right to appear at trial by becoming untraceable.
Held: The claim succeeded: ‘The Court re-iterates that neither the letter . .
Cited – Kolu v Turkey ECHR 2-Aug-2005
ECHR Judgment (Merits and Just Satisfaction) – Preliminary objection joined to merits rejected (six-month period); Violation of Art. 6-1+6-3-c and 6-3-d; Not necessary to examine Art. 6 for the remainder; Not . .
Cited – Miranda v Arizona 10-Oct-1966
(United States Supreme Court) The prosecution may not use statements, whether incriminatory or exculpatory, stemming from custodial interrogation of a defendant unless it demonstrated the use of procedural safeguards which were sufficient to secure . .
Cited – Imbrioscia v Switzerland ECHR 24-Nov-1993
The applicant had been questioned several times without access to a lawyer while he was in police custody.
Held: Overall there had been no breach of article 6(1). The right set out in article 6(3)(c) is one element, among others, of the . .
Cited – Talat Tunc v Turkey ECHR 27-Mar-2007
The applicant did not ask for a lawyer when arrested and interviewed by the police.
Held: The court noted that he had in effect stated that he was not able to act freely because he was being threatened with ill-treatment. It was not possible . .
Cited – Galstyan v Armenia ECHR 15-Nov-2007
The claimant had been was arrested on his way home from a protest rally. He was made aware of his rights and expressly declined a lawyer.
Held: As it was his own choice not to have a lawyer, the authorities could not be held responsible for . .
Cited – Ambrose v Harris, Procurator Fiscal, Oban, etc SC 6-Oct-2011
(Scotland) The appellant had variously been convicted in reliance on evidence gathered at different stages before arrest, but in each case without being informed of any right to see a solicitor. The court was asked, as a devolution issue, at what . .
Cited – Plonka v Poland ECHR 31-Mar-2009
The applicant signed a form acknowledging that she had been informed of her right to be assisted by a lawyer during her questioning by the police and the prosecution authorities.
Held: Her assertion in the form that she had been reminded of . .
Cited – Paskal v Ukraine ECHR 15-Sep-2011
The applicant, a serving policeman with a university degree in law was arrested on suspicion of robbery. He signed a procedural rights notification form and noted that he wished to appoint a lawyer whom he named as his advocate. He was then . .
Cited – Saman v Turkey ECHR 5-Apr-2011
The applicant, accused of being a member of an illegal organisation and faced a heavy penalty, had an insufficient knowledge of Turkish and was without the help of an interpreter.
Held: She could not reasonably have appreciated the . .
Cited – Bortnik v Ukraine ECHR 27-Jan-2011
. .
Cited – Sharkunov And Mezentsev v Russia ECHR 2-Jul-2009
. .
Cited – Lopata v Russia ECHR 13-Jul-2010
. .
Cited – Zaichenko v Russia ECHR 18-Feb-2010
(First Section) The claimant complaned that he had not been allowed access to a lawyer when being questioned by police when he was not under arrest. He had been stopped driving home from work and his car inspected by the police after reports of . .
Cited – Sharkunov and Mezentsev v Russia ECHR 10-Jun-2010
The court was asked as to the lack of legal assistance while in police custody and the use at the trial of incriminating statements that had been made at that stage.
Held: The court repeated the proposition that was first stated in Salduz, . .
Cited – Hakan Duman v Turkey ECHR 23-Mar-2010
The claimant said he had not been given appropriate access to a lawyer when in police custody.
Held: The use of statements obtained at the stage of the police inquiry and the judicial investigation is not inconsistent with article 6(1), . .

Cited by:
Cited – Jude v Her Majesty’s Advocate SC 23-Nov-2011
The Lord Advocate appealed against three decisions as to the use to be made of interviews where the detainees had not been given access to lawyers. In each case the prosecutor now appealed after their convictions had been overturned in the light of . .
Cited – Saunders v Regina CACD 26-Jun-2012
The defendant sought leave to appeal after a ruling that her refusal to take legal advice during police interview had been informed and voluntary. The interviewing officer had adopted a policy of always giving disclosure where the suspect was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Scotland, Police, Human Rights, Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.448488

The Attorney General v Hartwell: PC 23 Feb 2004

PC (The British Virgin Islands) A police officer had taken the police revolver, and used it to shoot the claimant. It was alleged that the respondent police force were vicariously liable for his acts and also negligent in failing to dismiss the officer for earlier misbehaviour.
Held: The officer’s activities once off duty and having left the island had nothing to do with his duties as a police officer. ‘Negligence as a basis of liability is founded on the impersonal (‘objective’) standard of how a reasonable person should have acted in the circumstances. ‘ and ‘one of the necessary prerequisites for the existence of a duty of care is foresight that carelessness on the part of the defendant may cause damage of a particular kind to the plaintiff. ‘ In this case the gun and ammunition were available to the officer, though his use was unlawful. A duty of care existed ‘when entrusting a police officer with a gun the police authorities owe to the public at large a duty to take reasonable care to see the officer is a suitable person to be entrusted with such a dangerous weapon lest by any misuse of it he inflicts personal injury, whether accidentally or intentionally, on other persons. For this purpose no distinction is to be drawn between personal injuries inflicted in the course of police duties and personal injuries inflicted by a police officer using a police gun for his own ends. If this duty seems far-reaching in its scope it must be remembered that guns are dangerous weapons. The wide reach of the duty is proportionate to the gravity of the risks. ‘ Given the eariler compliants about the officers dishonesty and his carrying of knives and guns, that duty had been breached.

[2004] UKPC 12, Times 27-Feb-2004, Gazette 25-Mar-2004, [2004] 1 WLR 1273, [2004] PIQR 27
PC, Bailii, PC
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Lister and Others v Hesley Hall Ltd HL 3-May-2001
A school board employed staff to manage a residential school for vulnerable children. The staff committed sexual abuse of the children. The school denied vicarious liability for the acts of the teachers.
Held: ‘Vicarious liability is legal . .
Cited – Dubai Aluminium Company Limited v Salaam and Others HL 5-Dec-2002
Partners Liable for Dishonest Act of Solicitor
A solicitor had been alleged to have acted dishonestly, having assisted in a fraudulent breach of trust by drafting certain documents. Contributions to the damages were sought from his partners.
Held: The acts complained of were so close to . .
Cited – Overseas Tankship (UK) Ltd v Miller Steamship Co Pty (The Wagon Mound) (No 2) PC 25-May-1966
(New South Wales) When considering the need to take steps to avoid injury, the court looked to the nature of defendant’s activity. There was no social value or cost saving in this defendant’s activity. ‘In the present case there was no justification . .
Cited – Dorset Yacht Co Ltd v Home Office HL 6-May-1970
A yacht was damaged by boys who had escaped from the supervision of prison officers in a nearby Borstal institution. The boat owners sued the Home Office alleging negligence by the prison officers.
Held: Any duty of a borstal officer to use . .
Cited – Jolley v Sutton London Borough Council HL 24-May-2000
An abandoned boat had been left on its land and not removed by the council. Children tried to repair it, jacked it up, and a child was injured when it fell. It was argued for the boy, who now appealed dismissal of his claim by the Court of Appeal, . .
Cited – Bolton v Stone HL 10-May-1951
The plaintiff was injured by a prodigious and unprecedented hit of a cricket ball over a distance of 100 yards. He claimed damages in negligence.
Held: When looking at the duty of care the court should ask whether the risk was not so remote . .
Cited – Smith v Littlewoods Organisation Limited (Chief Constable, Fife Constabulary, third party); Maloco v Littlewoods Organisation Ltd HL 1987
The defendant acquired a semi derelict cinema with a view to later development of the site. A fire started by others spread to the pursuer’s adjoining property.
Held: The defendants were not liable in negligence. The intervention of a third . .
Doubted – Doughty v Turner Ltd CA 1964
The cover on a cauldron of exceedingly hot molten sodium cyanide was accidentally knocked into the cauldron and the plaintiff was damaged by the resultant explosion.
Held: The plaintiff’s claim failed. The defendant employer owed a duty of . .
Cited – Hughes v Lord Advocate HL 21-Feb-1963
The defendants had left a manhole uncovered and protected only by a tent and paraffin lamp. A child climbed down the hole. When he came out he kicked over one of the lamps. It fell into the hole and caused an explosion. The child was burned. The . .
Cited – Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire HL 28-Apr-1987
No General ty of Care Owed by Police
The mother of a victim of the Yorkshire Ripper claimed in negligence against the police alleging that they had failed to satisfy their duty to exercise all reasonable care and skill to apprehend the perpetrator of the murders and to protect members . .
Cited – Dominion Natural Gas Co Ltd v Collins 1909
The defendants had installed a gas apparatus to provide natural gas on the premises of a railway company. They had installed a regulator to control the pressure and their men negligently made an escape-valve discharge into the building instead of . .
Cited – Donoghue (or M’Alister) v Stevenson HL 26-May-1932
Decomposed Snail in Ginger Beer Bottle – Liability
The appellant drank from a bottle of ginger beer manufactured by the defendant. She suffered injury when she found a half decomposed snail in the liquid. The glass was opaque and the snail could not be seen. The drink had been bought for her by a . .
Cited – Burfitt v A and E Kille 1939
A shopkeeper in Minehead sold a ‘blank cartridge pistol’ to a twelve year old boy. Later, when the boy fired the pistol in the air, the plaintiff was injured by a tiny piece of copper going into his eye.
Held: The duty of care was owed not . .

Cited by:
Cited – Brown v Robinson and Sentry PC 14-Dec-2004
(Jamaica) The deceased claimant had been shot by a sentry employed by the respondent company. His estate appealed a finding that the sentry was not acting in the course of his employment.
Held: Older authorities had now been replaced by recent . .
Cited – Corr v IBC Vehicles Ltd CA 31-Mar-2006
The deceased had suffered a head injury whilst working for the defendant. In addition to severe physical consequences he suffered post-traumatic stress, became more and more depressed, and then committed suicide six years later. The claimant . .
Cited – Mitchell and Another v Glasgow City Council HL 18-Feb-2009
(Scotland) The pursuers were the widow and daughter of a tenant of the respondent who had been violently killed by his neighbour. They said that the respondent, knowing of the neighbour’s violent behaviours had a duty of care to the deceased and . .
Cited – Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police SC 8-Feb-2018
Limits to Police Exemption from Liability
The claimant, an elderly lady was bowled over and injured when police were chasing a suspect through the streets. As they arrested him they fell over on top of her. She appealed against refusal of her claim in negligence.
Held: Her appeal . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Police, Vicarious Liability, Negligence

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.193879

Regina v Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire, ex parte M: CA 1991

A custody officer had a duty where he authorises an arrested juvenile to be kept in police detention under subsection (1), that he should ‘unless he certifies that it is impracticable to do so, make arrangements for the arrested person to be taken into the care of a local authority and detained by the authority…’ The court considered how that duty could be met.
Held: Watkins LJ: ‘There are, obviously, sound reasons why such detention of a juvenile should, if possible, be avoided.’ and ‘In our judgment, the wording of section 38(6) is clear. The custody officer who has made the decision to detain the juvenile must do everything practicable to see that the place of detention for that juvenile is in local authority accommodation and not at the police station. This is so whether or not the juvenile in question was previously in the care of the local authority. The local authority is equally obliged to do what it can to provide accommodation which will enable the juvenile to be accommodated outside to police station.’

Watkins LJ
[1991] 2 QB 499
Police and Criminal Evidenec Act 1984 38(6)
England and Wales

Police

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.241329

Elliott v Chief Constable of Wiltshire and Others: ChD 20 Nov 1996

Vice-Chancellor was asked to consider whether to strike out a statement of claim based upon alleged misfeasance by a police officer in his public office. The allegation against the police officer was that he had deliberately and falsely supplied details of convictions to the press. The point taken was that it was not concerned with a police officer ‘purporting to exercise any relevant power’ and on that basis it was suggested that the pleading should be struck out.
Held: Sir Richard Scott discussed the tort of misfeasance in public office as described in Calveley: ‘I would agree that the tort of misfeasance in public office does require that the misconduct complained of should be sufficiently connected with the public office that has allegedly been abused. A police officer may, out of hours and not in uniform, commit an assault. In doing so, he does not abuse his office as a police officer, notwithstanding that he will of course be liable for damages for assault and may have committed a criminal offence. On the other hand, a police officer who, as a police officer, affects an arrest but does so unlawfully, either without reasonable cause or with excessive violence, and with a malicious motive – for example, with the intention of revenging himself against an individual against whom he has a grudge – does, I would have thought, clearly abuse his office. Both cases involve unlawful assault, but the latter involves also, as the former does not, an abuse of office.
I have taken the example of assault for the purpose of making the point which I think underlies Mr Rubin’s submissions. The distinction is no different if the injury caused by the conduct complained of is economic, as in the present case, rather than physical, as in my examples. Nor, in my view, does it matter whether the conduct complained of is physical or consists, as it does in the present case, of the giving of information. In either case there must, in my view, be a connection between the misconduct complained of and the office of which the misconduct is an alleged abuse. I express no view as to whether a mere omission could ever suffice.
In the present case, on the pleadings, there is, in my opinion, the requisite connection. The senior police officer, who provided the information to the news editor, was, it is to be inferred, in possession of the information about the convictions, or at least that part of the information that was true, because he was a police officer. The inference is that either he, or some subordinate acting on his instructions, had obtained information about the plaintiff from the National Police Computer. So the police officer came into possession of that information in his capacity as, and because of his office of, police officer. Second, the senior police officer in giving the information to the news editor was purporting to act in his capacity as a police officer. That that is so is to be inferred from paragraph 9 of the statement of claim. It appears from paragraph 9 that the individual identified himself to the news editor as a senior police officer. Among other things, he said to the news editor, ‘We do not want him down here.’ ‘We’, in that context, must have meant the police. He said that if there were a robbery or rape, the police would ‘pull in’ the plaintiff for questioning. That, too, is an indication that the individual, in supplying the information to the news editor, was speaking as a police officer.
Police officers have a status at common law, and perhaps at statute as well, which is both a privilege and the source of powers and duties. If in the apparent performance of functions pertaining to their office police officers commit misconduct, then if the other ingredients of the tort of misfeasance in public office, and in particular the requisite intention to injure and resulting damage, are present the tort of misfeasance in public office is, in my opinion, made out.’

Sir Richard Scott, V-C
Times 05-Dec-1996, [1996] TLR 693
Data Protection Act 1984 28
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Calveley v Chief Constable of the Merseyside Police HL 1989
Police officers brought an action in negligence against a Chief Constable on the ground that disciplinary proceedings against them had been negligently conducted. They claimed that the investigating officers had negligently failed to conduct the . .
Cited – Dunlop v The Council of The Municipality of Woollahra PC 28-Feb-1981
(New South Wales) The landowner made and allegation of damage caused to him by the passing planning resolutions, which were in fact invalid, restricting the height of his proposed building.
Held: A local body when exercising a public function . .
Cited – Racz v Home Office HL 17-Dec-1993
The Home Office can be liable for the actions of prison officers which amounted to an official misfeasance. The principles of vicarious liability apply as much to misfeasance in public office as to other torts involving malice, knowledge or . .
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Another v The Bank of England (No. 3) ComC 30-Jul-1997
ComC Misfeasance in public office. Assuming ingredients of tort as reported at [1996] 3 ALL ER 558 at 582-3, was claim bound to fail? All plaintiffs’ evidence now available to court. On that evidence plaintiffs . .
Cited – Northern Territory of Australia v Mengel 1995
The whole basis of the tort of misfeasance is the exercise or failure to exercise authority by a public officer other than in an honest attempt to perform the functions of his or her office.
The tort’s genesis is in the deliberate abuse of the . .

Cited by:
Cited – Cornelius v Hackney London Borough Council CA 25-Jul-2002
The applicant sought damages from the council for misfeasance in public office. Protracted litigation had followed his dismissal after he had attempted to bring allegations of misconduct within the authority to the attention of a council committee. . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable for North Wales Police Area Authority ex parte AB and CD etc Admn 10-Jul-1997
The police have power to release limited information about offenders. In this case known paedophiles were staying at a campsite, and their criminal record was disclosed to the site owner. There was no harrassment under s3 of the 1968 Act. On any . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of North Wales Police and Others Ex Parte Thorpe and Another; Regina v Chief Constable for North Wales Police Area and others ex parte AB and CB CA 18-Mar-1998
Public Identification of Pedophiles by Police
AB and CB had been released from prison after serving sentences for sexual assaults on children. They were thought still to be dangerous. They moved about the country to escape identification, and came to be staying on a campsite. The police sought . .
Cited – Castle v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 12-Mar-1998
Appeal by case stated from conviction of possession of firearms (air rifles) within five years of release from prison. The court was asked as to whether they were ‘lethal’
Held: The appeal failed: ‘ the Justices were entitled to reach the . .
Cited – NT 1 and NT 2 v Google Llc QBD 13-Apr-2018
Right to be Forgotten is not absolute
The two claimants separately had criminal convictions from years before. They objected to the defendant indexing third party web pages which included personal data in the form of information about those convictions, which were now spent. The claims . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Police, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.80298

Director of Public Prosecutions v Orum: 1988

The court was asked whether a police constable was a person likely to be caused harassment, alarm or distress contrary to s. 5(1)(a) of the Public Order Act 1986.
Held: Glidewell LJ discussed the offence under section 5 where words used toward the police officer were the basis of the charge: ‘I find nothing in the context of the Act of 1986 to persuade me that a police officer may not be a person who is caused harassment, alarm or distress by the various kinds of words and conduct to which section 5(1) applies. I would therefore answer the question in the affirmative, that a police officer can be a person who is likely to be caused harassment and so on. However, that is not to say that the opposite is necessarily the case, namely, it is not to say that every police officer in this situation is to be assumed to be a person who is caused harassment. Very frequently words and behaviour with which police officers will be wearily familiar will have little emotional impact on them save that of boredom. It may well be that, in appropriate circumstances, justices will decide (indeed they might decide in the present case) as a question offact that the words and behaviour were not likely in all the circumstances to cause harassment, alarm or distress to either of the police officers. That is a question of fact for the justices to be decided in all the circumstances, the time, the place, the nature of the words used, who the police officers are, and so on.’
McCullough m noted that the amendment to the 1986 Act meant that it was ‘not the likely physical reaction to the conduct complained of, but the likely mental reaction to it’ which now mattered. He added: ‘It is improbable in the extreme that any police officer would ever be provoked by threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause a breach of the peace, but it is by no means impossible that such an officer may not feel harassed, alarmed or distressed as a result of such words or behaviour. This distinguishes the present case from Marsh v. Arscott.’

Glidewell LJ, McCullough J
[1989] 88 Cr App Rep 261, [1988] 3 All ER 449, [1988] Crim LR 848, [1989] 1 WLR 88, (1988) 153 JP 85
Public Order Act 1986 5(1)(a)
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Harvey v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 17-Nov-2011
The appellant had been approached and searched by police officers and swore at them. He now appealed against a conviction under section 5 of the 1986 Act.
Held: The use of the word ‘fuck’ was common in such situations. Neither officer had . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 09 November 2021; Ref: scu.449712

McE, Re; McE v Prison Service of Northern Ireland and Another: HL 11 Mar 2009

Complaint was made that the prisoner’s privileged conversations with his solicitors had been intercepted by the police.
Held: The Act made explicit provisions allowing such interception and set out the appropriate safeguards. The interceptions were lawful. It was significant that a code of practice had been issued making detailed provision for the authorisation of monitoring legally privileged communications, thereby demonstrating that such interference with a fundamental right had been specifically in the contemplation of Parliament when enacting RIPA.
Lord Hope said that section 27(1) is expressed in clear and simple language and it must be taken to mean what it says (i.e. that conduct to which Part II applies shall be lawful ‘for all purposes’). He continued: ‘It does not refer to legal privilege or to any other kind of right or privilege or special relationship which would otherwise be infringed by the conduct that it refers to. But the generality of the phrase ‘for all purposes’ is unqualified. The whole point of the system of authorisation that the statute lays down is to interfere with fundamental rights and to render this invasion of a person’s private life unlawful. To achieve this result it must be able to meet any objections that may be raised on the ground of privilege. I would hold therefore that, provided the conditions in section 27(1) which render it lawful for all purposes are satisfied, intrusive surveillance of a detainee’s consultation with his solicitor cannot be said to be unlawful because it interferes with common law legal privilege. It seems to me that the phrase ‘for all purposes’ which section 27(1) uses is a clear indication that this was Parliament’s intention.’

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Hope of Craighead, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Carswell and Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury
[2009] UKHL 15, Times 12-Mar-2009, [2009] 2 Cr App R 1, [2009] 1 AC 908, [2009] Crim LR 525, [2009] HRLR 20, [2009] EMLR 19, [2009] 2 WLR 782
Bailii, HL
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Cox and Railton 1884
(Court for Crown Cases Reserved) The defendants were charged with conspiracy to defraud a judgment creditor of the fruits of a judgment by dishonestly backdating a dissolution of their partnership to a date prior to a bill of sale given by Railton . .
Cited – Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Group Plc v Inland Revenue and Another HL 25-Oct-2006
The tax payer had overpaid Advance Corporation Tax under an error of law. It sought repayment. The revenue contended that the claim was time barred.
Held: The claim was in restitution, and the limitation period began to run from the date when . .
Cited – Calcraft v Guest CA 1898
A trial had taken place in which the principal issue was the upper boundary of the plaintiff’s fishery. On appeal the defendant proposed to rely on new evidence discovered among the papers in another action tried over a hundred years before. The . .
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and others v Governor and Company of the Bank of England (No 6) HL 11-Nov-2004
The Bank anticipated criticism in an ad hoc enquiry which was called to investigate its handling of a matter involving the claimant. The claimant sought disclosure of the documents created when the solicitors advised employees of the Bank in . .
Cited – Cullen v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (Northern Ireland) HL 10-Jul-2003
The claimant had been arrested. He had been refused access to a solicitor whilst detaiined, but, in breach of statutory duty, he had not been given reasons as to why access was denied. He sought damages for that failure.
Held: If damages were . .
Cited – Parry-Jones v The Law Society CA 1969
The Society had, for regulatory purposes, exercised a power under the 1957 Act to call upon the plaintiff, a solicitor, to produce for inspection accounts and other information relating to the conduct of his clients’ affairs. He sought an injunction . .
Cited – Khan v The United Kingdom ECHR 12-May-2000
Evidence was acknowledged to have been obtained unlawfully and in breach of another article of the Convention. The police had installed covert listening devices on private property without the knowledge or consent of the owner. UK national law did . .
Cited – Butler v Board of Trade ChD 1970
Goff J discussed the criterion for admissibility of evidence:’If one rejects the bare relevance test, as I have done, then what has to be shown prima facie is not merely that there is a bona fide and reasonably tenable charge of crime or fraud but a . .
Cited – Regina v Tompkins CACD 1977
. .
Cited – Malone v The United Kingdom ECHR 2-Aug-1984
The complainant asserted that his telephone conversation had been tapped on the authority of a warrant signed by the Secretary of State, but that there was no system to supervise such warrants, and that it was not therefore in ‘accordance with law’. . .

Cited by:
Cited – AJA and Others v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis and Others CA 5-Nov-2013
The Court was asked whether the Investigatory Powers Tribunal had the power to investigate whether police officers acrting as undercover agents, and having sexual relations with those they were themselves investigating had infringed the human rights . .
Cited – Brown, Regina v CACD 29-Jul-2015
The claimant, a patient hld at Rampton Hospital faced charges of attempted murder of two nurses. His lwayers had asked for the right to see their client in private, but eth Hospital objected, insisting on the presence of two nurses at all times. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland, Legal Professions, Police, Human Rights

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.317965

Andrew v News Group Newspapers Ltd and Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis: ChD 18 Mar 2011

The claimant sought unredacted disclosure of documents by the second defendant so that he could pursue an action against the first, who, he said, were thought to have intercepted his mobile phone messages, and where the second defendant had documents which he said would support his claim. The second defendant sought to argue public interest immunity.
Held: The documents should be disclosed with specific and limited restrictions to protect some individuals. The court did not accept that the papers could not now be obtained from the actual defendant and a proper saving of costs could be made by the order. The information had not been provided to the police with any expectation of confidentiality, and it would be unfair to seek to try the case without this information.

Vos J
[2011] EWHC 734 (Ch)
Bailii
Civil Procedure Rules 31
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Flood v Times Newspapers Ltd and others QBD 5-Mar-2009
The claimant police officer complained of an alleged defamation in an article published by the defendant. The defendant wished to obtain information from the IPCC to show that they were investigating the matter as a credible issue. The court . .
Cited – Three Rivers District Council and Others, HM Treasury, v HM Treasury, The Governor and Company of the Bank of England (No 4) CA 7-Aug-2002
The claimants had suffered having lost deposits with the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. They claimed their losses from the respondents as regulators of the bank, for negligence and misfeasance in public office. The action was based upon . .
Cited – Frankson and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Johns v Same CA 8-May-2003
The claimants sought damages for injuries alleged to have been received at the hands of prison officers whilst in prison. They now sought disclosure by the police of statements made to the police during the course of their investigation.
Held: . .
Cited – Clifford v NGN Ltd and Mulcaire ChD 3-Feb-2010
There are three steps in every case where a party seeks disclosure from a third party: ‘(1) First it has to be shown that the documentation is likely to support the case of the applicant or adversely affect the case of the respondent. The word . .
Cited – Conway v Rimmer HL 28-Feb-1968
Crown Privilege for Documents held by the Polie
The plaintiff probationary police constable had been investigated, prosecuted and cleared of an allegation of theft. He now claimed damages for malicious prosecution, and in the course of the action, sought disclosure of five documents, but these . .
Cited – Regina v Inland Revenue Commissioners ex parte Rossminster Ltd HL 13-Dec-1979
The House considered the power of an officer of the Board of Inland Revenue to seize and remove materials found on premises which a warrant obtained on application to the Common Serjeant authorised him to enter and search; but where the source of . .
Cited – D v National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children HL 2-Feb-1977
Immunity from disclosure of their identity should be given to those who gave information about neglect or ill treatment of children to a local authority or the NSPCC similar to that which the law allowed to police informers.
Lord Simon of . .
Cited – Powell v Chief Constable of North Wales Constabulary CA 16-Dec-1999
Roch LJ said: ‘When an issue of public interest immunity is raised, the court’s first duty is to weigh the public interest in preserving the immunity against the public interest that all relevant information which might assist a court to ascertain . .
Cited – Marks v Beyfus 1890
The plaintiff claimed damages for malicious prosecution. He called the Director of Public Prosecutions as a witness, who refused to identify the name of the person who had given him the information on which he had acted against the plaintiff.
Cited – Wallace Smith Trust v Deloitte Haskins and Sells CA 1997
If the party seeking discovery showed that the documents might be necessary for a fair disposal of the action, an order should normally only be refused after the court had examined the documents and considered them in the light of the material . .
Cited – Arias and Others v Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police and Another CA 1-Aug-1984
A police officer searched premises under a warrant seizing documents of a trust corporation managed by the occupier. The trustees sought return of the documents or, alternatively, copies of them. The police believed that the documents were evidence . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Media

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.443585

Merseyside Police v Owens: Admn 31 May 2012

The police had refused to returns items seized from Mr Owens on the basis that to do so would indirectly encourage and assist him in suspected criminal activity. CCTV footage had been removed from him to attempt identify an arsonist of a house.The claimant, a British National Party member had been the subject of the attack, but had behaved suspiciously in not co-operating with the investigation as expected. The police now appealed against an order for its return.
Held: The appeal failed, and the video was to be returned. The power to retain the goods was exercisable only for so long as they were required for the investigation justifying its seizure, and: ‘ there are no findings made by the District Judge which would enable this court to conclude not merely that the police believed that the respondent might use the tape to enable him to commit a criminal act but that the court itself could be satisfied that ordering the return would in fact do so. The distinction is an important one. It cannot be sufficient that the police reasonably suspect that the respondent might use the tape to commit a criminal act, for that would give the Executive power to retain property without legislative or other authority. It can only be, if the court itself is satisfied that the use of its process would in fact indirectly assist in or encourage a crime, that the court could refuse to allow its processes to be used to that end.’

Sir John Thomas, King J
[2012] EWHC 1515 (Admin)
Bailii
Police (Property) Act 1897 1, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 19(3) 22(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Ghani v Jones CA 1970
The court was asked as to the powers of the police to retain objects taken and impounded.
Held: The privacy and possessions of an individual were not to be invaded except for the most compelling reasons.
Lord Denning MR said: ‘Balancing . .
Cited – O’Leary International Ltd v North Wales Police Admn 31-May-2012
The company employed drivers to cross the UK. They were stopped and did not have the requisite drivers records. Instead they produced certificates as to having had rest days. These proved false, and the drivers said that the had been produced for . .
Cited – Scopelight Ltd and Others v Chief of Police for Northumbria CA 5-Nov-2009
The claimant sought return of items removed by the defendants under the 1984 Act. A decision had been made against a prosecution by the police. The police wished to hold onto the items to allow a decision from the second defendant.
Held: The . .
Cited – Marcel v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 1992
A writ of subpoena ad duces tecum had been issued requiring the production by the police for use in civil proceedings of documents seized during a criminal fraud investigation. The victim of the fraud needed them to pursue his own civil case.
Cited – Chief Constable of West Midlands Police v White CA 13-Mar-1992
After conviction for licensing offences, the police seized a sum of money from the respondent which they alleged was the proceeds of unlicensed sales. The magistrates made no order on conviction, so the police brought the issue under the Act. The . .
Cited – Jackson v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police QBD 22-Oct-1993
Mr Jackson was convicted of a drugs offence. On arrest, the police had seized money in his possession. No order as to the money was made at the trial. Mr Jackson applied under the Act. The magistrate accepted that Mr Jackson was the owner of the . .
Cited – Webb v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police CA 26-Nov-1999
The Police had confiscated money suspected to be the proceeds of drug trafficking, but no offence was proved. The magistrates had refused to return the money under the 1897 Act. The claimants now sought to reciver it under civil proceedings.
Cited – Costello v Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary CA 22-Mar-2001
The police seized a car from Mr Costello, believing that it was stolen. The seizure was lawful at the time, by virtue of section 19 of PACE. The police never brought any criminal proceedings against Mr Costello, but they refused to return the car to . .
Cited – Regina (on the application of Carter) v Ipswich Magistrates’ Court Admn 2002
Mrs Carter had paid a man to murder someone. The man was an undercover police agent. In time Mrs Carter was convicted of soliciting to commit murder, but Mr Carter was acquitted. She disclaimed all interest in the money she had paid in favour of her . .
Cited – Thackwell v Barclays Bank plc 1986
The plaintiff was party to a fraudulent scheme under which a cheque had been made payable to him. The plaintiff’s signature endorsing the cheque to a third party was forged and in reliance on the forgery the bank credited the third party. The . .
Cited – Tinsley v Milligan HL 28-Jun-1993
Two women parties used funds generated by a joint business venture to buy a house in which they lived together. It was vested in the sole name of the plaintiff but on the understanding that they were joint beneficial owners. The purpose of the . .

Cited by:
See Also – O’Leary International Ltd v North Wales Police Admn 31-May-2012
The company employed drivers to cross the UK. They were stopped and did not have the requisite drivers records. Instead they produced certificates as to having had rest days. These proved false, and the drivers said that the had been produced for . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.459877

Thomas v Sawkins: KBD 1935

Police may enter private property to keep peace

Police officers went to a hall where a public meeting which had been extensively advertised was about to take place; the police sergeant in charge of the party was refused admission to the hall but insisted on entering and remaining there during the meeting. The question arose as to whether the police were entitled to take that course.
Held: The English authorities were expressed in very wide terms. A police officer has a duty to prevent any breach of the peace which has occurred or which he reasonably apprehends will occur. Pursuant to this duty he is entitled to enter onto and remain on private property without the consent of the occupier or owner.
Avory J said that ‘[t]o prevent . . a breach of the peace the police were entitled to enter and to remain on the premises’ and ‘I cannot doubt that he has a right to break in to prevent an affray which he has reasonable cause to suspect may take place on private premises.’
Lord Hewart CJ said that ‘a police officer has ex virtute officii full right to so act when he has reasonable ground for believing that an offence is imminent or is likely to be committed’ and ‘I think that there is quite sufficient ground for the proposition that it is part of the preventive power, and, therefore, part of the preventive duty, of the police, in cases where there are such reasonable grounds of apprehension [of a misdemeanour or breach of the peace], to enter and remain on private premises. It goes without saying that the powers and duties of the police are directed, not to the interests of the police, but to the protection and welfare of the public’ and ‘It is elementary that a good defence to an action for trespass is to show that the act complained of was done by authority of law, or by leave and licence.’
Lawrence J said: ‘If a constable in the execution of his duty to preserve the peace is entitled to commit an assault, it appears to me that he is equally entitled to commit a trespass.’

Avory J, Lord Hewart CJ, Lawrence J
[1935] 2 KB 249, 30 Cox CC 265 KB
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – McLeod, Mealing (deceased) v Metropolitan Police Commissioner CA 3-Feb-1994
The plaintiff appealed against the dismissal of her claims for trespass and breach of duty by the defendant’s officers. In divorce proceedings, she had been ordered to return certain household goods to her husband, but had failed yet to do so. The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.471227

Dawkins v Lord Rokeby: 1873

dawkins_rokeby1873

Police officers (among others) are immune from any action that may be brought against them on the ground that things said or done by them in the ordinary course of the proceedings were said or done falsely and maliciously and without reasonable and probable cause.
Kelly CB said that: ‘The authorities are clear, uniform and conclusive, that no action lies against parties or witnesses for anything said or done, although falsely and maliciously and without any reasonable or probable cause, in the ordinary course of any proceedingbefore any court or tribunal recognized by law.’
Witnesses before tribunals recognised by law should ‘give their testimony free from any fear of being harassed by an action on an allegation, whether true or false, that they acted from malice’.’

Kelly CB
(1873) LR 8 QB 255
Citing:
Appeal from – Dawkins v Lord Rokeby 1866
. .

Cited by:
Approved – Darker v Chief Constable of The West Midlands Police HL 1-Aug-2000
The plaintiffs had been indicted on counts alleging conspiracy to import drugs and conspiracy to forge traveller’s cheques. During the criminal trial it emerged that there had been such inadequate disclosure by the police that the proceedings were . .
Cited – Trapp v Mackie HL 1979
Dr Trapp had been dismissed from his post by the Aberdeenshire Education Committee of which Mr Mackie was chairman. Dr Trapp petitioned the Secretary of State for an inquiry into the reasons for his dismissal. An inquiry was set up, and in the . .
Appeal from – Dawkins v Lord Rokeby HL 1875
The court unanimously confirmed the judgment of the lower court and expressly adopted the reasoning given. Witnesses before tribunals recognised by law should be able to ‘give their testimony free from any fear of being harassed by an action on an . .
Cited – Heath v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis CA 20-Jul-2004
The female civilian officer alleged sex discrimination against her by a police officer. Her complaint was heard at an internal disciplinary. She alleged sexual harrassment, and was further humiliated by the all male board’s treatment of her . .
Cited – Watson v M’Ewan HL 1905
A claim was brought against a medical witness in respect of statements made in preparation of a witness statement and similar statements subsequently made in court. The appellant was a doctor of medicine who had been retained by the respondent in . .
Cited – General Medical Council v Professor Sir Roy Meadow, Attorney General CA 26-Oct-2006
The GMC appealed against the dismissal of its proceedings for professional misconduct against the respondent doctor, whose expert evidence to a criminal court was the subject of complaint. The doctor said that the evidence given by him was . .
Cited – Silcott v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 24-May-1996
The claimant had been convicted of the murder of PC Blakelock. The only substantial evidence was in the form of the notes of interview he said were fabricated by senior officers. His eventual appeal on this basis was not resisted. He now appealed . .
Cited – Jones v Kaney SC 30-Mar-2011
An expert witness admitted signing a joint report but without agreeing to it. The claimant who had lost his case now pursued her in negligence. The claimant appealed against a finding that the expert witness was immune from action.
Held: The . .
Cited – White v Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust and Another QBD 1-Apr-2011
The claimant doctor sued in defamation for letters written by the defendants to the Fitness to Practice Directorate. She now sought to appeal against a finding that she could not rely upon one letter which had come to her attention through . .
Cited – Cabassi v Vila 12-Dec-1940
High Court of Australia – The claim sought to sidestep the rule giving immuity to witnesses before a court by alleging a conspiracy to give false evidence.
Held: Starke J said: ‘But it does not matter whether the action is framed as an action . .
Cited – Singh v Moorlands Primary School and Another CA 25-Jul-2013
The claimant was a non-white head teacher, alleging that her school governors and local authority had undermined and had ‘deliberately endorsed a targeted campaign of discrimination, bullying, harassment and victimisation’ against her as an Asian . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Litigation Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.184729

Regina v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis, ex parte Rottman: HL 16 May 2002

The defendant had been arrested under an extradition warrant issued under the Act. The police had searched his premises, and found further evidence which was used to support the application for extradition. He challenged the collection and admission of the evidence which was outside the scope of the 1984 Act.
Held: The 1984 Act did not replace entirely the common law powers of the police in collecting evidence. Common law had allowed a police officer exercising an arrest warrant also to search the premises in which he was found. The 1984 Act itself did not create powers capable of being used in this way. The sections were confined to domestic offences. The common law powers remained for international offences.
Hutton L said: ‘It is a well established principle that a rule of the common law is not extinguished by a statute unless the statute makes this clear by express provision or by clear implication.’

Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Hutton and Lord Rodger of Earlsferry
Times 21-May-2002, [2002] UKHL 20, [2002] 2 AC 692, [2002] ACD 69, [2002] 2 WLR 1315, [2002] 2 All ER 865, [2002] HRLR 32, 12 BHRC 329
House of Lords, Bailii
Extradition Act 1989 8, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 18 19
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Ghani v Jones CA 1970
The court was asked as to the powers of the police to retain objects taken and impounded.
Held: The privacy and possessions of an individual were not to be invaded except for the most compelling reasons.
Lord Denning MR said: ‘Balancing . .
Cited – Regina v Governor of Pentonville Prison, Ex Parte Osman QBD 30-Mar-1988
The applicant had been committed to prison pending extradition proceedings brought by Hong Kong alleging substantial fraud. He challenged the committal on the grounds that since the allegations involved transmission of funds over international . .
Appeal from – Regina (Michael Rottman) v Commissioner of Police for Metropolis and Secretary of State for Home Department Admn 24-Jul-2001
There is no residual common law power of entry for police to enter into premises to execute a search without first obtaining a warrant, beyond that contained in the Act. The Act was intended to provide a complete statement of the powers of entry for . .
Cited – Entick v Carrington KBD 1765
The Property of Every Man is Sacred
The King’s Messengers entered the plaintiff’s house and seized his papers under a warrant issued by the Secretary of State, a government minister.
Held: The common law does not recognise interests of state as a justification for allowing what . .

Cited by:
Applied – Regina (Hewitson) v Chief Constable of Dorset Police and another QBD 18-Dec-2003
The claimant had been arrested under an extradition warrant. He complained that the police took the opportunity to search his girflriend’s nearby flat. The police responded that the search was conducted under a common law power of search attached to . .
Cited – Durant v Financial Services Authority CA 8-Dec-2003
The appellant had been unsuccessful in litigation against his former bank. The Financial Services Authority had subsequently investigated his complaint against the bank. Using section 7 of the Data Protection Act 1998, he requested disclosure of his . .
Appealed to – Regina (Michael Rottman) v Commissioner of Police for Metropolis and Secretary of State for Home Department Admn 24-Jul-2001
There is no residual common law power of entry for police to enter into premises to execute a search without first obtaining a warrant, beyond that contained in the Act. The Act was intended to provide a complete statement of the powers of entry for . .
Cited – Greene v Associated Newspapers Ltd CA 5-Nov-2004
The claimant appealed against refusal of an order restraining publication by the respondent of an article about her. She said that it was based upon an email falsely attributed to her.
Held: ‘in an action for defamation a court will not impose . .
Cited – Regina v Jones (Margaret), Regina v Milling and others HL 29-Mar-2006
Domestic Offence requires Domestic Defence
Each defendant sought to raise by way of defence of their otherwise criminal actions, the fact that they were attempting to prevent the commission by the government of the crime of waging an aggressive war in Iraq, and that their acts were . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Extradition, Constitutional

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.170324

Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom: ECHR 4 Dec 2008

(Grand Chamber) The applicants complained that on being arrested on suspicion of offences, samples of their DNA had been taken, but then despite being released without conviction, the samples had retained on the Police database.
Held: (Unanimous) The retention was unlawful. Though other member states retained some DNA samples in certain conditions, the UK was the only signatory state to permit the systematic and indefinite retention of DNA profiles and cellular samples of persons who have been acquitted or in respect of whom criminal proceedings have been discontinued. The concept of ‘private life’ is a broad term not susceptible to exhaustive definition. The court had previously recognised the difference between retention of fingerprint images and personal samples of DNA, and ‘an individual’s concern about the possible future use of private information retained by the authorities is legitimate and relevant to a determination of the issue of whether there has been an interference. Indeed, bearing in mind the rapid pace of developments in the field of genetics and information technology, the Court cannot discount the possibility that in the future the private-life interests bound up with genetic information may be adversely affected in novel ways or in a manner which cannot be anticipated with precision today . . the retention of both cellular samples and DNA profiles discloses an interference with the applicants’ right to respect for their private lives, within the meaning of Article 8 – 1 of the Convention. ‘ Even as to fingerprints, their retention on the authorities’ records in connection with an identified or identifiable individual may in itself give rise, notwithstanding their objective and irrefutable character, to important private-life concerns. It was therefore necessary to justify their retention. There were legitimate concerns about the retention of cellular samples, where for example. It was used for racial categorisation.
The government figures were misleading. The retention had contributed to detection of crime but not to extent claimed. This was an indiscriminate and open-ended retention regime. The right of every person under the Convention to be presumed innocent includes the general rule that no suspicion regarding an accused’s innocence may be voiced after his acquittal.
The blanket and indiscriminate nature of the powers of retention of the fingerprints, cellular samples and DNA profiles of persons suspected but not convicted of offences, as applied in the case of the present applicants, fails to strike a fair balance between the competing public and private interests and that the respondent State has overstepped any acceptable margin of appreciation in this regard. Accordingly, the retention at issue constitutes a disproportionate interference with the applicants’ right to respect for private life and cannot be regarded as necessary in a democratic society.
‘the Court is struck by the blanket and indiscriminate nature of the power of retention in England and Wales. The material may be retained irrespective of the nature or gravity of the offence with which the individual was originally suspected or of the age of the suspected offender; fingerprints and samples may be taken-and retained-from a person of any age, arrested in connection with a recordable offence, which includes minor or non-imprisonable offences. The retention is not time-limited; the material is retained indefinitely whatever the nature or seriousness of the offence of which the person was suspected. Moreover, there exist only limited possibilities for an acquitted individual to have the data removed from the nationwide database or the materials destroyed; in particular, there is no provision for independent review of the justification for the retention according to defined criteria, including such factors as the seriousness of the offence, previous arrests, the strength of the suspicion against the person and any other special circumstances.’ and ‘it is as essential, in this context, as in telephone tapping, secret surveillance and covert intelligence-gathering, to have clear, detailed rules governing the scope and application of measures, as well as minimum safeguards concerning, inter alia, duration, storage, usage, access of third parties, procedures for preserving the integrity and confidentiality of data and procedures for its destruction, thus providing sufficient guarantees against the risk of abuse and arbitrariness ‘

J-P Costa, President, and Judges C. Rozakis, Sir Nicolas Bratza, P. Lorenzen, F. Tulkens, J. Casadevall, G. Bonello, C. Birsan, N. Vajic, A. Kovler, S. Pavlovschi, E. Myjer, D. Jociene, J. Sikuta, M. Villiger, P. Hirvela and L. Bianku
30562/04, [2008] ECHR 1581, Times 08-Dec-2008, (2008) 158 NLJ 1755, (2009) 48 EHRR 50, 25 BHRC 557, [2009] Crim LR 355
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 8 14, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 64(1A), Data Protection Act 1998, UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989 40
Human Rights
Citing:
At First Instance – Regina (S) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire; Regina (Marper) v Same Admn 22-Mar-2002
The police authority took samples of DNA and fingerprints from the claimants whilst under arrest. After their cases had been dismissed or failed, they requested destruction of the samples and records, but this was refused.
Held: There was no . .
At Court of Appeal – Regina (on the application of S) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, Regina (Marper) v Same CA 12-Sep-2002
The applicants had been charged with offences, but later acquitted. On arrest they had had DNA samples and fingerprints taken, and the details added to the national DNA database. The police refused to remove the records after the acquittals.
At House of Lords – S, Regina (on Application of) v South Yorkshire Police; Regina v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police ex parte Marper HL 22-Jul-2004
Police Retention of Suspects DNA and Fingerprints
The claimants complained that their fingerprints and DNA records taken on arrest had been retained after discharge before trial, saying the retention of the samples infringed their right to private life.
Held: The parts of DNA used for testing . .
See Also – Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom ECHR 27-Feb-2008
Grand Chamber – Press Release – The applicant complained of the retention by the police of DNA and fingerprint records – The applicants both complain about the retention of their fingerprints and DNA samples and the fact that they are being used in . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 3 of 1999) (Lynn) HL 15-Dec-2000
A DNA sample had been wrongfully retained after the suspect had been acquitted, and the sample had been used in a later investigation to identify him. A subsequent sample had been taken, and the result of that second test had been used as evidence . .
Cited – Regina v RC 28-Oct-2005
(Supreme Court of Canada) The court considered the retention of a juvenile first-time offender’s DNA sample on the national data bank. The court upheld the decision by a trial judge who had found, in the light of the principles and objects of youth . .
Cited – South Yorkshire and North Wales Police v The Information Commissioner IT 12-Oct-2005
Applicants challenged the decision of the police forces not to destroy on their request personal information held about them. . .
Cited – Leander v Sweden ECHR 26-Mar-1987
Mr Leander had been refused employment at a museum located on a naval base, having been assessed as a security risk on the basis of information stored on a register maintained by State security services that had not been disclosed him. Mr Leander . .
Cited – Burghartz v Switzerland ECHR 22-Feb-1994
It was sex discrimination to prevent a husband using his and his wife’s surnames, but not to prevent the wife doing the same. The use of name is a means of personal identity and of linking it to a family.
Friedl v Austria ECHR 31-Jan-1995
The Commission distinguished between the taking and keeping of photographs without identifying the subjects, and police questioning in order to establish identity and the recording of these personal data; the former was not an interference with . .
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 . .
Followed – Van der Velden v The Netherlands ECHR 7-Dec-2006
The Court distinguished between the retention of fingerprints and the retention of cellular samples and DNA profiles in view of the stronger potential for future use of the personal information contained in the latter. It was appropriate to examine . .
Cited – Amann v Switzerland ECHR 16-Feb-2000
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 8 with regard to interception of telephone call; Violation of Art. 8 with regard to creation and storing of information card; Preliminary objection . .
Cited – Sciacca v Italy ECHR 11-Jan-2005
The court was asked whether the applicant’s rights under Article 8 had been infringed by the release to the press of an identity photograph taken of her by the Italian Revenue Police while she was under arrest and investigation for various criminal . .
Cited – Bensaid v The United Kingdom ECHR 6-Feb-2001
The applicant was a schizophrenic and an illegal immigrant. He claimed that his removal to Algeria would deprive him of essential medical treatment and sever ties that he had developed in the UK that were important for his well-being. He claimed . .
Cited – Unal Tekeli v Turkey ECHR 16-Nov-2004
ECHR Judgment (Merits and Just Satisfaction) – Preliminary objection rejected (victim, six-month period);Violation of Art. 14+8; Not necessary to examine Art.8; Non-pecuniary damage – finding of violation . .
Cited – YF v Turkey ECHR 22-Jul-2003
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 8 ; Non-pecuniary damage – financial award ; Costs and expenses partial award – Convention proceedings . .
Cited – Pretty v The United Kingdom ECHR 29-Apr-2002
Right to Life Did Not include Right to Death
The applicant was paralysed and suffered a degenerative condition. She wanted her husband to be allowed to assist her suicide by accompanying her to Switzerland. English law would not excuse such behaviour. She argued that the right to die is not . .
Cited – Peck v The United Kingdom ECHR 28-Jan-2003
peck_ukECHR2003
The claimant had been filmed by CCTV. He had, after attempting suicide, left home with a knife, been arrested by the police and disarmed, but then sent home without charge. The CCTV film was used on several occasions to advertise the effectiveness . .
Cited – McVeigh, O’Neill and Evans v United Kingdom ECHR 1981
(Commission) The Commission was asked whether the retention of fingerprints or samples amounts to an interference with the right to respect for private life.
Held: A distinction was made between the taking of fingerprints, photographs and . .
Cited – Malone v The United Kingdom ECHR 2-Aug-1984
The complainant asserted that his telephone conversation had been tapped on the authority of a warrant signed by the Secretary of State, but that there was no system to supervise such warrants, and that it was not therefore in ‘accordance with law’. . .
Cited – Kinnunen v Finland ECHR 15-May-1996
(Commission) In a criminal case of fraud, the claimant said the retention of his photographs and fingerprints by the police after his acquittal, infringed his right to private life. The Commission rejected the complaint, but noted that the . .
Cited – Rotaru v Romania ECHR 4-May-2000
Grand Chamber – The applicant, a lawyer, complained of a violation of his right to respect for his private life on account of the use against him by the Romanian Intelligence Service of a file which contained information about his conviction for . .
Cited – Coster v The United Kingdom ECHR 18-Jan-2001
While it is for the national authorities to make the initial assessment of what is necessary and proportionate in all these respects, the final evaluation of whether the interference is necessary remains subject to review by the Court for conformity . .
Cited – Hasan and Chaush v Bulgaria ECHR 26-Oct-2000
The Grand Chamber considered executive interference in the appointment of the Chief Mufti of the Bulgarian Muslims: ‘Where the organisation of the religious community is at issue, Article 9 must be interpreted in the light of Article 11 of the . .
Cited – PG and JH v The United Kingdom ECHR 25-Sep-2001
The use of covert listening devices within a police station was an infringement of the right to privacy, since there was no system of law regulating such practices. That need not affect the right to a fair trial. The prosecution had a duty to . .
Cited – Connors v The United Kingdom ECHR 27-May-2004
The applicant gypsies had initially been permitted to locate their caravan on a piece of land owned by a local authority, but their right of occupation was brought to an end because the local authority considered that they were committing a . .
Cited – Evans v United Kingdom ECHR 10-Apr-2007
The claimant said that the English law on assisted conception infringed her right to family life. She had began treatment with her partner, and was given a cycle of in-vitro fertilisation before her cancerous condition required removal of her . .
Cited – Kruslin v France ECHR 24-Apr-1990
Hudoc The claimant complained of the interception of her telephone calls.
The court discussed the role of case law in both civil law and common law systems. . .
Cited – Weber and Saravia v Germany ECHR 29-Jun-2006
(Admissibility) ‘The first applicant is a freelance journalist who works for various German and foreign newspapers, radio and television stations on a regular basis. In particular, she investigates matters that are subject to the surveillance of the . .
Cited – Liberty And Others v United Kingdom ECHR 1-Jul-2008
Liberty complained that the interception of their communications under the 1985 Act between 1990 and 1997 had infringed their article 8 rights, since the Act was insufficiently clear.
Held: The infringements were established. The mere . .
Cited – The Association For European Integration And Human Rights And Ekimdzhiev v Bulgaria ECHR 28-Jun-2007
. .
Cited – Dickson and Another v United Kingdom ECHR 15-Dec-2007
(Grand Chamber) The complainants were husband and wife. They had been married whilst the husband served a sentence of life imprisonment. They had been refused suport for artificial insemination treatment.
Held: The claim succeeded. The refusal . .
Cited – Rushiti v Austria ECHR 21-Mar-2000
The right of every person under the Convention to be presumed innocent, includes the general rule that no suspicion regarding an accused’s innocence may be voiced after his acquittal: ‘In any case, the Court is not convinced by the Government’s . .
Press Release – Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom ECHR 27-Feb-2008
Grand Chamber – Press Release – The applicant complained of the retention by the police of DNA and fingerprint records – The applicants both complain about the retention of their fingerprints and DNA samples and the fact that they are being used in . .
Legal Summary – S and Marper v The United Kingdom, (Legal Summary) ECHR 4-Dec-2008
Respect for private life
Retention of fingerprints and DNA information in cases where defendant in criminal proceedings is acquitted or discharged: violation . .

Cited by:
Cited – Wood v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis CA 21-May-2009
The appellant had been ostentatiously photographed by the police as he left a company general meeting. He was a peaceful and lawful objector to the Arms Trade. He appealed against refusal of an order for the records to be destroyed. The police had . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference No 3 of 1999: Application By the British Broadcasting Corporation To Set Aside or Vary a Reporting Restriction Order HL 17-Jun-2009
An application was made to discharge an anonymity order made in previous criminal proceedings before the House. The defendant was to be retried for rape under the 2003 Act, after an earlier acquittal. The applicant questioned whether such a order . .
Cited – F and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 21-Apr-2010
The defendants had been convicted and sentenced for offences which under the 2003 Act would mean that they stayed permanently on the Sex Offenders’ register without possibility of a review. The Secretary of State appealed aganst a finding that the . .
Cited – London Borough of Lewisham v D and Others FD 29-Mar-2010
Lewisham_dFD10
The local authority was investigating allegations involving the family history of children in their care. They sought disclosure by the respondent police authority of the results DNA comparison tests to assist their investigations. The court . .
Cited – Regina (GC) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis; Regina (C) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Admn 16-Jul-2010
The claimants had each had biometric samples taken during police investigations, and now sought judicial review of the decision of the respondent not to remove those details from the Police National Computer, saying that in accordance with the . .
Cited – GC v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis SC 18-May-2011
The court was asked to decide from whom DNA samples could lawfully be taken by the Police,and for how long they should be kept. The first respondent now said that a declaration of incompatibility of section 64(1A) could not be avoided.
Held: . .
Cited – GC v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis SC 18-May-2011
The court was asked to decide from whom DNA samples could lawfully be taken by the Police,and for how long they should be kept. The first respondent now said that a declaration of incompatibility of section 64(1A) could not be avoided.
Held: . .
Cited – X and Another v Z (Children) and Another CA 5-Feb-2015
The Court was asked as to the circumstances in which DNA profiles obtained by the police in exercise of their criminal law enforcement functions can, without the consent of the data subject, be put to uses which are remote from the field of criminal . .
Cited – Catt and T, Regina (on The Applications of) v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis SC 4-Mar-2015
Police Data Retention Justifiable
The appellants challenged the collection of data by the police, alleging that its retention interfered with their Article 8 rights. C complained of the retention of records of his lawful activities attending political demonstrations, and T . .
Cited – Re C (A Child) FC 29-Sep-2015
There had been care proceedings as to C. The mother was treated by a psychiatrist, X, and an associate Y. They also prepared expert reports. M formally complained about X, and the charges having been dismissed, the doctors now sought disclosure of . .
Cited – T and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department and Another SC 18-Jun-2014
T and JB, asserted that the reference in certificates issued by the state to cautions given to them violated their right to respect for their private life under article 8 of the Convention. T further claims that the obligation cast upon him to . .
Cited – Gaughran v Chief Constable of The Police Service of Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland) SC 13-May-2015
The court was asked as to to the right of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to retain personal information and data lawfully obtained from the appellant following his arrest for the offence of driving with excess alcohol.
Held: The appeal . .
Cited – Gaughran, Re Judicial Review QBNI 13-Nov-2012
The claimant sought judicial review of the refusal by the Police Service of Northern Ireland to remove records of his fingerprint, a photograph and DNA sample and profiles which had been collected when he was stopped on suspicion of driving wih . .
Cited – Beghal v Director of Public Prosecutions SC 22-Jul-2015
Questions on Entry must be answered
B was questioned at an airport under Schedule 7 to the 2000 Act, and required to answer questions asked by appropriate officers for the purpose set out. She refused to answer and was convicted of that refusal , contrary to paragraph 18 of that . .
Cited – AB v Her Majesty’s Advocate SC 5-Apr-2017
This appeal is concerned with a challenge to the legality of legislation of the Scottish Parliament which deprives a person, A, who is accused of sexual activity with an under-aged person, B, of the defence that he or she reasonably believed that B . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Criminal Practice, Police, Information

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.248413

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by dlsPosted in Criminal Practice, Human Rights, Police

Redknapp and Another v Commissioner of the City of London Police and Another: Admn 23 May 2008

The claimant challenged the legality of a search warrant and the method of its execution on his home. He complained that the police had ensured publicity for the execution of the warrant.
Held: The obtaining of a search warrant is never to be treated as a formality. It authorises the invasion of a person’s home. All the material necessary to justify the grant of a warrant should be contained in the information provided on the form. If the magistrate or judge in the case of an application under section 9, does require any further information in order to satisfy himself that the warrant is justified, a note should be made of the additional information so that there is a proper record of the full basis upon which the warrant has been granted. In this case the information on which the warrant was issued was incomplete, and the search warrant was invalid.

Lord Justice Latham and Mr Justice Underhill
[2008] EWHC 1177 (Admin), Times 16-Jun-2008, (2008) 172 JPN 548, [2009] 1 All ER 229, (2008) 172 JP 388, [2008] Lloyd’s Rep FC 466, [2008] 1 All ER 229, [2009] 1 WLR 2091
Bailii
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 8
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – C, Regina (on the Application of) v ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court Admn 26-Sep-2006
Complaint was made about the slipshod completion of applications for search warrants. The nature of the review of compliance with Section 24(4) was to be that appropriate to Section 24(6). Underhill J held: ’26. The terms of s-s. (5) are new and . .

Cited by:
Cited – Faisaltex Ltd and others, Regina (on the Application of) v Crown Court Sitting at Preston and others etc Admn 21-Nov-2008
Nine claimants sought leave to bring judicial review of the issue of search warrants against solicitors’ and business and other premises, complaining of the seizure of excluded material and of special procedure material. There were suspicions of the . .
Cited – Bhatti and Others v Croydon Magistrates’ Court and Others Admn 3-Feb-2010
The claimant challenged the valiity of search warrants used at his home. He said they were deficient in not including the information as required by the Act. The police said that they were in accordance with the Home Office guidance.
Held: . .
Cited – Global Cash and Carry Ltd, Regina (on The Application of) v Birmingham Magistrates’ Court and Others Admn 19-Feb-2013
The claimant sought an order quashing a search warrant, and for damages. The officer had said that he had evidence that the claimants were storing an distributing from the premises large quantities of counterfeit goods and drugs.
Held: The . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other, Magistrates

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.268721

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by dlsPosted in Magistrates, Police, Torts - Other

Faisaltex Ltd and others, Regina (on the Application of) v Crown Court Sitting at Preston and others etc: Admn 21 Nov 2008

Nine claimants sought leave to bring judicial review of the issue of search warrants against solicitors’ and business and other premises, complaining of the seizure of excluded material and of special procedure material. There were suspicions of the import of counterfeit clothing and of money laundering.
Held: The burden of showing that the judge acted ultra vires in issuing a warrant or that the police acted unlawfully when executing a warrant rests upon the claimant. There had been a delay, arising from attempts to reach agreement with HMRC, but that was not related to the lawfulness of the warrants themselves. The claim was not filed promptly as required.
However, it was not clear why the fact that the firm of solicitors had acted on five appeals by the claimants and not a lesser number had any significance as to the use of search warrants rather than a production order for the firm of solicitors. There had been no rational basis for the warrant to search the solicitors’ offices.
An accountant however would normally have a much closer connection with the business under suspicion.
Once the judge was satisfied on the issue of legally privileged material, there was no reason why the section 8 warrants should not specify computers and similar items amongst the material to be seized if there were reasonable grounds for believing that they contained relevant evidence, albeit that they might also contain irrelevant material.
A computer and its hard disk were capable of being ‘material’ within section 8(1), Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984.

Keene LJ, Griffith Williams J
[2008] EWHC 2832 (Admin), Times 05-Dec-2008, [2009] 1 Cr App R 37, [2009] Lloyds Rep FC 160, [2009] Crim LR 358, [2009] 1 WLR 168
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 9
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Maidstone Crown Court ex parte Waitt QBD 1988
The solicitor applicant challenged the grant of a search order under section 9.
Held: The order was quashed. The court underlined the need for judges to be scrupulous in discharging their responsibilities so as to ensure that use of the . .
Cited – Regina v Guildhall Magistrates’ Court, ex parte Primlaks Holdings Co. (Panama) Inc 1990
The exercise of a power of search is a draconian power. . .
Cited – Regina v Lewes Crown Court ex parte Hill 1991
Bingham LJ said: ‘The Police and Criminal Evidence Act governs a field in which there are two very obvious public interests. There is, first of all, a public interest in the effective investigation and prosecution of crime. Secondly, there is a . .
Cited – Redknapp and Another v Commissioner of the City of London Police and Another Admn 23-May-2008
The claimant challenged the legality of a search warrant and the method of its execution on his home. He complained that the police had ensured publicity for the execution of the warrant.
Held: The obtaining of a search warrant is never to be . .
Cited – Regina v Central Criminal Court Ex Parte Bright; Regina v Same, Ex Parte Rusbridger QBD 21-Jul-2000
An order was made for a journalist to disclose to the police material disclosed to him in connection with a prosecution under the Official Secrets Act. The journalist appealed the order, on the basis that it was in effect an order that he . .
Cited – Finn-Kelcey v Milton Keynes Council and MK Windfarm Ltd CA 10-Oct-2008
Judicial Review must be timely
The appellant challenged the grant of permission for a wind farm on neighbouring land. His application for judicial review had been rejected for delay and on the merits.
Held: The court repeated the requirement that an application must be both . .
Cited – Regina v Cotswold District Council and others ex parte Barrington Parish Council Admn 24-Apr-1997
The parish council sought judicial review of the district council’s planning decision. The respondents complained at the lack of promptness in the application, and suggested a lack of standing to complain. . .
Cited – Regina v Independent Television Commission, ex parte TV Northern Ireland Limited CA 30-Dec-1991
An application for judicial review must be made with the utmost promptness and particularly so where third party rights may be affected. This requirement is additional to the three month limit. . .
Cited – Regina v Southampton Crown Court ex parte J and P 21-Dec-1992
A special material warrant was quashed, partly because it was too widely drawn. It was suspected that there had been thefts from the solicitor’s firms client account. Watkins LJ discussed the need for a judge to give reasons for a decision under . .
Approved – H, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioners of Inland Revenue Admn 23-Oct-2002
The appellant sought judicial review of the seizure by the respondents of computers found on its premises in the course of executing warrants under the Act, even though the computers might contain other matters not relevant to any investigation.
Cited – Kent Pharmaceuticals Ltd and others v Serious Fraud Office Admn 2002
There was to be an investigation by the SFO into allegations that some in the pharmaceutical industry were dishonestly increasing the price charged for drugs supplied to the NHS. On 27th March 2002 District Judge Nicholas Evans received written . .
Cited – McGrath v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary and Another HL 12-Jul-2001
Police were not liable for false imprisonment after arresting a person named in a warrant which had been issued by another police force as a result of one person who was arrested falsely giving the other person’s name. The warrant might have been . .

Cited by:
See Also – Faisaltex Ltd and Others v Lancashire Constabulary and Another QBD 24-Jul-2009
The claimants wished to claim damages saying that in executing a search warrant, the defendant had made excessive seizures of material. The claimants sought inspection by independent counsel of the materials seized to establish this in a manner . .
Cited – Glenn and Co (Essex) Ltd), Regina (on The Application of) v HM Revenue and Customs Admn 18-Jun-2010
The company objected to the search of its offices and removal by the defendant of its computers, the officers having entered without any warrant purporting to use powers under the 1989 Act.
Held: The request for judicial review failed. The . .
Cited – Mills and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Sussex Police and Another Admn 25-Jul-2014
The claimants faced criminal charges involving allegations of fraud and corruption. They now challenged by judicial review a search and seizure warrant saying that it was unlawful. A restraint order had been made against them and they had complied . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Judicial Review, Legal Professions

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.278216

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by dlsPosted in Judicial Review, Legal Professions, Police

Taylor and Others v Director of The Serious Fraud Office and Others: HL 29 Oct 1998

The defendant had requested the Isle of Man authorities to investigate the part if any taken by the plaintiff in a major fraud. No charges were brought against the plaintiff, but the documents showing suspicion came to be disclosed in the later trial of others. The plaintiff sought damages in defamation.
Held: The documents which had been prepared for a criminal investigation, and which were disclosed as part of prosecution case, but not relied on in that prosecution, may only be used by defence for the purposes of that trial. They cannot be used to form the basis of an action for defamation. The documents were disclosed under an obligation imposed on the prosecution. The absolute immunity rule ‘is designed to encourage freedom of speech and communication in judicial proceedings by relieving persons who take part in the judicial process from the fear of being sued for something they say.’ The immunity extended also to statements made out of court which could fairly be said to be part of the process of investigating crime. The court referred in this connection to investigators and the prosecuting officials with whom they are required to communicate.
Lord Hope (with whom Lord Hutton agreed) observed: ‘I do not think that it is possible to overstate the importance, in the public interest, of ensuring that material which is disclosed in criminal proceedings is not used for collateral purposes’.
Lord Hoffmann said: ‘I find it impossible to identify any rational principle which would confine the immunity for out of court statements to persons who are subsequently called as witnesses. The policy of the immunity is to enable people to speak freely without fear of being sued, whether successfully or not. If this object is to be achieved, the person in question must know at the time he speaks whether or not the immunity will attach. If it depends upon the contingencies of whether he will be called as a witness, the value of the immunity is destroyed. At the time of the investigation it is often unclear whether any crime has been committed at all. Persons assisting the police with their inquiries may not be able to give any admissible evidence; for example, their information may be hearsay, but none the less valuable for the purposes of the investigation. But the proper administration of justice requires that such people should have the same inducement to speak freely as those whose information subsequently forms the basis of evidence at a trial.
When one turns to the position of investigators, it seems to me that the same degree of necessity applies. It would be an incoherent rule which gave a potential witness immunity in respect of the statements which he made to an investigator but offered no similar immunity to the investigator if he passed that information to a colleague engaged in the investigation or put it to another potential witness. In my view it is necessary for the administration of justice that investigators should be able to exchange information, theories and hypotheses among themselves and to put them to other persons assisting in the inquiry without fear of being sued if such statements are disclosed in the course of the proceedings.’

Lord Lloyd of Berwick, Lord Goff of Chieveley, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Hutton
Times 04-Nov-1998, [1998] UKHL 39, [1999] 2 AC 177, [1998] 4 All ER 801, [1998] 3 WLR 1040
House of Lords, Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Taylor Monarch Assurance Plc v Director of Serious Fraud Office, McKenzie, Law Society Rogerson CA 22-Jul-1997
Qualified privilege attached to defamatory documents which had been prepared as part of a criminal investigation. For the court to allow an action would be approve a form of parasitic attack on the trial. . .
Cited – Mahon v Rahn QBD 19-Jun-1996
Directors of a London firm of stockbrokers brought libel proceedings against two Swiss bankers.
Held: The absolute immunity which is given to both witnesses and potential witnesses extends to all those taking part in a criminal investigation . .
Cited – Mahon, Kent v Dr Rahn, Biedermann, Haab-Biedermann, Rahn, and Bodmer (a Partnership) (No 2) CA 8-Jun-2000
The defendant’s lawyers wrote to a financial services regulatory body investigating the possible fraudulent conduct of the plaintiff’s stockbroking firm. The letter was passed to the Serious Fraud Office who later brought criminal proceedings . .
Cited – Munster v Lamb CA 1883
Judges and witness, including police officers are given immunity from suit in defamation in court proceedings.
Fry LJ said: ‘Why should a witness be able to avail himself of his position in the box and to make without fear of civil consequences . .
Cited – Watson v M’Ewan HL 1905
A claim was brought against a medical witness in respect of statements made in preparation of a witness statement and similar statements subsequently made in court. The appellant was a doctor of medicine who had been retained by the respondent in . .
Cited – Home Office v Hariette Harman HL 11-Feb-1982
The defendant had permitted a journalist to see documents revealed to her as in her capacity as a solicitor in the course of proceedings.
Held: The documents were disclosed under an obligation to use them for the instant case only. That rule . .
Dicta approved – Evans v London Hospital Medical College and Others 1981
The defendants employed by the first defendant carried out a post mortem on the plaintiff’s infant son. They found concentrations of morphine and told the police. The plaintiff was charged with the murder of her son. After further investigation no . .
Cited – Regina v Ward (Judith) CACD 15-Jul-1992
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 . .
Cited – X (Minors) v Bedfordshire County Council; M (A Minor) and Another v Newham London Borough Council; Etc HL 29-Jun-1995
Liability in Damages on Statute Breach to be Clear
Damages were to be awarded against a Local Authority for breach of statutory duty in a care case only if the statute was clear that damages were capable of being awarded. in the ordinary case a breach of statutory duty does not, by itself, give rise . .
Cited – Regina v Keane CACD 15-Mar-1994
Public Interest Immunity Certificates for the protection of informants must be used only carefully. The Crown must specify the purpose of the public interest immunity certificate. The principles on disclosure in Ward are not limited to scientific . .
Cited – Mahon and Another v Rahn and Others (1) CA 12-Jun-1997
Two company directors sued Swiss bankers who had responded to enquiries from the police in London. The charges which followed had been dismissed, and the directors sued in defamation, seeking to rely upon the materials sent to the police.
Cited – Regina v Brown (Winston) HL 20-Feb-1997
The victim had been stabbed outside a nightclub. Two witnesses identified the defendant. The defendants complained that evidence had not been disclosed to them.
Held: There is no duty at common law on the prosecution to warn the defence of . .
Cited – Prudential Assurance Co Ltd v Fountain Page Ltd 1991
A party and his legal representatives receiving documents under a process of discovery is under an implied undertaking to use those documents for the purposes of those proceedings only. It is an obligation imposed by operation of law by virtue of . .
Cited – Ex parte Coventry Newspapers Ltd CA 1993
Documents had been disclosed by the Police Complaints Authority under court order for an appeal against conviction. They related to an investigation of the conduct of police officers who had given evidence against the appellant. The newspaper, now . .
Cited – Marrinan v Vibart CA 2-Jan-1962
Two police officers gave evidence in a criminal prosecution of others, that the plaintiff, a barrister, had behaved improperly by obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty and subsequently gave similar evidence at an inquiry before . .
Cited – Roy v Prior HL 1970
The court considered an alleged tort of maliciously procuring an arrest. The plaintiff had been arrested under a bench warrant issued as a result of evidence given by the defendant. He sued the defendant for damages for malicious arrest.
Held: . .
Cited – Bennett v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Admn 24-Oct-1997
Police and prosecuting authority have no inherent immunity from suit for tort of misfeasance in public office if the breach is properly made out. Immunity extends to statements made or agreed to be made out of court ‘if these were clearly and . .
Cited – Silcott v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 24-May-1996
The claimant had been convicted of the murder of PC Blakelock. The only substantial evidence was in the form of the notes of interview he said were fabricated by senior officers. His eventual appeal on this basis was not resisted. He now appealed . .
Cited – Attorney-General’s Guidelines Practice Note (Criminal Evidence: Unused Material) 1982
. .
Cited – Regina v Jeffries CACD 1968
. .
Cited – Regina v Ward (Judith) CACD 15-Jul-1992
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 . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Shannon 1973
An appeal will lie from a conviction entered upon a plea of guilty where that plea is a consequence of an earlier incorrect ruling in law. . .
Cited – Regina v Maguire CACD 1992
The defendant, convicted of murder, had died. It later came to light that materials with the prosecution forensic team had not been disclosed by the prosecution.
Held: The Home Secretary could make a reference to the Appeal court despite the . .
Cited – Regina v Davis; Regina v Rowe; Regina v Johnson CA 10-Mar-1993
Guidance was given on the procedures to be followed for applications for non-disclosure for public interest immunity. The court identified three types of case. In the first, and most frequent case the prosecution must notify the defence of the . .
Cited – Regina v Brown (Winston) CACD 20-Jun-1994
The Crown Prosecution Service was under no obligation to disclose evidence which might be damaging to a Defendant’s witness’ credibility. The Attorney General’s disclosure guidelines do not have the force of law and need updating. . .
Cited – D v National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children HL 2-Feb-1977
Immunity from disclosure of their identity should be given to those who gave information about neglect or ill treatment of children to a local authority or the NSPCC similar to that which the law allowed to police informers.
Lord Simon of . .

Cited by:
Cited – Darker v Chief Constable of The West Midlands Police HL 1-Aug-2000
The plaintiffs had been indicted on counts alleging conspiracy to import drugs and conspiracy to forge traveller’s cheques. During the criminal trial it emerged that there had been such inadequate disclosure by the police that the proceedings were . .
Cited – Preston Borough Council v McGrath CA 12-May-2000
The defendant had been investigated for fraud against the claimant. He had disclosed documents to the police, but now complained at their use in the civil proceedings against him.
Held: The document had not been given to the police under . .
Cited – Regina v Legal Aid Board ex parte Kaim Todner (a Firm of Solicitors) CA 10-Jun-1998
Limitation on Making of Anonymity Orders
A firm of solicitors sought an order for anonymity in their proceedings against the LAB, saying that being named would damage their interests irrespective of the outcome.
Held: The legal professions have no special part in the law as a party . .
Cited – Bowman v Fels (Bar Council and Others intervening) CA 8-Mar-2005
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 . .
Cited – A, Re Application for Judicial Review QBNI 25-Jun-2001
The applicant, who feared for his life if identified, sought the release to him of materials discovered by the police in searching premises associated with a loyalist paramiliitary group. He thought that they might include information sourced form . .
Cited – General Medical Council v Professor Sir Roy Meadow, Attorney General CA 26-Oct-2006
The GMC appealed against the dismissal of its proceedings for professional misconduct against the respondent doctor, whose expert evidence to a criminal court was the subject of complaint. The doctor said that the evidence given by him was . .
Cited – H, Regina v (Interlocutory application: Disclosure) HL 28-Feb-2007
The trial judge had refused an order requested at a preparatory hearing by the defence for the disclosure of documents held by the prosecutor. The House was now asked whether a right of appeal existed against such a refusal.
Held: The practice . .
Cited – Buckley v Dalziel QBD 3-May-2007
There was a heated dispute between neighbours, culminating in some generous or perhaps over-generous pruning by the claimant of the defendant’s trees and shrubs on the boundaries. The defendants reported the matter to the police. Both Mr and Mrs . .
Cited – Westcott v Westcott QBD 30-Oct-2007
The claimant said that his daughter in law had defamed him. She answered that the publication was protected by absolute privilege. She had complained to the police that he had hit her and her infant son.
Held: ‘the process of taking a witness . .
Cited – Westcott v Westcott CA 15-Jul-2008
The defendant was the claimant’s daughter in law. In the course of a bitter divorce she made allegations to the police which were investigated but did not lead to a prosecution. The claimant appealed dismissal of his claim for defamation on the . .
Cited – Flood v Times Newspapers Ltd and others QBD 5-Mar-2009
The claimant police officer complained of an alleged defamation in an article published by the defendant. The defendant wished to obtain information from the IPCC to show that they were investigating the matter as a credible issue. The court . .
Cited – White v Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust and Another QBD 1-Apr-2011
The claimant doctor sued in defamation for letters written by the defendants to the Fitness to Practice Directorate. She now sought to appeal against a finding that she could not rely upon one letter which had come to her attention through . .
Cited – Nunn v Suffolk Constabulary and Another Admn 4-May-2012
The claimant had been convicted of murder and his appeal had failed. He now sought disclosure of the forensic material held by the police to his own legal team.
Held: Permission to apply for review was granted, but the claim failed. ‘It is . .
Cited – Smart v The Forensic Science Service Ltd CA 2-Jul-2013
On a search of his house, the police found a bullet cartridge on the claimant’s property. It was sent for testing but due to a mistake it was reported as a live cartridge. The prosecution was only dropped after some months when the mistake was . .
Cited – Tchenguiz v Director of The Serious Fraud Office and Others CA 31-Oct-2014
The appellant challenged an order of the Commercial Court refusing permission for documents disclosed in English litigation to be used in litigation proceedings in Guernsey. The principal issue is whether the judge correctly weighed up the . .
Cited – Singh v Moorlands Primary School and Another CA 25-Jul-2013
The claimant was a non-white head teacher, alleging that her school governors and local authority had undermined and had ‘deliberately endorsed a targeted campaign of discrimination, bullying, harassment and victimisation’ against her as an Asian . .
Cited – Crawford v Jenkins CA 24-Jul-2014
The parties had divorced but acrimony continued. H now complained of his arrests after allegations from his former wife that he had breached two orders. He had been released and no charges followed. The court had ruled that W’s complaints were . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Defamation, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.135006

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by dlsPosted in Defamation, PoliceTagged Defamation, Police

PY, Regina v: CACD 22 Jan 2019

Police ‘lawful use’ of dog must be police work

The prosecutor wished to appeal from the acquittal of a police officer, whose police dog, while being exercised, attacked a runner causing injury. The judge had accepted the defence, since the dog required exercise, the officer was using the dog for a lawful purpose with the appropriate defence under section 10(3) of the 1991 Act to a charge of allowing it to be dangerously out of control. The defendant objected that the prosecutor had used email to notify his acquittal agreement to the court.
Held: The appeal succeeded.
The email notification was effective: ‘Section 58(4) requires the prosecution to inform the court that it intends to appeal (or request an adjournment and subsequently inform the court following the adjournment); and section 58(8) requires the prosecution at the same time or before it informs the court that it intends to appeal, also to inform the court of its acquittal agreement. Those two subsections contemplate the court potentially being informed of something at three different times: (a) following the ruling, of the intention to appeal; (b) following the adjournment, of the intention to appeal; and (c) at the same time or before either of those events, of the acquittal undertaking. Additionally, subsection (4) contemplates that the prosecution might make a request for an adjournment to consider whether to appeal . . Section 58 of the 2003 Act does not explicitly specify any mechanism for informing the court (or requesting an adjournment). Does it implicitly require each of the steps we have identified to be taken orally in court? . . Our conclusion is that it does not.’
‘The material words of section 10(3), namely ‘do not include references to any case in which the dog is being used for a lawful purpose by a constable or a person in the service of the Crown’ imports four concepts. First, of the dog whose behaviour is under scrutiny; secondly, whether that dog was being used at the time; thirdly, whether that use was for a lawful purpose; and fourthly, whether that use was by a police constable (or other Crown servant). The broad context in which these concepts fall to be interpreted is the statutory purpose of section 3 of the 1991 Act. That is to provide protection to the public from dogs which are dangerously out of control. The provision is one of strict liability. Criminal liability does not depend upon proof of any fault, negligence or even an ability to avoid the statutory harm. For that reason, although the respondent emphasises that the dog, who was exercised regularly off the lead, had never behaved in this way before and always previously responded to commands, those circumstances provide no defence.
The interpretation of the exemption should not undermine the statutory purpose by giving it an extravagant meaning.’

Lord Burnett of Maldon CJ,Cheema-Grubb, Goose JJ
[2019] EWCA Crim 17, [2019] WLR(D) 38
Bailii, WLRD
Criminal Justice Act 2003 58(8), Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 3, Criminal Procedure Rules 2015 38
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – LSA, Regina v CACD 16-May-2008
(Courts-Martial Appeals Court) The defendant had faced road traffic offence charges, but the court had discharged the case using the Forest of Dean case. The prosecutor sought to appeal but failed to give the undertaking with regard to taking no . .
Cited – NT, Regina v CACD 31-Mar-2010
The prosecutor appealed against a stay of the prosecution as an abuse. The prosecution had failed give the undertaking necessary on lodging the appeal to the court against whose ruling it wanted to appeal, that it agreed that the defendant should be . .
Cited – Regina v F CACD 14-Mar-2013
The crown sought leave to appeal against a terminating ruling. The defendant was accused of rape and sexual assault against his sister, profoundly deaf and with learning difficulties. The judge had found the victim to not be competent to give . .
Cited – The Knightland Foundation, Regina v CACD 26-Jul-2018
The court considered the practice on the giving of the acquittal undertaking. Hallett LJ said that it would be best practice to give the information in open court because: (a) that enables the judge to keep control over the proceedings, including . .
Cited – Merseyside Police Authority v Police Medical Appeal Board and others Admn 23-Jan-2009
Two police officers had been granted additional retirement annuities on the basis that they had been injured in the execution of their duty. The chief constable denied this. A police officer who was on annual leave was injured whilst exercising the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Animals, Police

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.633287

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by dlsPosted in Animals, Criminal Practice, Police

S, Regina (on Application of) v South Yorkshire Police; Regina v Chief Constable of Yorkshire Police ex parte Marper: HL 22 Jul 2004

Police Retention of Suspects DNA and Fingerprints

The claimants complained that their fingerprints and DNA records taken on arrest had been retained after discharge before trial, saying the retention of the samples infringed their right to private life.
Held: The parts of DNA used for testing are not generally capable of revealing medical information about the source. ‘the difference in treatment of the appellants and those who have not been investigated and provided fingerprints is not a proscribed ground under article 14.’
The retention of samples was not an infringement of the claimants human rights.’ Baroness Hale of Richmond (dissenting in part) said: ‘it is common ground that the taking of fingerprints and DNA samples is an interference with the article 8(1) right, even though the invasion of bodily integrity involved is minimal. It is also common ground that the use of the information derived from them is such an interference. This must be because the information is regarded as intrinsically private. If the taking and use of the information is an interference, it is difficult to see why the retention, storage or keeping of that information is not also an interference. ‘
Reference may properly be made to explanatory notes issued with a bill as an aid to its construction.
Article 14 did not cover differential treatment on the basis that a person had previously been investigated by the police and provided fingerprints; the possession of fingerprints and DNA samples by the police in that situation was simply a matter of historical fact, not attributable to the personal characteristics of those who had provided them.
Otherwise: LS, Regina (on application of) v South Yorkshire Police (Consolidated Appeals)

Lord Steyn Lord Rodger of Earlsferry Baroness Hale of Richmond Lord Carswell Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood
[2004] UKHL 39, Times 23-Jul-2004, [2004] 1 WLR 2196, [2004] 4 All ER 193, [2004] UKHRR 967
House of Lords, Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 64(1A), Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001, European Convention on Human Rights 8(1) 14
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Regina (on the application of S) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police, Regina (Marper) v Same CA 12-Sep-2002
The applicants had been charged with offences, but later acquitted. On arrest they had had DNA samples and fingerprints taken, and the details added to the national DNA database. The police refused to remove the records after the acquittals.
Cited – Regina v Forbes (Anthony Leroy) (Attorney General’s Reference No 3 of 1999) HL 19-Dec-2000
The provisions of the Code of Practice regarding identification parades are mandatory and additional unwritten conditions are not to be inserted. Where there was an identification and the suspect challenged that identification, and consented to the . .
Cited – Regina v B (Attorney-General’s Reference No 3 of 1999); Regina v Weir CACD 26-May-2000
Where a defendant gave a sample of DNA during an investigation, but the sample was not destroyed on his acquittal, evidence obtained from a cross match relating to a different crime was not admissible. The statute requires the samples to be . .
Cited – McVeigh, O’Neill and Evans v United Kingdom ECHR 1981
(Commission) The Commission was asked whether the retention of fingerprints or samples amounts to an interference with the right to respect for private life.
Held: A distinction was made between the taking of fingerprints, photographs and . .
Cited – Regina v Special Adjudicator ex parte Ullah; Regina v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 17-Jun-2004
The applicants had had their requests for asylum refused. They complained that if they were removed from the UK, their article 3 rights would be infringed. If they were returned to Pakistan or Vietnam they would be persecuted for their religious . .
Cited – Kinnunen v Finland ECHR 15-May-1996
(Commission) In a criminal case of fraud, the claimant said the retention of his photographs and fingerprints by the police after his acquittal, infringed his right to private life. The Commission rejected the complaint, but noted that the . .
Cited – Reyntjens v Belgium ECHR 1992
(Commission) ‘. . The obligation to carry an identity card and to show it to the police when requested to do so does not as such constitute an interference in a person’s private life within the meaning of Article 8 of the Convention’. . .
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 – Ghaidan v Godin-Mendoza HL 21-Jun-2004
Same Sex Partner Entitled to tenancy Succession
The protected tenant had died. His same-sex partner sought a statutory inheritance of the tenancy.
Held: His appeal succeeded. The Fitzpatrick case referred to the position before the 1998 Act: ‘Discriminatory law undermines the rule of law . .
Cited – Carson and Reynolds v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions CA 17-Jun-2003
The claimant Reynolds challenged the differential treatment by age of jobseeker’s allowance. Carson complained that as a foreign resident pensioner, her benefits had not been uprated. The questions in each case were whether the benefit affected a . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 3 of 1999) (Lynn) HL 15-Dec-2000
A DNA sample had been wrongfully retained after the suspect had been acquitted, and the sample had been used in a later investigation to identify him. A subsequent sample had been taken, and the result of that second test had been used as evidence . .
Cited – Michalak v London Borough of Wandsworth CA 6-Mar-2002
The appellant had occupied for a long time a room in a house let by the authority. After the death of the tenant, the appellant sought, but was refused, a statutory tenancy. He claimed to be a member of the tenant’s family, and that the list of . .
Cited – Kjeldsen, Busk, Madsen and Peddersen v Denmark ECHR 7-Dec-1976
The claimants challenged the provision of compulsory sex education in state primary schools.
Held: The parents’ philosophical and religious objections to sex education in state schools was rejected on the ground that they could send their . .
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 – In re McKerr (Northern Ireland) HL 11-Mar-2004
The deceased had been shot by soldiers of the British Army whilst in a car in Northern Ireland. The car was alleged to have ‘run’ a checkpoint. The claimants said the investigation, now 20 years ago, had been inadequate. The claim was brought under . .
Cited – Leander v Sweden ECHR 26-Mar-1987
Mr Leander had been refused employment at a museum located on a naval base, having been assessed as a security risk on the basis of information stored on a register maintained by State security services that had not been disclosed him. Mr Leander . .
Cited – Regina v Dyment CCC 1988
The court referred to ‘informational privacy’ – ‘This notion of privacy derives from the assumption that all information about a person is in a fundamental way his own, for him to communicate or retain for himself as he sees fit.’ . .
Cited – Friedl v Austria ECHR 31-Jan-1995
The Commission distinguished between the taking and keeping of photographs without identifying the subjects, and police questioning in order to establish identity and the recording of these personal data; the former was not an interference with . .
Applied – Westminster City Council v National Asylum Support Service HL 17-Oct-2002
The applicant sought assistance from the local authority. He suffered from spinal myeloma, was destitute and an asylum seeker.
Held: Although the Act had withdrawn the obligation to provide assistance for many asylum seekers, those who were . .
At First Instance – Regina (S) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire; Regina (Marper) v Same Admn 22-Mar-2002
The police authority took samples of DNA and fingerprints from the claimants whilst under arrest. After their cases had been dismissed or failed, they requested destruction of the samples and records, but this was refused.
Held: There was no . .
Followed – Kjeldsen, Busk Madsen and Pedersen v Denmark ECHR 7-Dec-1976
The court discussed the meaning of ‘other status’ under article 14, saying: ‘Article 14 prohibits, within the ambit of the rights and freedoms guaranteed, discriminatory treatment having as its basis or reason a personal characteristic (‘status’) by . .

Cited by:
Cited – Morris, Regina (on the Application of) v Westminster City Council and Another Admn 7-Oct-2004
The applicant questioned the compatibility of s185 of the 1996 Act with Human Rights law. The family sought emergency housing. The child of the family, found to be in priority housing need, was subject also to immigration control. Though the matter . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference (No 5 of 2002) HL 14-Oct-2004
The Attorney General sought the correct interpretation of section 17 where a court was asked as to whether evidence obtained from a telephone tapping had been taken from a public or private network. A chief constable suspected that the defendants, . .
Cited – A v Secretary of State for the Home Department, and X v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 16-Dec-2004
The applicants had been imprisoned and held without trial, being suspected of international terrorism. No criminal charges were intended to be brought. They were foreigners and free to return home if they wished, but feared for their lives if they . .
Cited – R, Regina (on the Application of) v Durham Constabulary and Another HL 17-Mar-2005
The appellant, a boy aged 15, had been warned as to admitted indecent assaults on girls. He complained that it had not been explained to him that the result would be that his name would be placed on the sex offenders register. The Chief Constable . .
Cited – Hooper and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions HL 5-May-2005
Widowers claimed that, in denying them benefits which would have been payable to widows, the Secretary of State had acted incompatibly with their rights under article 14 read with article 1 of Protocol 1 and article 8 of the ECHR.
Held: The . .
Cited – Al-Jedda, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Defence Admn 12-Aug-2005
The claimant was born an Iraqi, but had been granted British Nationality. He was later detained in Iraq suspected of membership of a terrorist group. No charges were brought, and he complained that his article 5 rights were infringed. The defendant . .
Cited – Francis v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions CA 10-Nov-2005
The applicant had sought payment of a ‘Sure Start’ maternity grant. She had obtained a residence order in respect of her sister’s baby daughter who had been taken into care. She said that a payment would have been made to the partner of a mother or . .
Cited – Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v M HL 8-Mar-2006
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 . .
Cited – In re P and Others, (Adoption: Unmarried couple) (Northern Ireland); In re G HL 18-Jun-2008
The applicants complained that as an unmarried couple they had been excluded from consideration as adopters.
Held: Northern Ireland legislation had not moved in the same way as it had for other jurisdictions within the UK. The greater . .
Cited – AL (Serbia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Rudi v Same HL 25-Jun-2008
Each claimant had arrived here with their parents, and stayed for several years. They were excluded from the scheme allowing families who had been here more than three years to stay here, because they had attained 18 and were no longer dependant on . .
Cited – Countryside Alliance and others, Regina (on the Application of) v Attorney General and Another HL 28-Nov-2007
The appellants said that the 2004 Act infringed their rights under articles 8 11 and 14 and Art 1 of protocol 1.
Held: Article 8 protected the right to private and family life. Its purpose was to protect individuals from unjustified intrusion . .
At House of Lords – Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom ECHR 16-Jan-2007
Decision as to admissibility – the applicants complained of the retention by police of DNA and fingerprint samples and records.
Held: Admissible. . .
At House of Lords – Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom ECHR 27-Feb-2008
Grand Chamber – Press Release – The applicant complained of the retention by the police of DNA and fingerprint records – The applicants both complain about the retention of their fingerprints and DNA samples and the fact that they are being used in . .
At House of Lords – Marper v United Kingdom; S v United Kingdom ECHR 4-Dec-2008
(Grand Chamber) The applicants complained that on being arrested on suspicion of offences, samples of their DNA had been taken, but then despite being released without conviction, the samples had retained on the Police database.
Held: . .
Cited – Attorney General’s Reference No 3 of 1999: Application By the British Broadcasting Corporation To Set Aside or Vary a Reporting Restriction Order HL 17-Jun-2009
An application was made to discharge an anonymity order made in previous criminal proceedings before the House. The defendant was to be retried for rape under the 2003 Act, after an earlier acquittal. The applicant questioned whether such a order . .
Cited – London Borough of Lewisham v D and Others FD 29-Mar-2010
Lewisham_dFD10
The local authority was investigating allegations involving the family history of children in their care. They sought disclosure by the respondent police authority of the results DNA comparison tests to assist their investigations. The court . .
Cited – Regina (GC) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis; Regina (C) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Admn 16-Jul-2010
The claimants had each had biometric samples taken during police investigations, and now sought judicial review of the decision of the respondent not to remove those details from the Police National Computer, saying that in accordance with the . .
Cited – GC v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis SC 18-May-2011
The court was asked to decide from whom DNA samples could lawfully be taken by the Police,and for how long they should be kept. The first respondent now said that a declaration of incompatibility of section 64(1A) could not be avoided.
Held: . .
Cited – TW v London Borough of Enfield and Another QBD 8-May-2013
The claimant sought damages after being detained under the 1983 Act, and a declaration that the section used was incompatible with her human rights.
Held: The test for allowing proceedings was set at a low level, and even if section 139 does . .
Cited – T and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department and Another SC 18-Jun-2014
T and JB, asserted that the reference in certificates issued by the state to cautions given to them violated their right to respect for their private life under article 8 of the Convention. T further claims that the obligation cast upon him to . .
Cited – Gaughran v Chief Constable of The Police Service of Northern Ireland (Northern Ireland) SC 13-May-2015
The court was asked as to to the right of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to retain personal information and data lawfully obtained from the appellant following his arrest for the offence of driving with excess alcohol.
Held: The appeal . .
Cited – Bridges, Regina (on The Application of) v South Wales Police CA 11-Aug-2020
. .
Cited – Stott, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice SC 28-Nov-2018
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 . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Human Rights

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.199677

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by dlsPosted in Human Rights, Police

Nunn, Regina (on The Application of) v Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary and Another: SC 18 Jun 2014

Limits to Duty To Investigate

The claimant had been convicted of a murder. He continued to protest his innocence, and now sought judicial review of the respondent’s decision not to act upon his requests for further investigations which might prove his innocence.
Held: The Appeal failed. Where new information did come to light there was a continuing duty on prosecutors and police to disclose such materials to the accused, and to follow inquiries where there appeared to be a real prospect that such inquiries might reveal further relevant evidence. That obligation was not, however, open ended.

Lord Neuberger, President, Lord Clarke, Lord Reed, Lord Carnwath, Lord Hughes
[2014] 4 All ER 21, [2015] 1 AC 225, [2014] 2 Cr App R 22, [2014] 3 WLR 77, [2015] Crim LR 76, UKSC 2012/0175, [2014] UKSC 37, [2014] WLR(D) 265
WLRD, Bailii Summary, SC, SC Summary, Bailii
Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Nunn v Suffolk Constabulary and Another Admn 4-May-2012
The claimant had been convicted of murder and his appeal had failed. He now sought disclosure of the forensic material held by the police to his own legal team.
Held: Permission to apply for review was granted, but the claim failed. ‘It is . .
Cited – Regina v Mills, Regina v Poole HL 24-Jul-1997
The prosecution have a duty to disclose to the defence the statement of an adverse witness and not just to provide the name and address, even though that person was not seen as credible witness by the prosecution. ‘the rule in Bryant and Dickson is . .
Cited – Regina v Ward and Regina v Keane 1994
Taylor CJ said: ‘Where the prosecution rely on public interest immunity or sensitivity, given that it is for the court to decide whether disclosure is to be made and the scope of cross-examination, what ought the court’s approach to be? . . the . .
Cited – Regina v Director of Public Prosecutions, ex parte Lee Admn 18-Mar-1999
Application for judicial review of CPS decision on disclosure of evidence before committal.
Held: The court recognised an ongoing duty of disclosure from the time of arrest. At the stage before committal, there are continuing obligations on . .
Cited – Regina v H; Regina v C HL 5-Feb-2004
Use of Special Counsel as Last Resort Only
The accused faced charges of conspiring to supply Class A drugs. The prosecution had sought public interest immunity certificates. Special counsel had been appointed by the court to represent the defendants’ interests at the applications.
Cited – Makin, Regina v CACD 23-Jun-2004
The complaint was of a failure of disclosure at trial, and disclosure pending appeal was necessary to enable the complaint to be investigated by the court. . .
Cited – McDonald v Her Majesty’s Advocate PC 16-Oct-2008
mcdonaldhmaPC2008
(The High Court of Justiciary Scotland) The defendant sought to appeal against his convictions for murder and and assault. The HCJ in Scotland had refused to receive a devolution minute.
Held: The refusal was itself sufficient to give the . .
Cited – Regina v Ward and Regina v Keane 1994
Taylor CJ said: ‘Where the prosecution rely on public interest immunity or sensitivity, given that it is for the court to decide whether disclosure is to be made and the scope of cross-examination, what ought the court’s approach to be? . . the . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for The Home Department Ex Parte Simms HL 8-Jul-1999
Ban on Prisoners talking to Journalists unlawful
The two prisoners, serving life sentences for murder, had had their appeals rejected. They continued to protest innocence, and sought to bring their campaigns to public attention through the press, having oral interviews with journalists without . .
Cited – Shirley v Regina CACD 29-Jul-2003
The defendant, supported by the Criminal Cases Review Commission sought to appeal against his conviction in 1988 for murder, saying that a modern DNA test rendered the conviction unsafe. He had been convicted in part on the basis of analysis of . .
Cited – Hodgson, Regina v CACD 18-Mar-2009
The defendant appealed against his conviction for murder.
Held: The appeal succeeded. After many years in prison, the original exhibits had been located and subjected to DNA analysis which proved that the defendant could not, despite his . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.526729

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by dlsPosted in Criminal Practice, Police

W v Chief Constable of Northumbria: Admn 7 Apr 2009

The claimant challenged the decision of the respondent to reveal to his employers details of a conviction in 1987, when he was 15, for sexual assault on a child, and that he was presently on bail pending a decision for a further allegation. He was employed to make deliveries including to private homes. He was summarily dismissed, but the investigation referred to did not proceed to charge. The spent conviction was not of a character to make it exemption from being spent. The officer had had no regard to the Home Office circular controlling such disclosures.
Held: The claimant had been given opportunity to explain the extent of his contact with children but had not done so. The decision to disclose was made by a senior officer, not the one complained of. The spent conviction should not have been disclosed, but the police were entitled to take it into account in judging the need to disclose the then current investigation.

Nicol J
[2009] EWHC 747 (Admin)
Bailii
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1974, Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 5(5)4
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – London Borough of Newham v Khatun, Zeb and Iqbal CA 24-Feb-2004
The council made offers of accommodation which were rejected as inappropriate by the proposed tenants.
Held: The council was given a responsibility to act reasonably. It was for them, not the court to make that assessment subject only to . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of North Wales Police and Others Ex Parte Thorpe and Another; Regina v Chief Constable for North Wales Police Area and others ex parte AB and CB CA 18-Mar-1998
Public Identification of Pedophiles by Police
AB and CB had been released from prison after serving sentences for sexual assaults on children. They were thought still to be dangerous. They moved about the country to escape identification, and came to be staying on a campsite. The police sought . .
Cited – In re H and R (Minors) (Child Sexual Abuse: Standard of Proof) HL 14-Dec-1995
Evidence allowed – Care Application after Abuse
Children had made allegations of serious sexual abuse against their step-father. He was acquitted at trial, but the local authority went ahead with care proceedings. The parents appealed against a finding that a likely risk to the children had still . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Administrative

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.331000

Posted on November 9, 2021November 9, 2021 by dlsPosted in Administrative, PoliceTagged Administrative, Police

Scopelight Ltd and Others v Chief of Police for Northumbria: CA 5 Nov 2009

The claimant sought return of items removed by the defendants under the 1984 Act. A decision had been made against a prosecution by the police. The police wished to hold onto the items to allow a decision from the second defendant.
Held: The defendant’s appeal succeeded. The offence allowed an officer to seize material found relating to an offence he is investigating ‘or any other offence’, and had consequential powers for its retention.
The 1985 Act gave superintendence of criminal proceedings to the CPS only in respect of prosecution by the police. Once FACT indicated that it intended to prosecute, the police then had the power to determine whether it was necessary in all the circumstances that the property seized should be retained for forensic examination or for investigation in connection with an offence or for use as evidence at a trial for an offence.

Ward, Wilson, Leveson LJJ
[2009] EWCA Civ 1156, [2010] 1 Cr App R 19, [2010] Lloyd’s Rep FC 1, [2010] QB 438, [2010] 2 WLR 1138, [2009] All ER (D) 236
Times, Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 22, Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 107(2A), Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 3(2)(a)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Webb v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police CA 26-Nov-1999
The Police had confiscated money suspected to be the proceeds of drug trafficking, but no offence was proved. The magistrates had refused to return the money under the 1897 Act. The claimants now sought to reciver it under civil proceedings.
Cited – Regina (Gladstone plc) v Manchester City Magistrates Court QBD 18-Nov-2004
It was alleged that at the company’s annual genneral meeting the proposed defendant had assaulted the company’s chairman. The company prosecuted him. The magistrate dismissed the charge saying that the company had no standing to conduct such a . .
Cited – Gough and Another v The Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police CA 2-Mar-2004
The claimants sought return of vehicle parts from the police. The police replied that the goods had been tampered with in such a way as to suggest they may have been stolen, and that they were therefore kept, even after the finish of the court . .
Cited – Costello v Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary CA 22-Mar-2001
The police seized a car from Mr Costello, believing that it was stolen. The seizure was lawful at the time, by virtue of section 19 of PACE. The police never brought any criminal proceedings against Mr Costello, but they refused to return the car to . .
Cited – Marcel v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 1992
A writ of subpoena ad duces tecum had been issued requiring the production by the police for use in civil proceedings of documents seized during a criminal fraud investigation. The victim of the fraud needed them to pursue his own civil case.
Cited – Regina v Director of Public Prosecutions ex parte Duckenfield etc Admn 31-Mar-1999
Private prosecutions had been brought against two retired police officers, D and M, in relation to the Hillsborough disaster; and the Director had refused a request by the officers to take over and discontinue those prosecutions, stating that his . .
Cited – Regina v Stafford Justices ex parte Customs and Excise Commissioners 1991
The court confirmed the continued right of private prosecution. Watkins LJ set out section 6 of the 1985 Act and observed: ‘These provisions clearly envisage that persons other than the Director may institute proceedings and prosecute. As Mr Lawson . .
Cited – Gouriet v Union of Post Office Workers HL 26-Jul-1977
The claimant sought an injunction to prevent the respondent Trades Union calling on its members to boycott mail to South Africa. The respondents challenged the ability of the court to make such an order.
Held: The wide wording of the statute . .
Cited – Rollins, Regina v CACD 9-Oct-2009
The court was asked whether the Financial Services Authority had itself the power to prosecute offences under the 2002 Act. The defence said that the FSA’s powers were limited to offences under the 2000 Act. The FSA relied on its common law power to . .
Appeal from – Scopelight Ltd and Others v Chief Of Police for Northumbria and Others QBD 7-May-2009
. .
Cited – Regina v West London Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Klahn QBD 1979
The issue of a summons by a magistrate is a judicial act: ‘The duty of a magistrate in considering an application for the issue of a summons is to exercise a judicial discretion in deciding whether or not to issue a summons. It would appear that he . .
Cited – Regina v Director of Public Prosections ex parte Hallas 1988
Without access to documents held by the police, a private prosecution would or could ‘wither on the vine’. . .
Cited – Charlson, Regina (on the Application of) v Guildford Magistrates’ Court and others Admn 11-Sep-2006
The CPS had discontinued a prosecution. The magistrates were then asked to issue a summons for a private prosecution. The private prosecutor appealed against the refusal to issue the summons. A second summons was requested from a different . .
Cited – Regina v Pawsey 1989
(Central Criminal Court ) The CPS was ordered to disclose unused witness statements and exhibits from the original investigation on the application of a private prosecutor once a prosecution had commenced. . .
Cited – Jones v Whalley HL 26-Jul-2006
The appellant had assaulted the respondent. He had accepted a caution for the offence, but the claimant had then pursued a private prosecution. He now appealed refusal of a stay, saying it was an abuse of process.
Held: The defendant’s appeal . .
Cited – Regina v Stafford Justices ex parte Customs and Excise Commissioners 1991
The court confirmed the continued right of private prosecution. Watkins LJ set out section 6 of the 1985 Act and observed: ‘These provisions clearly envisage that persons other than the Director may institute proceedings and prosecute. As Mr Lawson . .
Cited – James and Others v The United Kingdom ECHR 21-Feb-1986
The claimants challenged the 1967 Act, saying that it deprived them of their property rights when lessees were given the power to purchase the freehold reversion.
Held: Article 1 (P1-1) in substance guarantees the right of property. Allowing a . .
Cited – Allard v Sweden ECHR 24-Jun-2003
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of P1-1 ; Pecuniary damage – financial award ; Non-pecuniary damage – finding of violation sufficient ; Costs and expenses partial award . .

Cited by:
Cited – Gujra, Regina (on The Application of) v Crown Prosecution Service Admn 9-Mar-2011
The claimant sought judicial review of a decision of the respondent to take over and discontinue his private prosecutions arising from public order incidents, saying that the respondent’s policy was unlawful in restricting such prosecutions.
Cited – Merseyside Police v Owens Admn 31-May-2012
The police had refused to returns items seized from Mr Owens on the basis that to do so would indirectly encourage and assist him in suspected criminal activity. CCTV footage had been removed from him to attempt identify an arsonist of a house.The . .
Cited – Gujra, Regina (on The Application of) v Crown Prosecution Service SC 14-Nov-2012
The appellant had twice begun private prosecutions only to have them taken over by the CPS and discontinued. He complained that a change in their policy on such interventions interfered with his statutory and constitutional right to bring such a . .
Cited – Virgin Media Ltd, Regina (on The Application of) v Zinga CACD 24-Jan-2014
Zinga had been convicted of conspiracy to defraud in a private prosecution brought by Virgin Media. After dismissal of the appeal against conviction, Virgin pursued confiscation proceedings. Zinga appealed against refusal of its argument that it was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other, Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.377551

Posted on November 2, 2021November 2, 2021 by dlsPosted in Criminal Practice, Police, Torts - Other

Regina v Chief Constable of Sussex Ex Parte International Trader’s Ferry Ltd: CA 28 Jan 1997

A restriction placed by a chief constable on the police support he would make available to support a lawful trade was reasonable, even though it might amount to trade interference. The allocation of resources available to the Chief Constable was for him and the course he took was well within his margin of appreciation, not least because of the need to balance serious competing claims. It was unreal and unfair to treat the Chief Constable as having all the resources of the State available to him before he could justify what he had done.

Times 12-Feb-1997, [1997] EWCA Civ 861, [1998] QB 477
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Regina v Chief Constable of Sussex, Ex Parte International Trader’s Ferry Ltd QBD 28-Jul-1995
A Chief Constable may not limit his duty to his immediate community if this interfered with lawful exports within the community. It was for the Chief Constable to decide on the disposition of his forces and the use of his resources. He was fully . .

Cited by:
Appeal from – Regina v Chief Constable of Sussex, ex Parte International Trader’s Ferry Limited HL 2-Apr-1998
Chief Constable has a Wide Discretion on Resources
Protesters sought to prevent the appellant’s lawful trade exporting live animals. The police provided assistance, but then restricted it, pleading lack of resources. The appellants complained that this infringed their freedom of exports under . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the application of ) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire HL 13-Dec-2006
The claimants had been in coaches being driven to take part in a demonstration at an air base. The defendant police officers stopped the coaches en route, and, without allowing any number of the claimants to get off, returned the coaches to London. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, European

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.141257

Posted on November 2, 2021November 2, 2021 by dlsPosted in European, PoliceTagged European, Police

Birks, Regina (On the Application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis: Admn 25 Sep 2014

The claimant police officer sought judicial review of a decision to continue his suspension. He had been investigated and cleared after a death in custody. He sought to join the Church of England Ministry and was offered a post. He was re-assured that the matter was closed, resigned and took up the new post with accommodation. The decision to accept his resignation was then successfully challenged, and the investigation was re-opened. He now said that a legitimate expectation had been created, and sought review of the decision to continue his suspension and reject his resignation.
Held: The request for review failed. A legitimate expectation had been created, and the claimant’s human rights were engaged. However there were counterbalancing public interests. The Assistant Commissioner had very carefully and properly considered the rights engaged both as to the personal rights of the claimant and as to the public rights in the system preventing an officer resigning whilst subject to investigation and possible disiplinary charges.

Lang DBE J
[2014] EWHC 3041 (Admin)
Bailii
Police (Conduct) Regulations 2004, European Convention on Human Rights 2 8 9
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v North and East Devon Health Authority ex parte Coughlan and Secretary of State for Health Intervenor and Royal College of Nursing Intervenor CA 16-Jul-1999
Consultation to be Early and Real Listening
The claimant was severely disabled as a result of a road traffic accident. She and others were placed in an NHS home for long term disabled people and assured that this would be their home for life. Then the health authority decided that they were . .
Cited – Coghlan and Others v Manchester Police and Another Admn 2-Dec-2004
The Secretary of State for the Home Department had issued guidance in Circular 55/2003 indicating that the power to suspend a police officer could be used to prevent a resignation and thus ensure the completion of disciplinary proceedings.
Cited – Regina (Nadarajah) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Abdi v Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 22-Nov-2005
The asylum applicant challenged a certificate given by the respondent that the claim for asylum was manifestly ill-founded. The respondent had made a mistake in applying the appropriate policy, but had sought to correct the error. The claimants . .
Cited – Secretary of State for the Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs v Bancoult, Regina (on the Application of) CA 23-May-2007
The claimant was a Chagos Islander removed in 1970 to make way for a US airbase. The court had ordered that the islanders be allowed to return, but the appellant had passed an Order in Council effectively reversing the position, and now appealed a . .
Cited – Bhatt Murphy (a firm), Regina (on the application of) v The Independent Assessor CA 9-Jul-2008
The appellants each challenged alterations to the scheme for compensation of the victims of miscarriages of justice.
Held: Laws LJ emphasised the special nature of the promise or practice which was necessary to give rise to a substantive . .
Cited – Paponette and Others v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago PC 13-Dec-2010
The appellants operated taxis in Port-of-Spain. The Minister proposed changes, but when challenged provided re-assurances. After the changes, the re-assurances were not satisfied. The claimants sought judicial review asserting that a legitimate . .
Cited – Rhodes, Regina (on The Application of) v Police and Crime Commissioner for Lincolnshire Admn 28-Mar-2013
The claimant sought to challenge a decision of the respondent to suspend him as Chief Constable.
Held: The terms of regulation 4(1) confer a broad discretion on the appropriate authority. However, that discretion is subject to the conditions . .
Cited – Powell v United Kingdom ECHR 4-May-2000
A ten-year old boy had died from Addison’s disease. No inquest took place, because the coroner decided that the boy had died of natural causes. The parents, who were also affected by the events, had accepted compensation from the local health . .
Cited – Calvelli And Ciglio v Italy ECHR 17-Jan-2002
The applicants’ baby had died shortly after birth in 1987. They complained about the medical care. The complaint was not investigated speedily by the authority, resulting in a criminal complaint becoming time barred after a conviction in 1994 was . .
Cited – Anguelova v Bulgaria ECHR 13-Jun-2002
A youth had died in police custody a few hours after being arrested for attempted theft.
Held: The court considered the investigation required: ‘There must be a sufficient element of public scrutiny of the investigation or its results to . .
Cited – Mastromatteo v Italy ECHR 24-Oct-2002
The deceased had been a bystander killed by a group of criminals, some of whom were on leave of absence from prison and one of whom had absconded from prison. A complaint was made by the applicant that there had been a breach of the positive duty to . .
Cited – Amin, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 16-Oct-2003
Prisoner’s death – need for full public enquiry
The deceased had been a young Asian prisoner. He was placed in a cell overnight with a prisoner known to be racist, extremely violent and mentally unstable. He was killed. The family sought an inquiry into the death.
Held: There had been a . .
Cited – Middleton, Regina (on the Application of) v Coroner for the Western District of Somerset HL 11-Mar-2004
The deceased had committed suicide in prison. His family felt that the risk should have been known to the prison authorities, and that they had failed to guard against that risk. The coroner had requested an explanatory note from the jury.
Cited – Vo v France ECHR 8-Jul-2004
Hudoc Preliminary objection rejected (ratione materiae, non-exhaustion of domestic remedies) ; No violation of Art. 2
A doctor by negligence had caused the termination of a pregnancy at the 20 to 24 weeks . .
Cited – Sidabras And Dziautas v Lithuania ECHR 27-Jul-2004
Former KGB officers complained that they were banned, not only from public sector employment, but also from many private sector posts. This ‘affected [their] ability to develop relationships with the outside world to a very significant degree, and . .
Cited – Oneryildiz v Turkey ECHR 30-Nov-2004
(Grand Chamber) The applicant had lived with his family in a slum bordering on a municipal household refuse tip. A methane explosion at the tip resulted in a landslide which engulfed the applicant’s house killing his close relatives.
Held: The . .
Cited – Nachova and Others v Bulgaria ECHR 6-Jul-2005
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Preliminary objection rejected (estoppel) ; Violation of Art. 2 with regard to deaths ; Violation of Art. 2 with regard to lack of effective investigation ; Not . .
Cited – Takoushis, Regina (on the Application of) v HM Coroner for Inner North London and others CA 30-Nov-2005
Relatives sought judicial review of the coroner’s decision not to allow a jury, and against allowance of an expert witness. The deceased had been a mental patient but had been arrested with a view to being hospitalised. He was taken first to the . .
Cited – Begum (otherwise SB), Regina (on the Application of) v Denbigh High School HL 22-Mar-2006
The student, a Muslim wished to wear a full Islamic dress, the jilbab, but this was not consistent with the school’s uniform policy. She complained that this interfered with her right to express her religion.
Held: The school’s appeal . .
Cited – Huang v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 21-Mar-2007
Appellate Roles – Human Rights – Families Split
The House considered the decision making role of immigration appellate authorities when deciding appeals on Human Rights grounds, against refusal of leave to enter or remain, under section 65. In each case the asylum applicant had had his own . .
Cited – Belfast City Council v Miss Behavin’ Ltd HL 25-Apr-2007
Belfast had failed to license sex shops. The company sought review of the decision not to grant a licence.
Held: The council’s appeal succeeded. The refusal was not a denial of the company’s human rights: ‘If article 10 and article 1 of . .
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 . .
Cited – Wright and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Another HL 21-Jan-2009
The claimants had been provisionally listed as ‘people considered unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults’ which meant that they could no longer work, but they said they were given no effective and speedy opportunity to object to the listing. . .
Cited – Smith, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Defence and Oxfordshire Assistant Deputy Coroner (Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening) SC 30-Jun-2010
The deceased soldier died of heat exhaustion whilst on active service in Iraq. It was said that he was owed a duty under human rights laws, and that any coroner’s inquest should be a fuller one to satisfy the state’s duty under Article 2.
Cited – Quila and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 12-Oct-2011
Parties challenged the rule allowing the respondent to deny the right to enter or remain here to non EU citizens marrying a person settled and present here where either party was under the age of 21. The aim of the rule was to deter forced . .
Cited – LePage, Regina (on The Application of) v HM Assistant Deputy Coroner for Inner South London and Others Admn 30-May-2012
The claimant sought judicial review of a coroner’s decisions in the conduct of an inquest into the death of a young woman. She died in police custody. She was said to have taken drugs. . .
Cited – Kulah And Koyuncu v Turkey ECHR 23-Apr-2013
. .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Human Rights, News

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.537026

Posted on November 2, 2021November 2, 2021 by dlsPosted in Human Rights, News, Police

Alderson v Booth: QBD 1969

Arrest need not involve Physically Taking Hold

An arrest may be constituted when any form of words is used or possibly conduct deployed which is calculated to bring to the suspect’s notice, and does so, that he is under compulsion, and he thereafter submits to that compulsion.
Lord Parker CJ said: ‘There are a number of cases, both ancient and modern, as to what constitutes an arrest, and whereas there was a time when it was held that there could be no lawful arrest unless there was an actual seizing or touching, it is quite clear that that is no longer the law. There may be an arrest by mere words, by saying ‘I arrest you’ without any touching, provided, of course, that the defendant submits and goes with the police officer. Equally it is clear … that an arrest is constituted when any form of words is used which in the circumstances of the case were calculated to bring to the defendant’s notice, and did bring to the defendant’s notice, that he was under compulsion and thereafter he submitted to that compulsion.’

Lord Parker CJ, Blain, Donaldson JJ
[1969] 2 QB 216
England and Wales

Torts – Other, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.416725

Posted on November 2, 2021November 2, 2021 by dlsPosted in Police, Torts - OtherTagged Police, Torts - Other

Regina v William Baldry: 1852

A police constable, who apprehended a man on a charge of murder, having told him the nature of the charge aganist him, said ‘he need not say any thing to criminate himself – what he did say would he taken down, and used as evidence against him.’ The prisoner, thereupon, made a confession. Held, that the confession was rightly admitted in evidence. It is not that the law presumes a confession obtained by duress or by promise to be untrue, but from the danger of receiving such evidence judges have thought it better to reject it for the due administration of justice.
Parke B said: ‘by the law of England, in order to render a confession admissible in evidence, it must be perfectly voluntary and there is no doubt that any inducement in the nature of a promise or of a threat held out by a person in authority vitiates a confession. The decisions to that effect have gone a long way: whether it would not have been better to have allowed the whole to go to the jury it is now too late to inquire, but I think there has been too much tenderness towards prisoners in this matter. I confess that I cannot look at the decisions without some shame, when I consider what objections have prevailed to prevent the reception of confessions in evidence . . justice and commonsense have too frequently been sacrificed at the shrine of mercy’

Parke B and Lord Campbell CJ
(1852) 2 Den CC Res 430, (1852) 2 Den CC 430, [1852] EngR 63, (1852) 2 Den 430, (1852) 169 ER 568
Commonlii
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Ibrahim v The King PC 6-Mar-1914
(Hong Kong) The defendant was an Afghan subject with the British Army in Hong Kong. He was accused of murder. Having accepted the protection of the British Armed forces, he became subject to their laws. In custody, he was asked about the offence by . .
Cited – A and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department (No 2) HL 8-Dec-2005
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 . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Evidence, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.295186

Posted on November 2, 2021November 2, 2021 by dlsPosted in Criminal Evidence, Police

AB and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court and Another: Admn 10 Apr 2014

The claimants challenged the lawfuness of search warrants issued by the respondent court. They were solicitors, and were related to a person suspected of murder who was thought to have fled the country. The officers were looking for evidence that they had assisted the escape.
Held: The warrants had been issued unlawfully. They had been poorly phrased and would not allow the claimants to identify just what was subject to the warrant. It was not sufficiently limited.

Rafferty LJ, Stuart-Smith J
[2014] EWHC 1089 (Admin)
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 8
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Cronin, Regina (on The Application of) v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire Police and Another Admn 20-Nov-2002
The applicant had had his premises searched. He sought to challenge the basis on which search warrant had been granted. He argued that under the Convention, it was necessary for the magistrates to provide a written record of the reasons for granting . .
Cited – Power-Hynes and Another v Norwich Magistrates’ Court and Another Admn 26-Jun-2009
The claimant accountant sought the quashing of a search warrant granted by the respondent to the police.
Held: The warrant failed to comply with s. 15(6)(b) of PACE and was invalid. . .
Cited – Stanford International Bank Ltd, Re CA 25-Feb-2010
Hughes LJ said: ‘it is essential that the duty of candour laid upon any applicant for an order without notice is fully understood and complied with. It is not limited to a duty not to misrepresent. It consists in a duty to consider what any other . .
Cited – Regina (Austen and others) v Chief Constable of Wiltshire Admn 2011
. .
Cited – Van Der Pijl and Another v The Crown Court At Kingston Admn 21-Dec-2012
The claimants challenged search warrants and the seizure of materials under the warrants.
Held: The Court emphasised the need for precision within the warrant itself. . .
Cited – S, F and L, Regina (on The Application of) v Chief Constable of The British Transport Police and Another Admn 20-Jun-2013
The claimants, solicitors, challenged search warrants issued against their homes and professional premises.
Held: The court considered the proper procedure to be used when the police wish to search the premises or homes of solicitors for . .
Cited – Mengesha v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis Admn 18-Jun-2013
The claimant was an observer at a demonstration in central London. Along with others she was detained within a police cordon. She was told she would not be released until she allowed herself to be photographed. This was done in an aggressive and . .

Cited by:
See Also – AB and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Huddersfield Magistrates’ Court Admn 4-Jul-2014
The claimant solicitors had successfully challenged search warrants issued by the respondents and been awarded their costs. . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Magistrates

Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.523657

Posted on November 2, 2021November 2, 2021 by dlsPosted in Magistrates, Police

Q, Regina (on The Application of) v Q Constabulary and Another: Admn 17 Mar 2011

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

Posted on November 2, 2021November 2, 2021 by dlsPosted in Human Rights, Police

Mills and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Sussex Police and Another: Admn 25 Jul 2014

The claimants faced criminal charges involving allegations of fraud and corruption. They now challenged by judicial review a search and seizure warrant saying that it was unlawful. A restraint order had been made against them and they had complied with it and co-operated with the investigation, and they said that the strict conditions for an order under section 352 of the 2002 Act had not been met.
Held: there was a manifest failure to provide full and frank information in this case. The judge would have had no inkling of the nature and quality of the past dealings between these claimants and the police. Though it fell short of misrepresentation, but it was impossible to say that full disclosure would have made no difference to the outcome, and ‘the proposition that the warrant can only be set aside where the court is satisfied that the decision would have been different is wrong in principle, and is not supported by the authorities’ The warrant should be set aside because there was material non-disclosure which may well have led the judge to issue a warrant which, had there been full candour, he would have refused to issue.

Elias LJ, Ouseley J
[2014] EWHC 2523 (Admin)
Bailii
Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 50, Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 352 353
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Inland Revenue Commission ex parte Preston; In re Preston HL 1984
Duty of Fairness to taxpayer – Written Assurance
The applicant was assured by the Inland Revenue that it would not raise further inquiries on certain tax affairs if he agreed to forgo interest relief which he had claimed and to pay a certain sum in capital gains tax.
Held: Where the . .
Cited – Regina v Lewes Crown Court ex parte Hill 1991
Bingham LJ said: ‘The Police and Criminal Evidence Act governs a field in which there are two very obvious public interests. There is, first of all, a public interest in the effective investigation and prosecution of crime. Secondly, there is a . .
Cited – Regina v Lewes Crown Court and Chief Constable of Sussex Police ex parte Nigel Weller and Co Admn 12-May-1999
The applicant sought judicial review of a decision to grant a search warrant in respect of his offices, saying that the material covered was protected by legal privilege. The warrant had been unavailable under section 8 because of the privilege, and . .
Cited – Mercury Tax Group Ltd and Another, Regina (On the Application of) v HM Revenue and Customs and Others Admn 13-Nov-2008
The claimant sought judicial review of the lawfulness of search warrants given to the Commissioners and executed at their various offices. The Revenue had suspect the dishonest implementation of a tax avoidance scheme. The claimants said that there . .
Cited – Faisaltex Ltd and others, Regina (on the Application of) v Crown Court Sitting at Preston and others etc Admn 21-Nov-2008
Nine claimants sought leave to bring judicial review of the issue of search warrants against solicitors’ and business and other premises, complaining of the seizure of excluded material and of special procedure material. There were suspicions of the . .
Cited – Wood v North Avon Magistrates Court Admn 10-Nov-2009
The claimant sought to have quashed a search warrant issued by the respondent.
Held: A judge issuing a warrant needs to give reasons for his decision. They need not be elaborate but they ought to be sufficient to enable the subject of the . .
Cited – Stanford International Bank Ltd, Re CA 25-Feb-2010
Hughes LJ said: ‘it is essential that the duty of candour laid upon any applicant for an order without notice is fully understood and complied with. It is not limited to a duty not to misrepresent. It consists in a duty to consider what any other . .
Cited – British Sky Broadcasting Ltd and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Chelmsford Crown Court Admn 17-May-2012
There had been a substantial eviction of travellers from Dale Farm. It had attracted widespread coverage by media organisations, among whom, the claimants sought to challenge production orders made by the respondent court for their films.
Cited – Rawlinson and Hunter Trustee and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Central Criminal Court and Another Admn 31-Jul-2012
The claimants sought to have search warrants issued under the 1987 Act set aside, saying that they had been procured by non-disclosure and misrepresentation.
Held: The search warrants were set aside: ‘the fact that one or more suspects have . .
Cited – Zinga and Another v Regina CACD 7-Nov-2012
The appellants challenged the manner in which search warrants had been obtained against them. . .
Cited – Goode, Regina (on The Application of) v The Crown Court At Nottingham Admn 20-Jun-2013
The claimant challenged the validity of search warrants. He was being investigated on suspicion of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice. That allegation was later dropped. . .
Disapproved – Golfrate Property Management Ltd and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Crown Court At Southwark and Another Admn 25-Mar-2014
The claimants sought to have set aside search and seizure warrants obtained to further enquiries into suspected breaches of EU sanctions against ZANU-PF of Zimbabwe. They alleged non-disclosure and misrepresentation.
Held: A decision to claim . .
Cited – J v Crown Prosecution Service CA 24-Jun-2005
The defendant had been made subject to a criminal restraint order so as to preserve his assets pending the outcome of criminal proceedings. He complained that the order affected property which was not his.
Held: Such an order could cover . .
Cited – Serious Fraud Office v A CACD 2-Aug-2007
The Director said the Judge had been wrong to discharge on grounds of want of disclosure a restraint order previously made ex parte under the Proceeds of Crime Act at the request of a foreign investigator.
‘The proper approach is to consider . .
Cited – Burgin and Purcell v Commission of Police for The Metropolis and Others Admn 13-Jul-2011
The applicants renewed the applications for leave to bring judicial review of decisions to seek and to issue search warrants, and later decisions to arrest them.
Held: When considering the validity of a search warrant the warrant as a whole . .
Cited – Zinga and Another v Regina CACD 7-Nov-2012
The appellants challenged the manner in which search warrants had been obtained against them. . .
Cited – Entick v Carrington KBD 1765
The Property of Every Man is Sacred
The King’s Messengers entered the plaintiff’s house and seized his papers under a warrant issued by the Secretary of State, a government minister.
Held: The common law does not recognise interests of state as a justification for allowing what . .
Cited – Windsor v Bristol Crown Court and Another Admn 27-Jul-2011
The claimants, including a solicitor, had challenged by way of judicial review decision to issue search warrants. Orders had been granted limiting certain aspects of the orders and injuncting the Revenue against examination etc of documents already . .
Approved – Dulai and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court and Another Admn 26-Apr-2012
The claimants challenged the issue of search and seizure warrants.
Held: Stanley Burnton LJ set out the principle which the courts ought to apply in the context of search warrants: ‘The question for this court, in judicial review proceedings, . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of Lancashire Ex Parte Parker and Another QBD 27-May-1992
Officers conducting a search presented a two paged document headed ‘warrant to enter and search premises’ which set out all the information required by section 15(6)(a). It did not, however, on its face identify the articles or persons to be sought . .
Cited – Bhatti and Others v Croydon Magistrates’ Court and Others Admn 3-Feb-2010
The claimant challenged the valiity of search warrants used at his home. He said they were deficient in not including the information as required by the Act. The police said that they were in accordance with the Home Office guidance.
Held: . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.535299

Posted on November 2, 2021November 2, 2021 by dlsPosted in Police

Jones and Others v The Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis: Admn 6 Nov 2019

Distributed Demonstration not within 1986 Act

The claimants, seeking to demonstrate support for the extinction rebellion movement by demonstrating in London, now challenged an order made under the 1986 Act restricting their right to demonstrate.
Held: The XRAU was not a public assembly at the scene of which Superintendent McMillan was present on the day so that there was no power to impose a condition under section 14 of the 1986 Act: ‘a public assembly’ must be in a particular location to which the public or any section of the public has access, which is wholly or partly open to the air, and which location can be fairly described as a ‘scene’. The situation here was that there were several locations, and the officer issuing the order was not physically present, and if his assertion that the area was Greater London, then he was not the most senior officer in that area.
‘a public assembly in section 14 must be in a location to which the public or any section of the public has access, which is wholly or partly open to the air, and which can be fairly described as a scene. Separate gatherings, separated both in time and by many miles, even if co-ordinated under the umbrella of one body, are not one public assembly within the meaning of section 14(1) of the 1986 Act.’
Where there is already a claimant or claimants with standing to bring judicial review, there is no reason to accord standing to additional parties: ‘it is important to remind parties of the need to ensure that those who bring claims for additional review are limited to those best placed to bring the claim. This is because adding unnecessary claimant is likely to increase the costs of the litigation, if only by requiring solicitors to send out extra reports on the litigation. It is also because parties to an action are in a distinct position, for example by receiving a confidential draft of the judgement of the time when it is circulated to the parties for typographical and other corrections before it is handed down in court.’

Lord Justice Dingemans and Mr Justice Chamberlain
[2019] EWHC 2957 (Admin), [2019] WLR(D) 617, [2020] HRLR 2, [2020] 1 WLR 519
Bailii, Bailii Summary, WLRD
Public Order Act 1986 14(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Kamara v Director of Public Prosecutions HL 1973
The ingredients of the offence of conspiracy are complete once there is agreement between two or more persons. An overt act is not itself an ‘element’ of the conspiracy.
There is a crime of unlawfully assembling in such a manner as to disturb . .
Cited – Kent v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 15-May-1981
The Court dismissed a challenge brought on behalf of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament to a condition imposed under section 3(3) of the 1936 Act prohibiting all processions in the Metropolitan Police District. . .
Cited – Saleem v Secretary of State for Home Department CA 13-Jun-2000
A rule which deemed service on an asylum applicant two days after postage of a special adjudicator’s determination irrespective of whether it was in fact received was outside the powers given to the Secretary, and is of no effect. The Act gave power . .
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Jones Admn 2002
The Divisional Court upheld a condition imposed under section 14 of the 1986 Act which prescribed permitted entrance and exit points for an assembly. . .
Cited – Austin and Another v The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis QBD 23-Mar-2005
The claimants had variously been attending a demonstration in London, or passing through. The police detained them in a cordon for several hours. They sought damages. No unlawful acts were alleged against them.
Held: There was no deprivation . .
Cited – Brehony, Regina (on the Application Of) v Greater Manchester Police Admn 23-Mar-2005
The claimant challenged a condition imposed by the chief officer of police under section 14(2)(b) prohibiting his group from holding an assembly at a particular location.
One ground of challenge was a failure to give adequate reasons, as to . .
Cited – Moos and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Commissioner of the Police of The Metropolis Admn 14-Apr-2011
The claimants, demonstrators at the G20 summit, complained of the police policy of kettling, the containment of a crowd over a period of time, not because they were expected to to behave unlawfully, but to ensure a separation from those who were. . .
Cited – Jukes and Others v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 16-Jan-2013
Two of those participating in a march demonstrating against cuts in the education budget, left that march to join the Occupy Movement’s demonstration in Trafalgar Square against the excesses of capitalism. They were, convicted at Westminster . .
Cited – Roberts and Others v Regina CACD 6-Dec-2018
Sentencing of Political Protesters
The defendants appealed against sentences for causing a public nuisance. They had been protesting against fracking by climbing aboard a lorry and blocking a main road for several days.
Held: The appeals from immediate custodial sentences were . .

Cited by:
Cited – Good Law Project Ltd and Others, Regina (on Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Admn 18-Feb-2021
Failure to Publish Contracts awards details
Challenge to alleged failures by the Secretary of State to comply with procurement law and policy in relation to contracts for goods and services awarded following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Held: The contracts had been awarded under . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Judicial Review

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.643844

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Judicial Review, Police

Richardson v The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police: QBD 29 Mar 2011

The claimant, a teacher, said he had been unlawfully arrested and detained after an allegation of assault from a pupil. Having attended the police station voluntarily, he said that the circumstances did not satisfy the required precondition that an arrest was necessary. He said that the fact of the arrest would operate against him in his employment.
Held: The arrest was unlawful. ‘The missing element in the trilogy of prerequisites of a lawful arrest is c); that the arresting officer had reasonable grounds for believing that in order to interview the Claimant it was necessary to arrest him. There is simply no evidence as to whether and if so why PC Downie considered it necessary to arrest the Claimant.’
The duties of a custody officer are different from those of the arresting officer, and if his later arrest was lawful, that did not cure the original arrest if unlawful. The claimant had been co-operative and attended two police stations, and the officers had given no evidence to satisfy the court that they had applied the correct criteria, or if the had how it had been met.
The request for an order for destruction of DNA samples and fingerprints was refused, the defendant saying he would properly take the court’s decision into account when considering an application in that behalf.

Slade J
[2011] EWHC 773 (QB), [2011] 2 Cr App Rep 1
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 2494), Police Act 1997 113B
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Holgate-Mohammed v Duke HL 1984
A police officer had purported to arrest the plaintiff under the 1967 Act, suspecting her of theft. After interview she was released several hours later without charge. She sought damages alleging wrongful arrest. The judge had found that he had . .
Cited – Alexander, Farrelly and Others, Re Judicial Review QBNI 5-Mar-2009
Each claimant said that they had been wrongfully arrested, the arresting police officers having either failed to ask whether the arrest was necessary (Farrelly), or mistakenly concluding so.
Held: The Order now contained in regulation . .
Cited – C, Regina (on the Application of) v ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court Admn 26-Sep-2006
Complaint was made about the slipshod completion of applications for search warrants. The nature of the review of compliance with Section 24(4) was to be that appropriate to Section 24(6). Underhill J held: ’26. The terms of s-s. (5) are new and . .
Cited – Castorina v Chief Constable of Surrey CA 10-Jun-1988
Whether an officer had reasonable cause to arrest somebody without a warrant depended upon an objective assessment of the information available to him, and not upon his subjective beliefs. The court had three questions to ask (per Woolf LJ): ‘(a) . .
Cited – Lewis and Evans v The Chief Constable of the South Wales Constabulary CA 11-Oct-1990
The plaintiffs said that their arrests had been unlawful.
Held: The arrests were lawful because, whilst their initial arrests were unlawful because the appellants were not told the reasons for them, they became lawful when they were given the . .
Cited – Al-Fayed and others v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and others CA 25-Nov-2004
The appellants appealed from dismissal of their claims for wrongful imprisonment by the respondent. Each had attended at a police station for interview on allegations of theft. They had been arrested and held pending interview and then released. Mr . .
Cited – Cumming and others v Chief Constable of Northumbria Police CA 17-Dec-2003
The six claimants sought damages for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. Each had been arrested on an officer’s suspicion. They operated CCTV equipment, and it appeared that tapes showing the commission of an offence had been tampered with. Each . .
Cited – Plange v Chief Constable for Humberside Police CA 23-Mar-1992
Where an arresting officer knows at the time of arrest that no charge is possible, the arresting officer acts unlawfully. However, it is for the claimant to establish on Wednesbury principles that the decision to arrest in any particular case was . .
Cited – Thompson v Commissioner of Police of Metropolis; Hsu v Same CA 20-Feb-1997
CS Damages of 200,000 pounds by way of exemplary damages had been awarded against the police for unlawful arrest and assault.
Held: The court gave a guideline maximum pounds 50,000 award against police for . .
Cited – Wilding v Chief Constable of Lancashire CA 22-May-1995
The court considered a claim by a woman for wrongful arrest and unlawful detention by police officers who had reasonably suspected her of burglary of the house of her former partner. In interview by the police, she denied the offence and made . .

Cited by:
Distinguished – Hayes v Merseyside Police CA 29-Jul-2011
The claimant had been arrested after a complaint of harassment. The officer then contacted the complainant who then withdrew his complaint. The officer went to visit the complainant to discuss it further. On his return the claimant was released from . .
Cited – Lord Hanningfield of Chelmsford v Chief Constable of Essex Police QBD 15-Feb-2013
The claimant sought damages alleging unlawful arrest and search and detention. He had served a term of imprisonment for having made false expenses claims to the House of Lords. This raid occurred on his release. The arrest was planned and made to . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Torts – Other, Police

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.431296

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Police, Torts - OtherTagged Police, Torts - Other

Wyman, Regina (on the Application of) v The Chief Constable of Hampshire Constaulary: Admn 24 Jul 2006

The claimant challenged a formal caution administered against him for an alleged sexual assault. He denied that he had made any clear admission of the offence.
Held: The requirement under the procedure was for a clear admission of guilt, but that admission could be taken from answers given in interview. Even so, here, there was no sufficient admission. The caution was quashed.

Silber J
[2006] EWHC 1904 (Admin)
Bailii
Sexual Offences Act 2003 3 76 78
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Commissioner of Metropolitan Police ex parte Thompson Admn 18-Dec-1996
When considering an application for judicial review, where a defendant had been cautioned by the police, it was necessary to recognise that the caution procedure did have legal consequences. Though ‘There is no statutory basis for the formal . .
Cited – Regina v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis, Ex parte P QBD 1995
A court may set aside a police caution where the defendant had not made a clear admission of guilt. Simon Brown LJ: ‘It follows, in my judgment, that there was here no clear and reliable admission of guilt at any stage. I am invited to look at the . .
Cited – R, Regina (on the Application of) v Durham Constabulary and Another HL 17-Mar-2005
The appellant, a boy aged 15, had been warned as to admitted indecent assaults on girls. He complained that it had not been explained to him that the result would be that his name would be placed on the sex offenders register. The Chief Constable . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.243385

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Criminal Practice, PoliceTagged Criminal Practice, Police

Regina v Looseley (orse Loosely); Attorney General’s Reference No 3 of 2000: HL 25 Oct 2001

Police Entrapment is no defence to Criminal Act

The defendant complained of his conviction for supplying controlled drugs, saying that the undercover police officer had requested him to make the supply.
Held: It was an abuse of process for the police to go so far as to incite a crime.
Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead said: ‘The stay is sometimes said to be on the ground that the proceedings are an abuse of process, but Lord Griffiths described the jurisdiction more broadly and, I respectfully think, more accurately, as a jurisdiction to prevent abuse of executive power’ and ‘My Lords, every court has an inherent power and duty to prevent abuse of its process. This is a fundamental principle of the rule of law. By recourse to this principle courts ensure that executive agents of the state do not misuse the coercive, law enforcement functions of the courts and thereby oppress citizens of the state. Entrapment . . is an instance where such misuse may occur. It is simply not acceptable that the state through its agents should lure its citizens into committing acts forbidden by the law and then seek to prosecute them for doing so. That would be entrapment. That would be a misuse of state power, and an abuse of the process of the courts. The unattractive consequences, frightening and sinister in extreme cases, which state conduct of this nature could have are obvious. The role of the courts is to stand between the state and its citizens and make sure this does not happen’.
The distinction to be made is between an undercover officer inciting a person to commit a crime he would not otherwise have committed, and the same officer making available an unexceptional opportunity to commit a crime. Every court had an inherent and fundamental power and duty to prevent abuse of its process. A defendant was excused, not because he was less culpable, but because the police had behaved improperly. There is no appreciable difference between the English law as developed, and Human Rights law.
Lord Nicholls said: ‘My Lords, every court has an inherent power and duty to prevent abuse of its process. This is a fundamental principle of the rule of law. By recourse to this principle courts ensure that executive agents of the state do not misuse the coercive, law enforcement functions of the courts and thereby oppress citizens of the state. Entrapment, with which these two appeals are concerned, is an instance where such misuse may occur. It is simply not acceptable that the state through its agents should lure its citizens into committing acts forbidden by the law and then seek to prosecute them for doing so. That would be entrapment. That would be a misuse of state power, and an abuse of the process of the courts. The unattractive consequences, frightening and sinister in extreme cases, which state conduct of this nature could have are obvious. The role of the courts is to stand between the state and its citizens and make sure this does not happen.’
Lord Hoffman summarised the principles of entrapment: ‘First, entrapment is not a substantive defence in the sense of providing a ground upon which the accused is entitled to an acquittal. Secondly, the court has jurisdiction in a case of entrapment to stay the prosecution on the ground that the integrity of the criminal justice system would be compromised by allowing the state to punish someone whom the state itself has caused to transgress. Thirdly, although the court has a discretion under section 78 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 to exclude evidence on the ground that its admission would have an adverse effect on the fairness of the proceedings, the exclusion of evidence is not an appropriate response to entrapment. The question is not whether the proceedings would be a fair determination of guilt but whether they should have been brought at all.’

Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead Lord Mackay of Clashfern Lord Hoffmann Lord Hutton Lord Scott of Foscote
Times 29-Oct-2001, Gazette 22-Nov-2001, [2001] UKHL 53, [2001] 1 WLR 2060, [2001] 4 All ER 897, [2002] 1 Cr App R 29, [2002] UKHRR 333, [2002] HRLR 8
House of Lords, Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Director of Public Prosecutions v Marshall 1988
. .
Cited – Nottingham City Council v Amin QBD 2-Dec-1999
Where a plain clothes officers had invited a taxi driver to take them to a destination in breach of his licence without disclosing their identity, and he did so willingly, their evidence was not to be excluded as that of an agent provocateur. . .
Cited – Teixeira De Castro v Portugal ECHR 9-Jun-1998
Mr De Castro had been the target of an unwarranted, unauthorised, unsupervised police operation in which undercover officers incited him to supply drugs. He challenged a conviction for trafficking in heroin, based mainly on statements of two police . .
Cited – Regina v Mack 15-Dec-1988
Supreme Court of Canada
Appellant testified at his trial for drug trafficking and, at the close of his defence, brought an application for a stay of proceedings on the basis of entrapment. His testimony indicated that he had persistently . .

Cited by:
Cited – Mullen, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 29-Apr-2004
The claimant had been imprisoned, but his conviction was later overturned. He had been a victim of a gross abuse of executive power. The British authorities had acted in breach of international law and had been guilty of ‘a blatant and extremely . .
Cited – A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, Mahmoud Abu Rideh Jamal Ajouaou v Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 11-Aug-2004
The claimants had each been detained without trial for more than two years, being held as suspected terrorists. They were free leave to return to their own countries, but they feared for their lives if returned. They complained that the evidence . .
Cited – A and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department (No 2) HL 8-Dec-2005
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 . .
Cited – Panday v Virgil PC 9-Apr-2008
(Trinidad and Tobago) The defendant’s appeal against conviction had succeeded on the basis of apparent bias in the tribunal. He now appealed the order remitting the case to be reheard, saying that a fair trial was no longer possible.
Held: The . .
Applied – M, Regina v CACD 18-Mar-2011
The prosecutor appealed against a ruling that the prosecution was an abuse of process, the defendant having said that the police officer had entrapped him into committing the offence of supplying a Class A drug. A police undercover drugs operation . .
Cited – Her Majesty’s Advocate v P SC 6-Oct-2011
(Scotland) The appellant had been interviewed by police without being offered access to a solicitor. He complained that the interview and information obtained only through it had been used to found the prosecution.
Held: The admission of the . .
Cited – Regina v Moore and Another CACD 13-Feb-2013
The appellants said that they had been entrapped into committing the offences of which they stood convicted. Their applications for stay on the ground of abuse of process had been rejected.
Held: The appeal failed.
Rix Lj said: ‘the . .
Cited – Regina v Moon CACD 10-Nov-2004
The defendant, a heroin addict said that the encouragement of a police officer to supply her with a small quantity of heroin amounted to entrapment and that her prosecution should have been stayed as an abuse of process. The officer had been . .
Cited – Maxwell, Regina v SC 20-Jul-2011
The defendant had had his conviction for murder set aside after a finding of gross prosecutorial misconduct by the police. The Court was now asked as to the propriety of the order for a retrial. The police involved in the case had misled the CPS, . .
Cited – Palmer and Others v Regina CACD 7-Aug-2014
Three defendants appealed against convictions for selling stolen goods, saying that the police had used entrapment. The officers had established a shop at which thieves might expect to sell goods. Each defendant had pleaed guilty after a ruling . .
Cited – Regina v Harmes and Another CACD 9-May-2006
The appellant Harmes ran a public house and was suspected of involvement in the distribution of Class A drugs and money laundering. An undercover police operation was launched and approved which lasted approximately 3 months. One of the undercover . .
Cited – Regina v Farooqi and Others CACD 30-Sep-2013
Defendants appealed against their conviction of terrorist acts alleging incompetence by their leading counsel.
Held: The appeal failed: ‘ Notwithstanding many unfortunate features of this trial the convictions of three of the defendants, and . .
Cited – Ali Syed, Regina v CACD 18-Dec-2018
The defendant faced trial on allegations of acts in preparation of terrorism. He wanted to say that he had been encouraged by security officers and argued that he English law as to entrapment was incompatible with his human rights, and now sought . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Police, Human Rights

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.166702

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Criminal Practice, Human Rights, Police

Policie CR, Krajske reditelstvi policie Usteckeho kraje, odbor cizinecke policie v Al Chodor and Others: ECJ 15 Mar 2017

Police detention of Immigrants to follow rules

ECJ (Judgment) Reference for a preliminary ruling – Criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an application for international protection – Regulation (EU) No 604/2013 (Dublin III) – Article 28(2) – Detention for the purpose of transfer – Article 2(n) – Significant risk of absconding – Objective criteria – Absence of a legal definition
A family of Iraqi nationals, the Al Chodors, who were stopped by police in the Czech Republic and interviewed. They claimed to be of Kurdish origin and it emerged that they had travelled to the Czech Republic via Turkey, Greece and then Hungary, where they had claimed asylum. The Foreigners Police Section of the Czech police force decided to place the family in detention pending their transfer to Hungary under the Dublin system. They took the view, for perfectly sensible reasons, that there was a serious risk that, unless detained, the Al Chodors would abscond before their transfer. The relevant Czech legislation conferred on the police force the power to detain a foreign national who had entered the Czech Republic illegally for the period of time necessary to secure the transfer of that person in accordance with, among other measures, the Dublin III Regulation. Upon a challenge by the Al Chodors, the Czech Regional Court annulled the decision to detain on the basis that the objective criteria for assessing the risk of absconding were not defined by Czech legislation as required by article 2(n) of the Regulation. The police force then brought an appeal on a point of law before the Supreme Administrative Court, which made the reference to the CJEU. The referring court asked, in substance, whether articles 2(n) and 28(2) of the Dublin III Regulation require member states to establish, in a national law, objective criteria underlying the reasons for believing that an applicant for international protection who is subject to a transfer procedure may abscond, and whether the absence of those criteria in a national law leads to the inapplicability of article 28(2).

ECLI:EU:C:2017:213, [2017] EUECJ C-528/15, [2017] WLR(D) 184, [2017] 3 CMLR 24, ECLI:EU:C:2016:865
Bailii, WLRD
European
Cited by:
Cited – Hemmati and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for The Home Department SC 27-Nov-2019
The Home Secretary appealed from a finding that illegally entered asylum seekers had been unlawfully detained pending removal. The five claimants had travelled through other EU member states before entering the UK. The court considered inter alia . .
Applied – Hemmati and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v The Secretary of State for The Home Department CA 4-Oct-2018
Conjoined hearing of appeals in respect of three judgments covering the cases of five individual immigrants who were placed in detention for periods pending possible removal to other EU Member States pursuant to the asylum claim arrangements under . .
Cited – Lehman Brothers International (Europe) v Exotix Partners Llp ChD 9-Sep-2019
The parties had contracted to trade global depository notes issued by the Peruvian government. Each made mistakes as to their true value, thinking them scraps worth a few thousand dollars, whereas their true value was over $8m. On the defendant . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Immigration, Police

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.580691

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Immigration, Police

Swales v Cox: CA 1981

Police officers had entered a house in pursuit of a suspected burglar.
Held: It is a condition of any lawful breaking of premises that the person seeking entry has demanded and been refused entry by the occupier.
Donaldson LJ said: ‘it is conceded in this case that (the trial judge) correctly analysed the position at common law . . as follows:
that there was power of entry into premises at common law and, if necessary, power to break doors to do so in four cases, but in four cases only; that is to say by a constable or a citizen in order to prevent murder; by a constable or a citizen if a felony had in fact been committed and the felon had been followed to a house; by a constable or a citizen
if a felony was about to be committed, and would be committed, unless prevented; and by a constable following an offender running away from an affray. In any other circumstances there was no power to enter premises without a warrant, and, even in the four cases where there was power not only to enter but to break in order to do so, it was an essential pre-condition that there should have been a demand and refusal by the occupier to allow entry before the doors could be broken.’

Donaldson LJ
[1981] QB 849, [1981] 1 All ER 1115, [1981] 2 WLR 814
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Jones (Margaret), Regina v Milling and others HL 29-Mar-2006
Domestic Offence requires Domestic Defence
Each defendant sought to raise by way of defence of their otherwise criminal actions, the fact that they were attempting to prevent the commission by the government of the crime of waging an aggressive war in Iraq, and that their acts were . .
Cited – Lunt v Director of Public Prosecutions QBD 1993
The defendant had been in a road traffic accident. The police came to his house to investigate the accident, but he refused to unlock the door to allow them entry. Stating reliance on section 4 of the 1988 Act, the officers threatened to force . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Land, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.239968

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Land, Police, Torts - OtherTagged Land, Police, Torts - Other

Alexander, Farrelly and Others, Re Judicial Review: QBNI 5 Mar 2009

Each claimant said that they had been wrongfully arrested, the arresting police officers having either failed to ask whether the arrest was necessary (Farrelly), or mistakenly concluding so.
Held: The Order now contained in regulation 26(5) an exhaustive list of the possible reasons for an arrest, and the Code of Practice required the officer to consider whether an alternative, less intrusive alternative was available.
Belief involves a judgement that a state of affairs actually exists; suspicion that a state of affairs might well exist. As to whether the requirement for having reasonable grounds for suspicion restricted the court to the officer’s knowledge at the time, a court should concentrate on the specific grounds to which the constable had regard. However a wilful refusal to take into account factors that might have led unmistakably to a contrary view as to the necessity to arrest cannot be ignored, and ‘where a police officer is called upon to make a decision as to the necessity for an arrest, the grounds on which that decision is based can only be considered reasonable if all obviously relevant circumstances are taken into account. In particular, it is necessary that he make some evaluation of the feasibility of achieving the object of the arrest by some alternative means, such as inviting the suspect to attend for interview.’
As to the ‘necessity’ of an arrest: ‘the requirement that the constable should believe that an arrest is necessary does not signify that he requires to be satisfied that there is no viable alternative to arrest. Rather, it means that he should consider that this is the practical and sensible option.’
Judicial review was not the appropriate means to investigate such allegations: ‘a challenge by way of judicial review is an unacceptable type of satellite litigation which not only distracts from the proper conduct of the criminal proceedings but seeks to remove a discrete issue from the criminal court which is its natural home. The second reason is that in almost all cases, the issues which arise are far more comfortably and satisfactorily accommodated in a form of proceeding which involves the giving of oral testimony and the testing of claims and counterclaims under cross examination.’
In Farrelly’s case, the officer had a practice of unquestioningly arresting anyone attending voluntarily for interview. He did not consider the alternative, and review of that arrest was granted: ‘ this arrest cannot be said to have been based on reasonable grounds for believing that it was necessary. ‘ The court treated the action as an ordinary writ.
A process is either a ‘criminal cause or matter’ or it is not. It is not capable of having chameleon qualities whereby it changes status from one to the other depending on the specific facts at any particular stage of the proceedings. The underlying arrest and investigatory process is a criminal cause or matter and the court considered that all four cases were to be so regarded irrespective of what had occurred since the date of arrest.
Applying re Coleman, a divisional court with two or more judges had jurisdiction to hear such cases which are not criminal causes or matters.

Kerr LCJ, Higgins LJ, Girvan LJ
[2009] NIQB 20
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 26(4)
Northern Ireland
Citing:
Cited – Gifford v Kelson 1943
(Canada – Manitoba) ‘suspicion is much less than belief; belief includes and absorbs suspicion’. . .
Cited – Dallison v Caffery CACD 1965
It is for the detaining authority to justify all periods of detention.
The court described the common law duty on a prosecutor to disclose material. Lord Denning MR said: ‘The duty of a prosecuting counsel or solicitor, as I have always . .
Cited – O’Hara v Chief Constable of the Royal Ulster Constabulary HL 21-Nov-1996
The plaintiff had been arrested on the basis of the 1984 Act. The officer had no particular knowledge of the plaintiff’s involvement, relying on a briefing which led to the arrest.
Held: A reasonable suspicion upon which an arrest was founded . .
Cited – Johnson v Whitehouse 1984
There is a relevant distinction between suspecting and believing in a police officer’s mind: ‘the dictionary definitions of those words . . of course, do show that the word ‘believe’ connotes a greater degree of certainty, or perhaps a smaller . .
Cited – Dallison v Caffery CACD 1965
It is for the detaining authority to justify all periods of detention.
The court described the common law duty on a prosecutor to disclose material. Lord Denning MR said: ‘The duty of a prosecuting counsel or solicitor, as I have always . .
Cited – Baker v Oxford 1980
The court considered the distinction between ‘belief’ and ‘suspicion’ when powers of arrest are exercised. . .
Cited – Regina (Aru) v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police CA 30-Jan-2004
The applicant had been cautioned by the police. The victim sought judicial review of that decision. The respondent now appealed.
Held: The court of appeal had no jurisdiction to hear an appeal against a judicial review in a criminal matter . .
Cited – Ex parte Alice Woodhall CA 8-May-1888
Extradition proceedings are in their nature criminal proceedings. Lindley LJ said: ‘Can we say that the application in the present case is not an application in a criminal cause or matter? I think that in substance it certainly is. Its whole object . .
Cited – JR14, Re Judicial Review QBNI 22-Nov-2007
The court said that the test of whether proceedings were in a criminal cause or matter should be: ‘Is the application before the court ancillary or incidental to a substantive process which places the applicant at risk of a criminal charge or . .
Cited – Regina (Aru) v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police CA 30-Jan-2004
The applicant had been cautioned by the police. The victim sought judicial review of that decision. The respondent now appealed.
Held: The court of appeal had no jurisdiction to hear an appeal against a judicial review in a criminal matter . .
Cited – Regina v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham And Others, ex parte Burkett and Another HL 23-May-2002
The applicant sought judicial review of the respondent’s grant of planning permission for a development which would affect her. The authority objected that the application was made after three months after their decision, and so leave should not be . .
Cited – Amand v Home Secretary and Minister of Defence of Royal Netherlands Government HL 1943
A Dutch serviceman who had been arrested for desertion and brought before a magistrate who ordered him to be handed over to the Dutch military authorities under the Allied Forces Act 1940. An application for habeas corpus was rejected by a . .
Cited – Cuoghi v Governor of Her Majesty’s Prison Brixton and Government of Switzerland CA 15-Jul-1997
The obtaining of an order to obtain evidence in support of a writ of habeas corpus application is a criminal matter. The Court of Appeal has no civil jurisdiction. Extradition proceedings, as well as proceedings ancillary or incidental to those . .
Cited – Regina v Blandford Justices CA 1990
The applicant had been charged with public order offences and had been remanded in custody by the Magistrates’ Court. He immediately commenced judicial review proceedings on the grounds that he was charged with an offence which was not punishable . .
Cited – Carr v Atkins CA 1987
The police had applied to a judge for an order under the 1984 Act requiring the applicant, a suspect in a fraud investigation, to produce documents falling within the definition of ‘special procedure documents’ under the Act. The applicants sought . .
Cited – In Re Coleman’s Application CANI 1988
The court asked what was the result of a first instance hearing of a matter where it had incorrectly concluded the matter to be a criminal cause. Was it ultra vires?
Held: Lord Lowry CJ said: ‘It is an accepted maxim that nothing is to be . .

Cited by:
Cited – Richardson v The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police QBD 29-Mar-2011
The claimant, a teacher, said he had been unlawfully arrested and detained after an allegation of assault from a pupil. Having attended the police station voluntarily, he said that the circumstances did not satisfy the required precondition that an . .
Cited – Hayes v Merseyside Police CA 29-Jul-2011
The claimant had been arrested after a complaint of harassment. The officer then contacted the complainant who then withdrew his complaint. The officer went to visit the complainant to discuss it further. On his return the claimant was released from . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Northern Ireland, Police, Litigation Practice, Judicial Review

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.346495

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Litigation Practice, Northern Ireland, Police

Collins v Wilcock: QBD 1984

The defendant appealed against her conviction for assaulting a police constable in the execution of his duty. He had sought to caution her with regard to activity as a prostitute. The 1959 Act gave no power to detain, but he took hold of her. She resisted, and injured him.
Held: There was no arrest, and no power implied or otherwise to arrest. The attempted restraint was therefore itself an unlawful assault, and she was entitled to resist, and the conviction was quashed. Battery involves a touching of the person with what is sometimes called hostile intent (as opposed to a friendly pat on the back) meaning any intentional physical contact which was not ‘generally acceptable in the ordinary conduct of daily life’. The tort of assault is an act which ’causes another person to apprehend the infliction of immediate, unlawful, force on his person’. False imprisonment is ‘the unlawful imposition of constraint on another’s freedom of movement from a particular place’.
Robert Goff LJ said: ‘[A] broader exception has been created to allow for the exigencies of everyday life. Generally speaking consent is a defence to battery; and most of the physical contacts of ordinary life are not actionable because they are impliedly consented to by all who move in society and so expose themselves to the risk of bodily contact . . Although such cases are regarded as examples of implied consent, it is more common nowadays to treat them as falling within a general exception embracing all physical contact which is generally acceptable in the ordinary conduct of daily life . . [We] think that nowadays it is more realistic, and indeed more accurate, to state the broad underlying principle, subject to the broad exception. . . In each case, the test must be whether the physical contact so persisted in has in the circumstances gone beyond generally acceptable standards of conduct; and the answer to that question will depend upon the facts of the particular case.’
‘But, if a police officer, not exercising his power of arrest, nevertheless reinforces his request with the actual use of force, or with the threat, actual or implicit, to use force if the other person does not comply, then his act in thereby detaining the other person will be unlawful’

Robert Goff LJ
[1984] 3 All ER 374, [1984] 1 WLR 1172, (1984) 79 Cr App R 229, [1984] Crim LR 481, (1984) 148 JP 692
Street Offences Act 1959, Police Act 1964 51(1)
England and Wales
Citing:
Applied – Rawlings v Till 1837
. .
Applied – Kenlin v Gardner QBD 1967
Two school boys, visiting premises for a lawful purpose, aroused suspicion of police officers on duty in plain clothes. One officer produced his warrant card, stated that they were police officers and asked why they were calling at the houses. The . .
Distinguished – Donnelly v Jackman 1970
Turner J considered the law of attempt: ‘He who sets out to commit a crime may in the event fall short of the complete commission of that crime for any one of a number of reasons. First, he may, of course, simply change his mind before committing . .

Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Brown (Anthony); Regina v Lucas; etc HL 11-Mar-1993
The appellants had been convicted of assault, after having engaged in consensual acts of sado-masochism in which they inflicted varying degreees of physical self harm. They had pleaded guilty after a ruling that the prosecution had not needed to . .
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 – In Re L (By His Next Friend GE); Regina v Bournewood Community and Mental Health NHS Trust, Ex Parte L HL 25-Jun-1998
The applicant was an adult autistic, unable to consent to medical treatment. Treatment was provided at a day centre. He had been detained informally under the Act and against the wishes of his carers, but the Court of Appeal decided he should have . .
Cited – Mbasogo, President of the State of Equatorial Guinea and Another v Logo Ltd and others CA 23-Oct-2006
Foreign Public Law Not Enforceable Here
The claimant alleged a conspiracy by the defendants for his overthrow by means of a private coup d’etat. The defendants denied that the court had jurisdiction. The claimants appealed dismissal of their claim to damages.
Held: The claims were . .
Cited – F v West Berkshire Health Authority HL 17-Jul-1990
The parties considered the propriety of a sterilisation of a woman who was, through mental incapacity, unable to give her consent.
Held: The appeal succeeded, and the operation would be lawful if the doctor considered it to be in the best . .
Cited – Wilson v Pringle CA 26-Mar-1986
Two boys played in a school yard. D said he had pulled a bag from the other’s shoulder as an ordinary act of horseplay. The plaintiff said it was a battery.
Held: The defendant’s appeal against summary judgment was allowed. A claim of trespass . .
Cited – White v Withers Llp and Dearle CA 27-Oct-2009
The claimant was involved in matrimonial ancillary relief proceedings. His wife was advised by the defendants, her solicitors, to remove his private papers. The claimant now sought permission to appeal against a strike out of his claim against the . .
Cited – Sher and Others v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and Others Admn 21-Jul-2010
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 . .
Cited – AJA and Others v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis and Others CA 5-Nov-2013
The Court was asked whether the Investigatory Powers Tribunal had the power to investigate whether police officers acrting as undercover agents, and having sexual relations with those they were themselves investigating had infringed the human rights . .
Cited – McMillan v Crown Prosecution Service Admn 12-May-2008
Appeal by case stated by Justices for Sunderland in respect of a decision of the Magistrates’ Court in which the appellant M was convicted of an offence of being drunk and disorderly in a public place. She had been arrested in the front garden of a . .
Cited – Regina v Ireland CACD 14-May-1996
Silent telephone calls which resulted in psychiatric damage to the victim could constitute an ‘assault occasioning actual bodily harm’ for the purposes of section 47 of the 1861 Act. Swinton Thomas LJ said: ‘The early cases pre-date the invention of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Crime, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.181967

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Crime, Police, Torts - Other1 Comment

Albert v Lavin: HL 3 Dec 1981

An off duty and out of uniform police officer attempted to restrain the defendant jumping ahead of a bus queue. The defendant struggled, and continued to do so even after being told that of the officer’s status. He said he had not believed that he was a police officer.
Held: The issue was not whether the defendant had believed that the officer was a constable. Lord Diplock said: ‘every citizen in whose presence a breach of the peace is being, or reasonably appears to be about to be, committed has the right to take reasonable steps to make the person who is breaking or threatening to break the peace refrain from doing so; and those reasonable steps in appropriate cases will include detaining him against his will. At common law this is not only the right of every citizen, it is also his duty, although, except in the case of a citizen who is a constable, it is a duty of imperfect obligation.’
Lord Diplock ‘. . . every citizen in whose presence a breach of the peace is being, or reasonably appears to be about to be, committed has the right to take reasonable steps to make the person who is breaking or threatening to break the peace refrain from doing so; and those reasonable steps in appropriate cases will include detaining him against his will. At common law this is not only the right of every citizen, it is also his duty, although, except in the case of a citizen who is a constable, it is a duty of imperfect obligation.’

Lord Diplock, Lord Simon of Glaisdale, Lord Keith of Kinkel, Lord Scarman, Lord Roskill
[1982] AC 546, [1981] 3 WLR 955, [1981] 3 All ER 878, [1981] UKHL 6
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Albert v Lavin QBD 1980
The defendant (A) and the prosecutor (L), an off duty constable not in uniform, awaited a bus. A pushed past the queue, whose members objected. L stood in his way. A pushed past onto the step of the bus, turned, grabbed L’s lapel and made to hit . .

Cited by:
Cited – Chief Constable of Cleveland Police v Mark Anthony McGrogan CA 12-Feb-2002
The Chief Constable appealed a finding of false imprisonment of the claimant. He had once been properly arrested, but before he was freed, it was decided that he should be held for court and an information laid alleging breach of the peace. They . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the Application of) v Gloucestershire Constabulary and others Admn 19-Feb-2004
The court considered a claim for judicial review of a police officer’s decision to turn back a number of coaches. Each coach contained passengers en route to join a demonstration at an RAF base in Gloucestershire, the officer honestly and reasonably . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the Application of) v Gloucestershire Constabulary and others CA 8-Dec-2004
The claimant had been in a bus taking her and others to an intended demonstration. The police feared breaches of the peace, and stopped the bus, and ordered the driver to return to London, and escorted it to ensure it did not stop.
Held: The . .
Cited – Austin and Saxby v Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis QBD 23-Mar-2005
Towards the end of a substantial May Day demonstration on the streets of London, police surrounded about 3,000 people in Oxford Circus and did not allow them to leave for seven hours. The claimant who was present, but not involved in any of the . .
Cited – Ashley and Another v Sussex Police CA 27-Jul-2006
The deceased was shot by police officers raiding his flat in 1998. The claimants sought damages for his estate. They had succeeded in claiming damages for false imprisonment, but now appealed dismissal of their claim for damages for assault and . .
Cited – Foulkes v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police CA 9-Jun-1998
A man was locked out of the matrimonial home which he owned jointly with his wife, following a family dispute. The police told him, as was the fact, that his wife and children did not want him to re-enter the house and the police suggested that he . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the application of ) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire HL 13-Dec-2006
The claimants had been in coaches being driven to take part in a demonstration at an air base. The defendant police officers stopped the coaches en route, and, without allowing any number of the claimants to get off, returned the coaches to London. . .
Cited – Williamson v Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police CA 21-Feb-2003
The claimant had been arrested by an officer entering his house to investigate a breach of the peace, then held for two nights. The police believed that he posed no continuing threat, but believed he had to be brought before the magistrates before . .
Cited – Minto v Police 1987
When considering a police officer’s assessment that a breach of the peace is imminent, the question of immediacy is in part a question of degree and is highly relevant to the reasonableness of the action taken.
A refusal or failure to . .
Cited – Blench v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 5-Nov-2004
The defendant appealed against his conviction for assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty under section 89. He had argued that he had no case to answer. The officers had received an emergency call to the house, but the female caller . .
Cited – Hicks and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis SC 15-Feb-2017
The claimants had wanted to make a peaceful anti-monarchist demonstration during the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. They complained that the actions of the respondent police infringed their human rights by preventing that . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Crime, Torts – Other, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.180535

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Crime, Police, Torts - OtherTagged Crime, Police, Torts - Other

Laporte, Regina (on the application of ) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire: HL 13 Dec 2006

The claimants had been in coaches being driven to take part in a demonstration at an air base. The defendant police officers stopped the coaches en route, and, without allowing any number of the claimants to get off, returned the coaches to London. The officer acted saying that he feared a breach of the peace was imminent, and that a preventative measure falling short of detention was appropriate.
Held: The claimant’s appeal succeeded. State authorities have a positive duty to take steps to ensure that lawful public demonstrations can take place, and that any prior restraint on freedom of speech requires ‘the most careful scrutiny’. The officer’s interference with the claimants’ rights was not in accordance with law. The authorities did not provide a test of reasonableness, but one of imminence. Exercise of the right to freedom of assembly and exercise of the right to free expression are often closely associated.
The common law entitled and bound police officers and citizens alike to seek to prevent, by arrest or action short of arrest, any breach of the peace occurring in their presence or which they reasonably believed was about to occur. If no breach of the peace had actually occurred, a reasonable apprehension of an imminent breach of the peace was required before any form of preventive action was permissible.
Lord Bingham said: ‘Any prior restraint on freedom of expression calls for the most careful scrutiny . . The Strasbourg Court will wish to be satisfied not merely that a state exercised its discretion reasonably, carefully and in good faith, but that it applied standards in conformity with Convention standards and based its decision on an acceptable assessment of the relevant facts . .’
. . and ‘I would acknowledge the danger of hindsight, and I would accept that the judgment of the officer on the spot, in the exigency of the moment, demands respect. But making all allowances, I cannot accept the chief constable’s argument. It was entirely reasonable to suppose that some or all of those on board the coaches might wish to cause damage and injury to the base at RAF Fairford, and to enter the base with a view to causing further damage and injury. It was not reasonable to suppose that even these passengers simply wanted a violent confrontation with the police, which they could have had in the lay-by. Nor was it reasonable to anticipate an outburst of disorder on arrival of these passengers in the assembly area or during the procession to the base, during which time the police would be in close attendance and well able to identify and arrest those who showed a violent propensity or breached the conditions to which the assembly and procession were subject. The focus of any disorder was expected to be in the bell-moth area outside the base, and the police could arrest trouble makers then and ther. .’
Lord Mance said: ‘In my opinion, that proposition and the statements on which it relies are to be rejected. So too the suggestion that imminence is a flexible concept, different degrees of which may justify different forms of preventive action. I regard the reasonable apprehension of an imminent breach of the peace as an important threshold requirement, which must exist before any form of preventive action is permissible. . . The requirement of imminence is relatively clear-cut and appropriately identifies the common law power (or duty) of any citizen including the police to take preventive action as a power of last resort catering for situations about to descend into violence. That is not to suggest that imminence falls to be judged in absolute and purely temporal terms, according to some measure of minutes. What is imminent has to be judged in the context under consideration, and the absence of any further opportunity to take preventive action may thus have relevance.’
Lord Rodger dealt with the concept of imminence, saying: ‘This does not mean that the officer must be able to say that the breach is going to happen in the next few seconds or next few minutes. That would be an impossible standard to meet, since a police officer will rarely be able to predict just when violence will break out. The protagonists may take longer than expected to resort to violence or it may flare up remarkably quickly. Or else, as in O’Kelly v Harvey the breach of the peace may be likely to occur when others arrive on the scene and there is no way of knowing exactly when that will happen. There is no need for the police officer to wait until the opposing group hove into sight before taking action. That would be to turn every intervention into an exercise in crisis management. As Cooke P observed in Minto v Police, ‘it would be going too far to say as a matter of law that the powers of the police at common law can be exercised only when an instantaneous breach of the peace is apprehended’ . .’

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, Lord Carswell, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood, Lord Mance
[2006] UKHL 55, Times 14-Dec-2006, [2007] 2 WLR 46, [2007] 2 All ER 529, [2007] 2 AC 105, (2006) 22 BHRC 38
Bailii
Public Order Act 1936, Public Order Act 1986, Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, European Convention on Human Rights 10 11
England and Wales
Citing:
At First Instance – Laporte, Regina (on the Application of) v Gloucestershire Constabulary and others Admn 19-Feb-2004
The court considered a claim for judicial review of a police officer’s decision to turn back a number of coaches. Each coach contained passengers en route to join a demonstration at an RAF base in Gloucestershire, the officer honestly and reasonably . .
Appeal From – Laporte, Regina (on the Application of) v Gloucestershire Constabulary and others CA 8-Dec-2004
The claimant had been in a bus taking her and others to an intended demonstration. The police feared breaches of the peace, and stopped the bus, and ordered the driver to return to London, and escorted it to ensure it did not stop.
Held: The . .
Cited – Humphries v Connor 1864
The plaintiff walked the streets of Swanlinbar, Co Cavan, wearing an orange lily, an action which was ‘calculated and tended to provoke animosity between different classes of Her Majesty’s subjects’, according to the defendant’s pleadings. Several . .
Aberrant – Piddington v Bates 1960
Two entrances to a printing works were picketed by striking printers. A police officer decided that there should be no more than two pickets at each entrance. The defendant wished to join the two pickets at the rear entrance. The officer said two . .
Cited – King v Hodges 1974
The court considered that a police officer’s powers were exercisable when he reasonably believed that a breach of the peace was about to take place. . .
Cited – Albert v Lavin QBD 1980
The defendant (A) and the prosecutor (L), an off duty constable not in uniform, awaited a bus. A pushed past the queue, whose members objected. L stood in his way. A pushed past onto the step of the bus, turned, grabbed L’s lapel and made to hit . .
Cited – Regina v Howell (Errol) CACD 1981
The court considered the meaning of the legal concept of a breach of the peace.
Held: The essence is to be found in violence or threatened violence. ‘We entertain no doubt that a constable has a power of arrest where there is reasonable . .
Cited – Foulkes v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police CA 9-Jun-1998
A man was locked out of the matrimonial home which he owned jointly with his wife, following a family dispute. The police told him, as was the fact, that his wife and children did not want him to re-enter the house and the police suggested that he . .
Cited – Albert v Lavin HL 3-Dec-1981
An off duty and out of uniform police officer attempted to restrain the defendant jumping ahead of a bus queue. The defendant struggled, and continued to do so even after being told that of the officer’s status. He said he had not believed that he . .
Cited – Moss v McLachlan QBD 1985
There had been violent conflict between members of different unons in the context of the miners’ strike. The police had found it difficult to maintain the peace. The appellants were four of about sixty striking miners intent on a mass demonstration . .
Cited – Duncan v Jones KBD 1936
The appellant was about to make a public address in a situation in which the year before a disturbance had been incited by her speaking. A policeman believed reasonably that a breach of the peace would occur if the meeting was held, and ordered the . .
Cited – Ezelin v France ECHR 26-Apr-1991
The free speech of protesters should not be curtailed simply because of the unlawful behaviour of one or two individuals. The court considered that ‘that the freedom to take part in a peaceful assembly – in this instance a demonstration that had not . .
Cited – Steel and Others v The United Kingdom ECHR 23-Sep-1998
The several applicants had been arrested in different circumstances and each charged with breach of the peace contrary to common law. Under the Magistrates’ Court Act 1980, the court can bind over a Defendant to keep the peace, if the Defendant . .
Cited – Minto v Police 1987
When considering a police officer’s assessment that a breach of the peace is imminent, the question of immediacy is in part a question of degree and is highly relevant to the reasonableness of the action taken.
A refusal or failure to . .
Cited – Ollinger v Austria ECHR 29-Jun-2006
. .
Cited – Christian Democratic People’s Party v Moldova ECHR 14-Feb-2006
. .
Cited – Ziliberberg v Moldova ECHR 1-Feb-2005
The court observed that: ‘the right to freedom of assembly is a fundamental right in a democratic society and, like the right to freedom of expression, is one of the foundations of such a society.’ it is possible to distinguish between interferences . .
Cited – Williamson v Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police CA 21-Feb-2003
The claimant had been arrested by an officer entering his house to investigate a breach of the peace, then held for two nights. The police believed that he posed no continuing threat, but believed he had to be brought before the magistrates before . .
Cited – Plattform Arzte Fur Das Leben v Austria ECHR 21-Jun-1988
It is the duty of member states to take reasonable and appropriate measures to enable lawful demonstrations to proceed peacefully. . .
Cited – Djavit An v Turkey ECHR 20-Feb-2003
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) . .
Cited – Hashman and Harrup v The United Kingdom ECHR 25-Nov-1999
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, . .
Cited – The Sunday Times v The United Kingdom (No 2) ECHR 26-Nov-1991
Any prior restraint on freedom of expression calls for the most careful scrutiny. ‘Freedom of expression constitutes one of the essential foundations of a democratic society subject to paragraph (2) of Article 10. It is applicable not only to . .
Cited – Redmond-Bate v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 23-Jul-1999
The police had arrested three peaceful but vociferous preachers when some members of a crowd gathered round them threatened hostility.
Held: Freedom of speech means nothing unless it includes the freedom to be irritating, contentious, . .
Cited – O’Kelly v Harvey CA 1883
The plaintiff, a nationalist Member of Parliament, sued the defendant for assault and battery. There was to be a meeting of the Land League. On the day before, a placard summoned local Orangemen to oppose it. The defendant, a justice of the peace . .
Cited – Wise v Dunning KBD 1902
A protestant preacher in Liverpool was held to be liable to be bound over to keep the peace upon proof that he habitually accompanied his public speeches with behaviour calculated to insult Roman Catholics. His actions had caused, and were liable to . .
Cited – Handyside v The United Kingdom ECHR 7-Dec-1976
The appellant had published a ‘Little Red Schoolbook’. He was convicted under the 1959 and 1964 Acts on the basis that the book was obscene, it tending to deprave and corrupt its target audience, children. The book claimed that it was intended to . .
Cited – Cumming and others v Chief Constable of Northumbria Police CA 17-Dec-2003
The six claimants sought damages for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment. Each had been arrested on an officer’s suspicion. They operated CCTV equipment, and it appeared that tapes showing the commission of an offence had been tampered with. Each . .
Cited – Regina v Nicol and Selvanayagam QBD 10-Nov-1995
The appellants appealed a bind-over for a finding that each appellant had been guilty of conduct whereby a breach of the peace was likely to be occasioned. The appellants, concerned about cruelty to animals, had obstructed an angling competition by . .
Cited – McLeod, Mealing (deceased) v Metropolitan Police Commissioner CA 3-Feb-1994
The plaintiff appealed against the dismissal of her claims for trespass and breach of duty by the defendant’s officers. In divorce proceedings, she had been ordered to return certain household goods to her husband, but had failed yet to do so. The . .
Cited – Silver v United Kingdom ECHR 1980
(Commission) Complaint was made as to the censorship of prisoners’ correspondence. The censorship of prisoners’ correspondence was ancillary to prison rules restricting the contents of correspondence. The Commission, therefore, and the Court had to . .
Cited – Regina v Brown 15-Jul-1841
(Bedford Assizes – (Crown Side)) Constable Herbert complained that the defendant had not assisted him when called on to do so when he tried to halt a riot.
Held: Baron Alderson said: ‘The offence imputed to the defendant consists in this – . .
Cited – De Freitas v The Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Lands and Housing and others PC 30-Jun-1998
(Antigua and Barbuda) The applicant was employed as a civil servant. He joined a demonstration alleging corruption in a minister. It was alleged he had infringed his duties as a civil servant, and he replied that the constitution allowed him to . .
Cited – Chorherr v Austria ECHR 25-Aug-1993
The applicant was one of two arrested demonstrating against the Austrian armed forces at a military parade. They had rucksacks on their backs, with slogans on them. The rucksacks were so large that they blocked other spectators’ view of the parade. . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of Sussex Ex Parte International Trader’s Ferry Ltd CA 28-Jan-1997
A restriction placed by a chief constable on the police support he would make available to support a lawful trade was reasonable, even though it might amount to trade interference. The allocation of resources available to the Chief Constable was for . .
Cited – Dibble v Ingleton 1972
A motorist was suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol and was required to provide a specimen of breath. He claimed that he had consumed alcohol only a few minutes earlier and the constable had to wait until 20 minutes had elapsed before . .
Cited – O’Kelly v Harvey 1882
(Court of Appeal in Ireland) The plaintiff, a nationalist Member of Parliament, sued the defendant for assault and battery. There had been a meeting which was to be held on 7 December 1880. On the day before, a placard appeared summoning local . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of Sussex, ex Parte International Trader’s Ferry Limited HL 2-Apr-1998
Chief Constable has a Wide Discretion on Resources
Protesters sought to prevent the appellant’s lawful trade exporting live animals. The police provided assistance, but then restricted it, pleading lack of resources. The appellants complained that this infringed their freedom of exports under . .
Cited – Beatty v Gillbanks QBD 13-Jun-1882
The appellants assembled with others for a lawful purpose, and with no intention of carrying it out unlawfully, but with the knowledge that their assembly would be opposed, and with good reason to suppose that a breach of the peace would be . .
Cited – Handyside v The United Kingdom ECHR 7-Dec-1976
The appellant had published a ‘Little Red Schoolbook’. He was convicted under the 1959 and 1964 Acts on the basis that the book was obscene, it tending to deprave and corrupt its target audience, children. The book claimed that it was intended to . .

Cited by:
Cited – Austin and Another v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 15-Oct-2007
The claimants appealed dismissal of their claims for false imprisonment and unlawful detention by the respondent in his policing of a demonstration. They had been held within a police cordon in the streets for several hours to prevent the spread of . .
Cited – Tabernacle v Secretary of State for Defence Admn 6-Mar-2008
The court considered the validity of bye-laws used to exclude protesters from land near a military base at Aldermarston.
Held: The byelaw which banned an ‘camp’ was sufficiently certain, but not that part which sought to ban any person who . .
Cited – Gillies v Procurator Fiscal, Elgin HCJ 1-Oct-2008
The police went to the defendant’s flat to find her boyfriend. She refused them access, but when they saw him, the police officers called out that he was under arrest under the 1995 Act, and forced their way past the door and the defendant. The . .
Cited – Hall and Others v Mayor of London (on Behalf of The Greater London Authority) CA 16-Jul-2010
The appellants sought leave to appeal against an order for possession of Parliament Square on which the claimants had been conducting a demonstration (‘the Democracy Village’).
Held: Leave was refused save for two appellants whose cases were . .
Cited – Moos and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Commissioner of the Police of The Metropolis Admn 14-Apr-2011
The claimants, demonstrators at the G20 summit, complained of the police policy of kettling, the containment of a crowd over a period of time, not because they were expected to to behave unlawfully, but to ensure a separation from those who were. . .
Cited – Castle and Others v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis Admn 8-Sep-2011
The claimants, all under 17 years old, took a peaceful part in a substantial but disorderly demonstration in London. The police decided to contain the section of crowd which included the claimants. The claimants said that the containment of children . .
Cited – Howarth v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis QBD 3-Nov-2011
howarth_cmpQBD2011
The claimant sought judicial review of a decision to search him whilst travelling to a public protest in London. A previous demonstration involving this group had resulted in criminal damage, but neither the claimant nor his companions were found to . .
Cited – McClure and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis CA 19-Jan-2012
The Commissioner appealed against a decision that certain aspects of its crowd control procedures exercised during a public protest were unlawful.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The issue came down to whether the commanding officer genuinely held . .
Cited – City of London v Samede and Others QBD 18-Jan-2012
The claimant sought an order for possession of land outside St Paul’s cathedral occupied by the protestor defendants, consisting of ‘a large number of tents, between 150 and 200 at the time of the hearing, many of them used by protestors, either . .
Cited – The Mayor Commonalty and Citizens of London v Samede (St Paul’s Churchyard Camp Representative) and Others CA 22-Feb-2012
The defendants sought to appeal against an order for them to vacate land outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London which they occupied as a protest.
Held: The application for leave to appeal failed. The only possible ground for appeal was on the . .
Cited – Wright v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis QBD 11-Sep-2013
The claimant sought damages for false imprisonment and infringement of his human rights in the manner of the defendant’s management of a demonstration in which he was involved. The issue was whether ilce action was justified on the basis that the . .
Cited – Hicks and Others, Regina (on The Application of) v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis SC 15-Feb-2017
The claimants had wanted to make a peaceful anti-monarchist demonstration during the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. They complained that the actions of the respondent police infringed their human rights by preventing that . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Human Rights, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.247396

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Human Rights, Police, Torts - Other

Roy v Prior: HL 1970

The court considered an alleged tort of maliciously procuring an arrest. The plaintiff had been arrested under a bench warrant issued as a result of evidence given by the defendant. He sued the defendant for damages for malicious arrest.
Held: The action could proceed. Police officers are given a general immunity against suit, in respect of matters occurring at court, to avoid repeated actions challenging their evidence.
Lord Wilberforce said: ‘Immunities conferred by the law in respect of legal proceedings need always to be checked against a broad view of the public interest’. And ‘The reasons why immunity is traditionally (and for this purpose I accept the tradition) conferred upon witnesses in respect of evidence given in court, are in order that they may give their evidence fearlessly and to avoid a multiplicity of actions in which the value or the truth of their evidence would be tried over again’. However immunity does not apply to actions for malicious prosecution where the cause of action consists in abusing legal process by maliciously and without reasonable cause setting the law in motion against the plaintiff. It does not matter that an essential step in setting the law in motion was a statement made by the defendant to a prosecuting authority or even the court.
With reference to ex parte evidence given in support of an application for a bench warrant: ‘To deny a person whose liberty has been interfered with any opportunity of showing that it was ill-founded and malicious does not in the least correspond with, and is a far more serious denial than, the traditional denial of the right to attack a witness to an issue which has been tested and passed upon after a trial. Immunities conferred by the law in respect of legal proceedings need always to be checked against a broad view of the public interest. So checked, the present case provides no justification for protecting absolutely what the solicitor said in court.’
Lord Morris said: ‘If a witness gives false evidence he may be prosecuted if the crime of perjury has been committed but a civil action for damages in respect of the words spoken will not lie.’
and: ‘This however, does not involve that an action which is not brought in respect of evidence given in court but is brought in respect of an alleged abuse of process of court must be defeated if one step in the course of the abuse of the process of the court involved or necessitated the giving of evidence.’
Lord Morris of Borth-y-Gest said: ‘What the plaintiff alleges is that the defendant, acting both maliciously and without reasonable cause, procured and brought about his arrest. The plaintiff is not suing the defendant on or in respect of the evidence which the defendant gave in court. The plaintiff is suing the defendant because he alleges that the defendant procured his arrest by means of judicial process which the defendant instituted both maliciously and without reasonable cause. . . The gist of the complaint, where malicious arrest is asserted, is not that some evidence is given (though if evidence is given falsely it may be contended that malice is indicated) but that an arrest has been secured as a result of some malicious proceeding for which there was no reasonable cause . . It must often happen that a defendant who is sued for damages for malicious prosecution will have given evidence in the criminal prosecution of which the plaintiff complains. The essence of the complaint in such a case is that criminal proceedings have been instituted not only without reasonable and probable cause but also maliciously. So also in actions based upon alleged abuses of the process of the court it will often have happened that the court will have been induced to act by reason of some false evidence given by someone. In such cases the actions are not brought on or in respect of any evidence given but in respect of malicious abuse of process (see Elsee v. Smith (1822) 2 Chit. 304).’

Lord Wilberforce, Lord Morris
[1971] AC 470, [1970] 2 All ER 729
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Elsee v Smith 1822
The court considered a claim that a search warrant had been issued for malice. . .

Cited by:
Cited – Gibbs and others v Rea PC 29-Jan-1998
(Cayman Islands) The respondent worked for a bank. He disclosed a business interest, but that interest grew in importance to the point where he resigned in circumstances amounting to constructive dismissal. His home and business officers were raided . .
Cited – Darker v Chief Constable of The West Midlands Police HL 1-Aug-2000
The plaintiffs had been indicted on counts alleging conspiracy to import drugs and conspiracy to forge traveller’s cheques. During the criminal trial it emerged that there had been such inadequate disclosure by the police that the proceedings were . .
Cited – Silcott v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis CA 24-May-1996
The claimant had been convicted of the murder of PC Blakelock. The only substantial evidence was in the form of the notes of interview he said were fabricated by senior officers. His eventual appeal on this basis was not resisted. He now appealed . .
Cited – Gray v Avadis QBD 30-Jul-2003
The claimant had made complaints against the defendant solicitor to the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors. In answer the defendant made assertions about the claimant’s mental health, and she now sought to bring action iin defamation on those . .
Cited – Taylor and Others v Director of The Serious Fraud Office and Others HL 29-Oct-1998
The defendant had requested the Isle of Man authorities to investigate the part if any taken by the plaintiff in a major fraud. No charges were brought against the plaintiff, but the documents showing suspicion came to be disclosed in the later . .
Cited – Stanton and Another v Callaghan and Others CA 8-Jul-1998
The defendant, a structural engineer, was retained by the plaintiffs in a claim against insurers for the costs of remedying subsidence of the plaintiffs’ house. He advised total underpinning for pounds 77,000, but later while preparing a joint . .
Cited – Meadow v General Medical Council Admn 17-Feb-2006
The appellant challenged being struck off the medical register. He had given expert evidence in a criminal case which was found misleading and to have contributed to a wrongful conviction for murder.
Held: The evidence though mistaken was . .
Cited – General Medical Council v Professor Sir Roy Meadow, Attorney General CA 26-Oct-2006
The GMC appealed against the dismissal of its proceedings for professional misconduct against the respondent doctor, whose expert evidence to a criminal court was the subject of complaint. The doctor said that the evidence given by him was . .
Cited – Martin v Watson HL 13-Jul-1995
The plaintiff had been falsely reported to the police by the defendant, a neighbour, for indecent exposure whilst standing on a ladder in his garden. He had been arrested and charged, but at a hearing before the Magistrates’ Court, the Crown . .
Cited – Mahon, Kent v Dr Rahn, Biedermann, Haab-Biedermann, Rahn, and Bodmer (a Partnership) (No 2) CA 8-Jun-2000
The defendant’s lawyers wrote to a financial services regulatory body investigating the possible fraudulent conduct of the plaintiff’s stockbroking firm. The letter was passed to the Serious Fraud Office who later brought criminal proceedings . .
Cited – Surzur Overseas Ltd v Koros and others CA 25-Feb-1999
A defendant to a worldwide Mareva injunction had failed to give full disclosure of all his assets in an affidavit filed with the court. False evidence as to sale of the assets in question was later manufactured and placed before the court. The . .
Mentioned – The Ministry of Justice (Sued As The Home Office) v Scott CA 20-Nov-2009
The claimant had been falsely accused of assault by five prison officers. The defendant appealed against a refusal to strike out a claim of of malicious prosecution.
Held: Proceedings for malicious prosecution cannot be regarded as being . .
Cited – Jones v Kaney SC 30-Mar-2011
An expert witness admitted signing a joint report but without agreeing to it. The claimant who had lost his case now pursued her in negligence. The claimant appealed against a finding that the expert witness was immune from action.
Held: The . .
Cited – Samuels v Coole and Haddock (a Firm) CA 22-May-1997
The defendant solicitors had acted for defendants in an action brought by the plaintiff. They swore and filed an affidavit in support of an application to strike out elements of the action. The affidavit spoke as to abusive and threatening calls and . .
Cited – Crawford Adjusters and Others v Sagicor General Insurance (Cayman) Ltd and Another PC 13-Jun-2013
(Cayman Islands) A hurricane had damaged property insured by the respondent company. The company employed the appellant as loss adjustor, but came to suspect advance payments recommended by him, and eventually claimed damages for deceit and . .
Cited – Singh v Moorlands Primary School and Another CA 25-Jul-2013
The claimant was a non-white head teacher, alleging that her school governors and local authority had undermined and had ‘deliberately endorsed a targeted campaign of discrimination, bullying, harassment and victimisation’ against her as an Asian . .
Cited – Crawford v Jenkins CA 24-Jul-2014
The parties had divorced but acrimony continued. H now complained of his arrests after allegations from his former wife that he had breached two orders. He had been released and no charges followed. The court had ruled that W’s complaints were . .
Cited – Willers v Joyce and Another (Re: Gubay (Deceased) No 1) SC 20-Jul-2016
Parties had been involved in an action for wrongful trading. This was not persisted with but the claimant sought damages saying that the action was only part of a campaign to do him harm. This appeal raised the question whether the tort of malicious . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.184703

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Police, Torts - Other

Stratton, Regina (on The Application of) v Thames Valley Police: Admn 7 Jun 2013

The claimant requested the court to set aside a caution accepted by her, when she said that she had not understood the serious consequences and had not admitted the offence.
Held: It was for each Chief Constable to draft his own policy, but taking proper account of Hoe Office and other guidance. Nevertheless, the paperwork was deficient in failing to explain the consequences of accepting the caution. This was particularly so where the suspect worked in an occupatione where she would require a clear CRB check to work. The caution was quashed.

Sir John Thomas P, Cranston J
[2013] EWHC 1561 (Admin)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of Kent ex parte L 1991
The discretion which is vested in the Crown Prosecution Service to continue criminal proceedings commenced by the police is subject to judicial review by the High Court, but only where it can be shown that the decision was made regardless of, or . .
Cited – Regina v Commissioner of Metropolitan Police ex parte Thompson Admn 18-Dec-1996
When considering an application for judicial review, where a defendant had been cautioned by the police, it was necessary to recognise that the caution procedure did have legal consequences. Though ‘There is no statutory basis for the formal . .
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable of North Wales Police and Others Ex Parte Thorpe and Another; Regina v Chief Constable for North Wales Police Area and others ex parte AB and CB CA 18-Mar-1998
Public Identification of Pedophiles by Police
AB and CB had been released from prison after serving sentences for sexual assaults on children. They were thought still to be dangerous. They moved about the country to escape identification, and came to be staying on a campsite. The police sought . .
Cited – R, Regina (on the Application of) v Durham Constabulary and Another HL 17-Mar-2005
The appellant, a boy aged 15, had been warned as to admitted indecent assaults on girls. He complained that it had not been explained to him that the result would be that his name would be placed on the sex offenders register. The Chief Constable . .
Cited – Caetano v Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis Admn 28-Feb-2013
The claimant now challenged the giving of a simple caution for an alleged assault on her partner.
Held: The evidential basis of the offer of the caution was unsatisfactory, but she had accepted it on legal advice. The case involved allegations . .
Cited – Blackburn v Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis CA 1968
By common law police officers owe to the general public a duty to enforce the criminal law. However, police are servants of no one but the law itself, and a chief officer of police has a wide discretion as to the manner in which the duty is . .
Cited – L, Regina (On the Application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis SC 29-Oct-2009
Rebalancing of Enhanced Disclosure Requirements
The Court was asked as to the practice of supplying enhanced criminal record certificates under the 1997 Act. It was said that the release of reports of suspicions was a disproportionate interference in the claimants article 8 rights to a private . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.510199

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Criminal Practice, PoliceTagged Criminal Practice, Police

Moos and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Commissioner of the Police of The Metropolis: Admn 14 Apr 2011

The claimants, demonstrators at the G20 summit, complained of the police policy of kettling, the containment of a crowd over a period of time, not because they were expected to to behave unlawfully, but to ensure a separation from those who were.
Held: The request succeeded. The containment of the Climate Camp, and the pushing operation to move the crowd approximately 20 to 30m. to the north at the southern end of the Climate Camp were not lawful police operations, except that temporary containment at the northern end became justified later.
‘To be justified in law as being the lawful exercise of the common law power to take reasonable steps to prevent a breach of the peace and as not constituting an unlawful deprivation of liberty under Article 5 of the Convention, the police had reasonably to apprehend an imminent breach of the peace at the Climate Camp or, if not at the Climate Camp, so associated with the Climate Camp that containing the Climate Camp itself was reasonably necessary. A breach of the peace is imminent if it is likely to happen. Immediacy or imminence is an essential condition which should not be diluted, although it may be applied with a degree of flexibility. If a breach of the peace is imminent, the police may lawfully take preventive action, provided that there is no other way of preventing the imminent breach of the peace. They must take no more intrusive action than appears necessary to prevent the breach of the peace, and it must be reasonable and proportionate. The police may only take such preventive action as a last resort catering for situations about to descend into violence. What is imminent is to be judged in the context under consideration. ‘

Sir Anthony May P, Sweeney J
[2011] UKHRR 851, [2011] ACD 82, [2011] HRLR 24, [2011] EWHC 957 (Admin)
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Moss v McLachlan QBD 1985
Four striking miners were travelling in a convoy of motor vehicles and were stopped by a police cordon at a junction within several miles of four collieries. The inspector in charge believed with reason that a breach of the peace would be committed . .
Cited – Austin and Another v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis HL 28-Jan-2009
The claimants had been present during a demonstration policed by the respondent. They appealed against dismissal of their claims for false imprisonment having been prevented from leaving Oxford Circus for over seven hours. The claimants appealed . .
Cited – Molnar v Hungary ECHR 7-Oct-2008
ECHR The applicant alleged that the dispersal of the demonstration in which she had participated because of a mere lack of prior notification to the police had infringed her freedom of peaceful assembly, within . .
Cited – Laporte, Regina (on the application of ) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire HL 13-Dec-2006
The claimants had been in coaches being driven to take part in a demonstration at an air base. The defendant police officers stopped the coaches en route, and, without allowing any number of the claimants to get off, returned the coaches to London. . .
Cited – Regina (X) v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police CA 30-Jul-2004
The claimant had been accused of offences, but the prosecution had been discontinued when the child victims had failed to identify him. The police had nevertheless notified potential employers and he had been unable to obtain work as a social . .
Cited – Redmond-Bate v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 23-Jul-1999
The police had arrested three peaceful but vociferous preachers when some members of a crowd gathered round them threatened hostility.
Held: Freedom of speech means nothing unless it includes the freedom to be irritating, contentious, . .

Cited by:
Cited – Castle and Others v Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis Admn 8-Sep-2011
The claimants, all under 17 years old, took a peaceful part in a substantial but disorderly demonstration in London. The police decided to contain the section of crowd which included the claimants. The claimants said that the containment of children . .
Appeal from – McClure and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis CA 19-Jan-2012
The Commissioner appealed against a decision that certain aspects of its crowd control procedures exercised during a public protest were unlawful.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The issue came down to whether the commanding officer genuinely held . .
Cited – Jones and Others v The Commissioner of Police for The Metropolis Admn 6-Nov-2019
Distributed Demonstration not within 1986 Act
The claimants, seeking to demonstrate support for the extinction rebellion movement by demonstrating in London, now challenged an order made under the 1986 Act restricting their right to demonstrate.
Held: The XRAU was not a public assembly at . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Human Rights

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.432770

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Human Rights, Police

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v A local Authority, X, Y and Z (Disclosure To The Security Service): FD 6 Oct 2016

Care proceedings statement disclosed to MI5

The court had decided to permit the Local Authority to disclose the mother’s statement made to them in care proceedings to the Police imposing certain additional restrictions. The Police now applied for permission to disclose the statement further to the Security Service. There was concern that the father of the child may be fighting in Syria and that the mother would follow him with the child.
Held: The application was granted. The court noted that the security services were not a ‘person’ identified within the family proceedings rules and that therefore it was for the Commissioner to justify the proposal. The court imposed conditions.
When deciding as to such onward disclosure of documents, the court should consider seeral factors including the welfare of the child and of any other children, the balance of confidentiality and frankness in children’s cases, the public interest in the administration of justice, the prosecution of serious crime and punishment of offenders, the gravity of the alleged offence and relevance of the evidence to it, the desirability of co-operation between various agencies concerned with the welfare of children, and the protection against the admissibility in criminal proceedings of statements of admission made in proceedings under the Children Act 1989, and any human rights issues, and impose any necessary conditions.

MacDonald J
[2016] EWHC 2400 (Fam), [2016] 4 WLR 153, [2016] WLR(D) 509
Bailii, WLRD
Family Proceedings Rules 12.73(1)(b)
England and Wales

Police, Human Rights, Children

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.570172

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Children, Human Rights, Police

Bedfordshire Police Authority v Constable and others: ComC 20 Jun 2008

The authority insured its primary liability for compensation under the 1886 Act through the claimants and the excess of liability through re-insurers. The parties sought clarification from the court of the respective liabilities of the insurance companies and as to whether the compensation under the Acts counted as damages under the policies. The syndicate said that damages are quintessentially sums which fall to be paid by reason of some breach of duty or obligation.
Held: The question for consideration is what the document would convey to a reasonable person having all the background knowledge which would have reasonably been available to the parties at the time of the contract. There was no clear evidence that the parties had considered the detailed provisions carefully, but was rather a collection of standard clauses. There was no reason to think that the purpose of the Underlying Policy was anything other than the protection of the police fund against claims by third parties for personal injury or damage to property. The claimant was entitled to be indemnified by the defendant pursuant to the Excess Policy in respect of any liability of the claimant to pay compensation under the 1886 Act.

Walker J
[2008] EWHC 1375 (Comm), [2009] Lloyd’s Rep IR 39, [2009] 2 All ER (Comm) 200
Bailii
Police Act 1996, Riot (Damages) Act 1886
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Re Hooley Hill Rubber and Royal Insurance Co CA 1920
When interprting a contract, it is assumed that the draftsman works with a view to certainty of sense and standardisation of terms. Bankes LJ said: ‘Courts should be chary in interfering with the interpretation given to a well-known document and . .
Cited – Toomey v Eagle Star Insurance Co Ltd CA 1994
The word ‘reinsurance’ is often used loosely simply to describe any contract of insurance which is placed by or for the benefit of an insurer, but it should be construed more properly to require the insurance of an insurable interest in the subject . .
Cited – Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society HL 19-Jun-1997
Account taken of circumstances wihout ambiguity
The respondent gave advice on home income plans. The individual claimants had assigned their initial claims to the scheme, but later sought also to have their mortgages in favour of the respondent set aside.
Held: Investors having once . .
Cited – Sunport Shipping Limited, Prometheus Maritime Corporation, Celestial Maritime Corporation, Surzur Overseas Limited v Tryg-Baltica International (UK) Ltd (Formerly Know As Colonia Baltica Insurance Ltd) and others CA 24-Jan-2003
(The ‘Kleovoulos of Rhodes’) A large quantity of cocaine was discovered by divers behind a grille in a sea chest at the vessel’s discharge port, Aliveri – having been placed there by unknown third persons at the load port in Colombia, South America. . .
Cited – Yorkshire Water Services Ltd v Sun Alliance and London Insurance Plc and Others (1) CA 20-Aug-1996
The court was asked whether the costs of flood alleviation works were recoverable under public liability insurance policies.
Held: A claim for the costs of remedial action taken to mitigate future losses were not covered by the terms of the . .
Cited – F and K Jabbour v Custodian of Israeli Absentee Property 1953
The court was asked as to the effect of foreign regulations on the ownership of a right of action under an insurance policy, and for that purpose examined whether the plaintiff’s claim against the insurance company was a ‘mere right to claim . .
Cited – Hall Brothers Steamship Company Limited v Young CA 1939
The shipowners appealed a decision that the underwriters were not liable under collision liability clause. Their ship had collided with another at Dunkirk when the steering gear failed. Under french law the pilot was not liable since he had not been . .
Cited – Tesco Stores Ltd v Constable and others CA 16-Apr-2008
Tesco voluntarily agreed to indemnify a third party for economic loss. When that third party claimed under the indemnity for economic losses arising out of damage to property of another, Tesco sought to claim under its own public liability insurance . .
Cited – Tioxide Europe Ltd v CGU International Plc and others CA 20-Jul-2005
The court considered how an insurance contract should be construed. Langley J said: ‘The general principle is that the proper construction is to be determined by the ordinary and natural meaning of the words used in the contractual and commercial . .
Cited – Charterhouse Development (France) Limited v Sharp ChD 1998
French courts had held the claimant liable to remedy the deficiency of an insolvent company’s assets under a French law. The insured now sought repayment by its insurers, who denied that this was a payment of damages.
Held: The payment was . .
Cited – Lancashire County Council v Municipal Mutual Insurance Ltd CA 3-Apr-1996
The defendant agreed to indemnify the insured ‘in respect of all sums which the insured shall become legally liable to pay as compensation arising out of’ various matters including wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution and false imprisonment. The . .
Mentioned – Rylands v Fletcher HL 1868
The defendant had constructed a reservoir to supply water to his mill. Water escaped into nearby disused mineshafts, and in turn flooded the plaintiff’s mine. The defendant appealed a finding that he was liable in damages.
Held: The defendant . .
Cited – Charter Reinsurance Co Ltd v Fagan and Others HL 24-May-1996
The re-insurers appealed against a finding that they were liable to make payment under a contract which required them to pay ‘sums actually paid.’ They said that the company having become insolvent, no payment would in fact be made.
Held: The . .
Cited – J W Dwyer Ltd v Metropolitan Police District Receiver 1967
The owner of a jewellery shop claimed to recover compensation from the police for damage to his shop in a smash and grab raid. Since there were more than 3 robbers, the police accepted that there had been a riot but defended the claim on the basis . .
Cited – DH Edmonds Ltd v East Sussex Police Authority CA 6-Jul-1988
The plaintiffs Brighton jewellers sought compensation from the police authority for a raid on their premises by three or four men. Kenneth Jones J at first instance held that the incident did not involve a tumultuous assembly and accordingly the . .
Cited – Ford v Receiver for the Metropolitan Police District 1921
Bailhache J considered a claim under the 1886 Act: ‘There must be judgment for the plaintiff, and the question of the quantum of damages must be referred.’ . .
Cited – Kaufmann Brothers v Liverpool Corporation KBD 1916
It was argued that a claim under the 1886 Act was a claim for ‘alleged neglect or default’ within the meaning of the 1893 Act, so that the claim was time-barred under that Act.
Held: The argument failed. The 1893 Act did not apply.
Lush J . .
Cited – Pitchers v Surrey County Council 1923
In 1919 there was a riot involving Canadian soldiers from a local Camp. They released fellow soldiers in custody and raided the officers’ mess, and damaged and stole the contents of a tailor’s shop and other shops known as ‘Tin Town’ – a group of . .
Cited – Bearmans Ltd v Metropolitan Police District Receiver CA 1961
Sellers LJ said: ‘The second plaintiffs had paid some andpound;5,000 for that theft; and for their respective losses these plaintiffs sought to recover damages under the Riot (Damages) Act, 1886’
The court considered that a liberal approach . .
Cited – Bartoline Limited v Royal Sun Alliance plc 2007
The claimant sought an indemnity under the Public Liability Section of a Combined Policy for: (i) expense incurred by the Environment Agency under section 161 of the Water Resources Act 1991 cleaning up water courses of pollutants after a fire on . .
Cited – Scott (for and Behalf of All Underwriting Members of Syndicates 401 and 857 at Lloyd’s) v The Copenhagen Reinsurance Company (UK) Ltd CA 16-May-2003
Where an insurance policy required damage to have been caused by an insured risk, the causative link had to be a significant rather than a weak one.
Determining whether transactions are related is therefore an acutely fact sensitive exercise, . .

Cited by:
See Also – Yarl’s Wood Immigration Ltd and others v Bedfordshire Police Authority ComC 30-Sep-2008
The owners of the Yarslwood Immigration centre sought damages under the 1886 Act after a riot at the centre caused substantial damage.
Held: The claim failed: ‘The fact that YWIL and GSL [the appellants] were acting as public authorities . .
Appeal from – Bedfordshire Police Authority v Constable CA 12-Feb-2009
The police had responded to a riot at Yarlswood detention centre. They had insurance to cover their liability under the 1886 Act, but the re-insurers said that the insurance did not cover the event, saying that the liability was for statutory . .
See Also – Yarl’s Wood Immigration Ltd and Others v Bedfordshire Police Authority CA 23-Oct-2009
The claimant sought to recover the costs of damage to their centre following a riot, saying that under the 1886 Act, they were liable. It appealed against a ruling that they were unable to claim as a public authority, saying that the 1886 Act was . .
Cited – The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime v Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Co (Europe) Ltd and Others SC 20-Apr-2016
The Court considered the quantification of damages to be awarded to a business suffering under riots under the 1886 Act, and in particular whether such recoverable losses included compensation for consequential losses, including loss of profits and . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Insurance

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.270220

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Insurance, PoliceTagged Insurance, Police

Mouncher and Others v South Wales Police: QBD 14 Jun 2016

The claimants were police and former police officers who alledged mistreatment by other officers investigating them both during the investigation (LW3) and during their subsequent criminal trials.
Held: All the claims for misfeasance in public office failed. After detailed consideration some claims succeeded and some failed. On the whole there was no evidence of the officers having either deliberately or recklessly exceeded his/her powers during the course of discharging his/her duty during the course of LW3.

Wyn Williams J
[2016] EWHC 1367 (QB)
Bailii, Judicary Summary, Judiciary
England and Wales

Torts – Other, Police

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.565543

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Police, Torts - OtherTagged Police, Torts - Other

Davis v Lisle: CA 1936

Two police officers, one in plain clothes and the other in uniform, passed by a lorry causing an obstruction in the highway outside a garage. Two men were repairing it. Some minutes later they returned and saw that the lorry had been moved into the garage. They entered the garage to enquire as to the person responsible for the obstruction. The appellant then entered the garage from the street, pushing past PC Rose and saying: ‘What’s this? What do you want here?’; to which P.C. Rose replied: ‘My colleague is a police constable. May we see the person in charge of this vehicle?’ The appellant then in abusive and obscene language said: ‘Get outside – you can’t come here without a search warrant.’ The respondent was in the act of producing his warrant card when the appellant rushed at him and struck him. He was convicted of assaulting and obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty.
Held: Both convictions were quashed. A permission given to enter private property may be revoked, making the visitor a trespasser who is under a duty to leave. The act of producing his warrant card was an assertiion by the officer of a right to remain on the premises, which right he did not have. Therefore he could not be acting in the execution of his duty, having hesitated and not leaving promptly when told to leave.
Goddard J held that although the officers, in entering the premises, were not trespassers, they became so as soon as they were told to leave and claimed a right to stay. From that time they were acting other than in the execution of their duty.
Lord Hewart CJ held that by the act of producing his warrant card, the respondent was asserting a right to remain on the premises, which right he did not have.

Lord Hewart CJ, Goddard J
[1936] 2 KB 434, [1936] 2 All ER 213
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Wayne Fullard, Ryan Roalfe, Regina (on the Application Of) v Woking Magistrates’ Court Admn 16-Nov-2005
The defendants challenged convictions for assaulting police officers acting in the course of their duty. They said the officers were not so acting. The first defendant had been stopped in a vehicle which had left the scene of an accident. At the . .
Cited – Blench v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 5-Nov-2004
The defendant appealed against his conviction for assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty under section 89. He had argued that he had no case to answer. The officers had received an emergency call to the house, but the female caller . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.241690

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Police, Torts - Other

Lewis and Evans v The Chief Constable of the South Wales Constabulary: CA 11 Oct 1990

The plaintiffs said that their arrests had been unlawful.
Held: The arrests were lawful because, whilst their initial arrests were unlawful because the appellants were not told the reasons for them, they became lawful when they were given the reasons at the time of their presentation to the custody officer.

Balcombe, Taylor LJJ
[1990] EWCA Civ 5, [1991] 1 All ER 206
Bailii
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 28
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Richardson v The Chief Constable of West Midlands Police QBD 29-Mar-2011
The claimant, a teacher, said he had been unlawfully arrested and detained after an allegation of assault from a pupil. Having attended the police station voluntarily, he said that the circumstances did not satisfy the required precondition that an . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.248040

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Police, Torts - OtherTagged Police, Torts - Other

An Informer v A Chief Constable: CA 29 Feb 2012

The claimant appealed against dismissal of his claim for damages against the police. He had provided them with information, but he said that they had acted negligently and in breach of contract causing him financial loss. The officer handling his case had failed to notify a judge of his involvement and had allowed a case for money laundering to proceed against him. The judge found no contract to that effect, nor any duty to avoid all economic losses.
Held: The claimant’s appeal failed. Arrangements for management of informers were both statutory and by Codes of Practice. They recognised a need to care for the informers welfare, which would include his financial well being, but only so far as his condition was affected by his acting as an informer. There was a duty to the claimant arising out of the proximity of the relationship, which extended beyond his physical welfare, possibly covering his financial welfare and the claim was based on financial loss. However, when considering the scope and extent of the duty, and the standard of care required, the complexity of the situation was to be borne in mind. In the particular circumstances, while there were failings, those failings did not amount to a breach of the duty owed.

Arden, Pill, Toulson LJJ
[2013] QB 579, [2012] EWCA Civ 197, [2012] 3 All ER 601, [2013] 2 WLR 694
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Rigby and another v Chief Constable of Northamptonshire 1985
The police were found liable to pay damages for negligence having fired a gas canister into the plaintiffs’ gunsmith’s hop premises in order to flush out a dangerous psychopath. There had been a real and substantial fire risk in firing the canister . .
Cited – Calveley v Chief Constable of the Merseyside Police HL 1989
Police officers brought an action in negligence against a Chief Constable on the ground that disciplinary proceedings against them had been negligently conducted. They claimed that the investigating officers had negligently failed to conduct the . .
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 . .
Cited – Elguzouli-Daf v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and Another CA 16-Nov-1994
The Court upheld decisions striking out actions for negligence brought by claimants who had been arrested and held in custody during criminal investigations which were later discontinued. The Crown Prosecution Service owes no general duty of care to . .
Cited – Swinney and Another v Chief Constable of Northumbria CA 22-Mar-1996
The plaintiff, a woman and her husband, had passed on information in confidence to the police about the identity of a person implicated in the killing of a police officer, expressing her concern that she did not want the source of the information to . .
Cited – Serious Fraud Office v A CACD 2-Aug-2007
The Director said the Judge had been wrong to discharge on grounds of want of disclosure a restraint order previously made ex parte under the Proceeds of Crime Act at the request of a foreign investigator.
‘The proper approach is to consider . .
Cited – Capital and Counties Plc v Hampshire County Council CA 14-Mar-1997
Consolidation of cases involving question of what duty was owed by a fire service to the owners of buildings.
Whether and if so in what circumstances a fire brigade owes a duty of care to the owner or occupier of premises which are damaged or . .
Cited – Chief Constable of Northumbria v Costello CA 3-Dec-1998
A woman police officer was attacked by a prisoner in a cell. She sought damages for the failure of a senior officer nearby not to come to her aid, and from the chief constable under his vicarious liability.
Held: The chief constable’s appeal . .
Cited – Brooks v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and others HL 21-Apr-2005
The claimant was with Stephen Lawrence when they were both attacked and Mr Lawrence killed. He claimed damages for the negligent way the police had dealt with his case, and particularly said that they had failed to assess him as a victim of crime, . .
Cited – Gibson v Orr, the Chief Constable, Strathlclyde Police SCS 26-Feb-1999
The pursuer and his passengers were injured when he drove off a bridge which had been damaged in a severe rainstorm. He claimed in negligence against the police, who had been informed of the collapse of the bridge, but had not erected any warning . .
Cited – Gibson v Orr, the Chief Constable, Strathlclyde Police SCS 26-Feb-1999
The pursuer and his passengers were injured when he drove off a bridge which had been damaged in a severe rainstorm. He claimed in negligence against the police, who had been informed of the collapse of the bridge, but had not erected any warning . .
Still good law – Welsh v Chief Constable of Merseyside Police 1993
On conviction for one offence, the plaintiff asked for two other offences to be taken into consideration. He was bailed pending sentence. He was then arrested for the other offences and wrongfully held in custody. The Crown Prosecution Service had . .
Cited – Keyse v Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis, Scutts CA 18-May-2001
The court considered liability where a police car on emergency duty hit Mr Scutts causing very serious injuries. The officer appealed against a finding of liability saying that the judge had declared irrelevant the fact he was on an emergency . .

Cited by:
Cited – Michael and Others v South Wales Police and Another CA 20-Jul-2012
The deceased had called the police and said her life was under immediate threat. An officer downgraded its seriousness, and she was killed within 15 minutes by her partner, and before the officers arrived. She had sought assistance four times . .
Cited – Michael and Others v The Chief Constable of South Wales Police and Another SC 28-Jan-2015
The claimants asserted negligence in the defendant in failing to provide an adequate response to an emergency call, leading, they said to the death of their daughter at the hands of her violent partner. They claimed also under the 1998 Act. The . .
Cited – AXN v The Queen CACD 27-May-2016
The defendant argued that greater note should have been taken on his sentencing to allow for the assistance he had given to the police after his arrest.
Held: The current accepted practice is that the text of the letter from the police to the . .
Cited – Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police SC 8-Feb-2018
Limits to Police Exemption from Liability
The claimant, an elderly lady was bowled over and injured when police were chasing a suspect through the streets. As they arrested him they fell over on top of her. She appealed against refusal of her claim in negligence.
Held: Her appeal . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Negligence

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.451703

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Negligence, Police

Bedfordshire Police Authority v Constable: CA 12 Feb 2009

The police had responded to a riot at Yarlswood detention centre. They had insurance to cover their liability under the 1886 Act, but the re-insurers said that the insurance did not cover the event, saying that the liability was for statutory compensation and not in damages as covered by the insurance policy.
Held: The insured’s appeal failed. Once one appreciates that the reason for the 1886 Act placing the burden of paying compensation to the victims of riot damage on the police authority is that the police are responsible for law and order and that they are (notionally) in breach of that responsibility, it seems to me, as an English lawyer, that compensation payable is a sum which the police authority is ‘liable to pay as damages’.

[2009] EWCA Civ 64
Bailii
Riot (Damages) Act 1886 2
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – J W Dwyer Ltd v Metropolitan Police District Receiver 1967
The owner of a jewellery shop claimed to recover compensation from the police for damage to his shop in a smash and grab raid. Since there were more than 3 robbers, the police accepted that there had been a riot but defended the claim on the basis . .
Cited – DH Edmonds Ltd v East Sussex Police Authority CA 6-Jul-1988
The plaintiffs Brighton jewellers sought compensation from the police authority for a raid on their premises by three or four men. Kenneth Jones J at first instance held that the incident did not involve a tumultuous assembly and accordingly the . .
Cited – Hall Brothers Steamship Company Limited v Young 1938
The insured vessel, Trident, went to Dunkirk and engaged a French pilot whose pilot boat developed a fault in its steering gear which caused her to collide with Trident without Trident being in any way to blame. French law had a provision that . .
Cited – Hall Brothers Steamship Company Limited v Young CA 1939
The shipowners appealed a decision that the underwriters were not liable under collision liability clause. Their ship had collided with another at Dunkirk when the steering gear failed. Under french law the pilot was not liable since he had not been . .
Cited – Sunport Shipping Limited, Prometheus Maritime Corporation, Celestial Maritime Corporation, Surzur Overseas Limited v Tryg-Baltica International (UK) Ltd (Formerly Know As Colonia Baltica Insurance Ltd) and others CA 24-Jan-2003
(The ‘Kleovoulos of Rhodes’) A large quantity of cocaine was discovered by divers behind a grille in a sea chest at the vessel’s discharge port, Aliveri – having been placed there by unknown third persons at the load port in Colombia, South America. . .
Cited – Charterhouse Development (France) Limited v Sharp ChD 1998
French courts had held the claimant liable to remedy the deficiency of an insolvent company’s assets under a French law. The insured now sought repayment by its insurers, who denied that this was a payment of damages.
Held: The payment was . .
Cited – Yorkshire Water Services Ltd v Sun Alliance and London Insurance Plc and Others (1) CA 20-Aug-1996
The court was asked whether the costs of flood alleviation works were recoverable under public liability insurance policies.
Held: A claim for the costs of remedial action taken to mitigate future losses were not covered by the terms of the . .
Cited – Bartoline Limited v Royal Sun Alliance plc 2007
The claimant sought an indemnity under the Public Liability Section of a Combined Policy for: (i) expense incurred by the Environment Agency under section 161 of the Water Resources Act 1991 cleaning up water courses of pollutants after a fire on . .
Appeal from – Bedfordshire Police Authority v Constable and others ComC 20-Jun-2008
The authority insured its primary liability for compensation under the 1886 Act through the claimants and the excess of liability through re-insurers. The parties sought clarification from the court of the respective liabilities of the insurance . .
See Also – Yarl’s Wood Immigration Ltd and others v Bedfordshire Police Authority ComC 30-Sep-2008
The owners of the Yarslwood Immigration centre sought damages under the 1886 Act after a riot at the centre caused substantial damage.
Held: The claim failed: ‘The fact that YWIL and GSL [the appellants] were acting as public authorities . .

Cited by:
See Also – Yarl’s Wood Immigration Ltd and Others v Bedfordshire Police Authority CA 23-Oct-2009
The claimant sought to recover the costs of damage to their centre following a riot, saying that under the 1886 Act, they were liable. It appealed against a ruling that they were unable to claim as a public authority, saying that the 1886 Act was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Insurance

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.282613

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Insurance, PoliceTagged Insurance, Police

Wood v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis: Admn 22 May 2008

The claimant challenged the right of police officers to take his photograph as he attended an annual general meeting of Reed Elsevier Plc. He was a campaigner against the arms trade, but had always acted lawfully. The company noted the purchase of single shares by membersof the group and alerted the police. The defendant decided to deploy officers at the meeting. An associate was ejected from the meeting. They were photographed after and outside the meeting. The claimant said that he felt intimidated by the action. The court compared the actions with those of the Staasi, saying that it was at a lower level, but that ‘it is the development of such state activity against which one has to vigilant.’ However the taking of photographs in the street was not an infringement of his human rights and was not unlawful.

McCombe J
[2008] EWHC 1105 (Admin), Times 13-Jun-2008
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 8
England and Wales
Citing:
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 – X v United Kingdom ECHR 1972
The defendant had been convicted of knowingly living on the earnings of prostitution contrary to section 30(1) of the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
Held: The Commission rejected as manifestly ill-founded the applicant’s challenge to this provision . .
Cited – PG and JH v The United Kingdom ECHR 25-Sep-2001
The use of covert listening devices within a police station was an infringement of the right to privacy, since there was no system of law regulating such practices. That need not affect the right to a fair trial. The prosecution had a duty to . .
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 – Gillan, Regina (on the Application of) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Another HL 8-Mar-2006
The defendants said that the stop and search powers granted under the 2000 Act were too wide, and infringed their human rights. Each had been stopped when innocently attending demonstrations in London, and had been effectively detained for about . .
Cited – Friedl v Austria ECHR 31-Jan-1995
The Commission distinguished between the taking and keeping of photographs without identifying the subjects, and police questioning in order to establish identity and the recording of these personal data; the former was not an interference with . .
Cited – Von Hannover v Germany ECHR 24-Jun-2004
Princess Caroline of Monaco who had, at some time, received considerable attention in the media throughout Europe, complained at the publication of photographs taken of her withour her permission.
Held: There was no doubt that the publication . .
Cited – Perry v The United Kingdom ECHR 17-Jul-2003
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 8 ; Non-pecuniary damage – financial award
The claimant had been arrested, then released to attend an identification parade. Several attempts . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Information, Police, Human Rights

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.267981

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Human Rights, Information, PoliceTagged Human Rights, Information, Police

Ward v Police Service of Northern Ireland: HL 21 Nov 2007

The appellant had sought judicial review of the decision to extend the warrant for his detention. On an application to extend the warrant of detention, the judge had excluded the appellant and his solicitor from the hearing for about 10 minutes to consider closed information and, when the hearing resumed, they were not informed of what had transpired during their absence. The application for an extension of the warrant was granted. The claimant appealed rejection of his application for judicial review.
Held: The appeal failed. It was lawful to exclude a terrorist suspect and his legal representative from an extension hearing so that the judicial authority could explore in sufficient detail whether the test for further detention had been satisfied. The power in para 33(3) is available where the judicial authority wishes to be satisfied that further detention is necessary to obtain relevant evidence by questioning the person to whom the application relates. It enables the judicial authority, in the detained person’s absence, to examine the topics are that are to be the subject of that exercise. But it must be read subject to para 34. So where the power to order that specified information be withheld from that person under that paragraph is available, an order to withhold it must be sought under that paragraph. As this was not that case, the appeal was dismissed.
Lord Bingham considered the need to observe the protections given: ‘Section 41 of the Act . . enables a constable to arrest without warrant a person whom he reasonably suspects to be a terrorist. The length of the detention that may follow on such an arrest is the subject of a carefully constructed timetable. This timetable, in its turn, is the subject of a series of carefully constructed procedural safeguards. The detained person’s right to liberty demands that scrupulous attention is paid to those safeguards’.

Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Hope of Craighead, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Carswell and Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood
[2007] UKHL 50, Times 22-Nov-2007, [2007] 1 WLR 3013, [2008] NI 138, [2008] 1 All ER 517, (2007) 151 SJLB 1531
Bailii
Terrorism Act 2000
Northern Ireland
Cited by:
Cited – Sher and Others v Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police and Others Admn 21-Jul-2010
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 . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Criminal Practice

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.261584

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Criminal Practice, Police

Kennedy – Short Summary of The Ruling: IPT 23 Jan 2003

[2003] UKIPTrib 01 – 62 – 77
Bailii
England and Wales

Police, Human Rights

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.525998

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Human Rights, PoliceTagged Human Rights, Police

Faisaltex Ltd and Others v Lancashire Constabulary and Another: QBD 24 Jul 2009

The claimants wished to claim damages saying that in executing a search warrant, the defendant had made excessive seizures of material. The claimants sought inspection by independent counsel of the materials seized to establish this in a manner similar to the protocol which protected seizures of material which might be protected by legal professional privilege, and an order for them to be returned.
Held: Where police intended to seize a wide range of materials, they had a duty to notify the occupier that he is exercising this power. Without such a notice the Bramley principles applied. However the balance of convenience lay with allowing the investigation to continue, and damages if properly payable would be an adequate remedy in due course. An injunction should not be granted.

Eady J
[2009] EWHC 1884 (QB)
Bailii
Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 59
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Chief Constable for Warwickshire and Others Ex Parte Fitzpatrick and Others QBD 1-Oct-1997
Judicial Review is not the appropriate way to challenge the excessive nature of a search warrant issues by magistrates. A private law remedy is better. Jowitt J said: ‘Judicial review is not a fact finding exercise and it is an extremely . .
See Also – Faisaltex Ltd and others, Regina (on the Application of) v Crown Court Sitting at Preston and others etc Admn 21-Nov-2008
Nine claimants sought leave to bring judicial review of the issue of search warrants against solicitors’ and business and other premises, complaining of the seizure of excluded material and of special procedure material. There were suspicions of the . .
Cited – Regina v Chesterfield Justices and Others, Ex Parte Bramley QBD 10-Nov-1999
When police officers executed a search warrant, it was not proper to remove articles at large, in order later to sift through them, and then to return material not covered by the warrant. There is no absolute prohibition against removing articles . .
Cited – American Cyanamid Co v Ethicon Ltd HL 5-Feb-1975
Interim Injunctions in Patents Cases
The plaintiffs brought proceedings for infringement of their patent. The proceedings were defended. The plaintiffs obtained an interim injunction to prevent the defendants infringing their patent, but they now appealed its discharge by the Court of . .
Cited – Regina v Secretary of State for Transport, ex parte Factortame (No 2) HL 11-Oct-1990
The validity of certain United Kingdom legislation was challenged on the basis that it contravened provisions of the EEC Treaty by depriving the applicants of their Community rights to fish in European waters, and an interlocutory injunction was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Torts – Other

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.361475

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Police, Torts - OtherTagged Police, Torts - Other

Regina v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police Ex Parte Wiley; Other Similar: HL 14 Jul 1994

Statements made to the police to support a complaint against the police, were not part of the class of statements which could attract public interest immunity, and were therefore liable to disclosure.
Lord Woolf said: ‘The recognition of a new class-based public interest immunity requires clear and compelling evidence that it is necessary’.
Lord Templeman said: ‘the report itself as distinct from the documents generated by the inquiry will not normally be relevant, material and admissible in criminal and civil proceedings’.

Lord Templeman, Lord Woolf
Independent 15-Jul-1994, Times 15-Jul-1994, Gazette 02-Nov-1994, [1994] UKHL 8, [1995] 1 AC 274, [1994] 3 WLR 433, [1994] 3 All ER 420
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Appeal from – Regina v Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police, Ex Parte Wiley Etc CA 30-Sep-1993
Police complaints documents’ use may be restricted in civil proceedings. . .
At first instance – Regina v Chief Constable of West Midlands Ex Parte Wiley; Regina v Chief Constable Notts Ex Parte Sunderland QBD 24-Feb-1993
Police were not to use a complaint statements in civil litigation. . .

Cited by:
Cited – A and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department (No 2) HL 8-Dec-2005
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 . .
Cited – Ashley and Another v Sussex Police CA 27-Jul-2006
The deceased was shot by police officers raiding his flat in 1998. The claimants sought damages for his estate. They had succeeded in claiming damages for false imprisonment, but now appealed dismissal of their claim for damages for assault and . .
Cited – Amwell View School v Dogherty EAT 15-Sep-2006
amwell_dogherty
The claimant had secretly recorded the disciplinary hearings and also the deliberations of the disciplinary panel after their retirement. The tribunal had at a case management hearing admitted the recordings as evidence, and the defendant appealed, . .
Cited – Al-Sweady and Others, Regina (On the Application of) v Secretary Of State for Defence (PII) Admn 10-Jul-2009
The claimants alleged murder and ill-treatment by the British Armed forces in Iraq. The defendant had failed repeatedly to comply with disclosure orders and an indemnity costs award had been made against him. The defendant had in particular . .
Cited – Mohamed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 2) Admn 29-Aug-2008
The claimant sought release of documents so that he could defend himself in a tribunal in the US. He said the documents would support his assertion that he had been subject to extraordinary rendition and had ‘disappeared’ for two years. Redactions . .
Cited – Mohamed, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (No 4) Admn 4-Feb-2009
In an earlier judgment, redactions had been made relating to reports by the US government of its treatment of the claimant when held by them at Guantanamo bay. The claimant said he had been tortured and sought the documents to support his defence of . .
Cited – Al Rawi and Others v The Security Service and Others QBD 18-Nov-2009
The claimants sought damages from the defendants saying that they had been held and ill treated at various detention centres by foreign authorities, but with the involvement of the defendants. The defendants sought to bring evidence before the court . .
Cited – Al Rawi and Others v The Security Service and Others CA 4-May-2010
Each claimant had been captured and mistreated by the US government, and claimed the involvement in and responsibility for that mistreatment by the respondents. The court was asked whether a court in England and Wales, in the absence of statutory . .
Cited – Al Rawi and Others v The Security Service and Others SC 13-Jul-2011
The claimant pursued a civil claim for damages, alleging complicity of the respondent in his torture whilst in the custody of foreign powers. The respondent sought that certain materials be available to the court alone and not to the claimant or the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Litigation Practice, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.86350

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Litigation Practice, Police

Radcliffe v Eden: 1776

Police Liabie for Damage to Furniture in Riot

The owners of furniture destroyed by rioters who entered a house and damaged it recovered compensation, even though the 1714 Act did not expressly mention furniture.
Lord Mansfield said: ‘To encourage people to resist persons thus riotously assembled, and to reward those, who, by doing their duty, shall have incurred their resentment, the same law has made a further provision, that as the trespassers are to be hanged, the country shall pay the damages; and this, by way of inducement to the inhabitants to be active in suppressing such riots, which it is their duty to do; and which being made their interest too, they are more likely to execute. This is the great principle of the law, that the inhabitants shall be in the nature of sureties for one another. It is a very ancient principle; as old as the decennaries by Alfred . .’

Lord Mansfield
(1776) 2 Cowp 486
Riot Act 1714
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Yarl’s Wood Immigration Ltd and Others v Bedfordshire Police Authority CA 23-Oct-2009
The claimant sought to recover the costs of damage to their centre following a riot, saying that under the 1886 Act, they were liable. It appealed against a ruling that they were unable to claim as a public authority, saying that the 1886 Act was . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Damages

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.377515

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Damages, Police

Abbassy v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis: CA 28 Jul 1989

The court considered what information had to be given to a suspect on his arrest.
Held: The question whether or not the information given is adequate has to be assessed objectively having regard to the information which is reasonably available to the officer. The person arrested is either told enough or he is not. The court set out a test for the validity of the jury’s conclusions: ‘ . . . a necessary inconsistency which would be sufficient to vitiate the trial on the basis that the jury must have based their deliberations on a false approach or otherwise been unreliable so as to justify a retrial.’
Woolf LJ said: ‘Whether or not the information which is given is adequate has to be assessed objectively having regard to the information which is reasonably available to the officer . . [Doing what a reasonable person would have done in the circumstances] involves informing the person who is arrested in non-technical and not necessarily precise language of the nature of the offence said to constitute the crime for which he is being arrested.’
Purchas LJ made it clear that the question whether sufficient reasons were given for the arrest was a question of fact not law.

Purchas LJ, Mustill LJ, Woolf LJ
[1990] 1 WLR 385, [1989] EWCA Civ 7, [1990] 1 All ER 193, (1989) 90 Cr App R 250
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Christie v Leachinsky HL 25-Mar-1947
Arrested Person must be told basis of the Arrest
Police officers appealed against a finding of false imprisonment. The plaintiff had been arrested under the 1921 Act, but this provided no power of arrest (which the appellant knew). The officers might lawfully have arrested the plaintiff for the . .
Cited – Wheatley v Lodge 1971
An arrest was found to have been lawful because the officer’s explanation was sufficient even though it could not have been understood by the suspect who was deaf. A police officer was required to take reasonable steps to communicate the fact of an . .

Cited by:
Cited – Taylor (A Child Proceeding By his Mother and Litigation Friend C M Taylor) v Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police CA 6-Jul-2004
The Chief Constable appealed aganst a finding that his officers had wrongfully arrested and imprisoned the claimant. The claimant was 10 years old when arrested, and complained that the officers had not properly advised him of the nature and purpose . .
Cited – Purchase v Thames Valley Police CA 11-Apr-2001
The defendant sought leave to appeal an award of damages for assault by four police officres on the claimant. The jury had been asked various questions about their conclusions on the facts. The defendant said the answers given were inconsistent.
Police, Torts – Other, Constitutional

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.198673

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Constitutional, Police, Torts - Other

Blackburn v Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis: CA 1968

By common law police officers owe to the general public a duty to enforce the criminal law. However, police are servants of no one but the law itself, and a chief officer of police has a wide discretion as to the manner in which the duty is discharged. It is for him to decide how available resources should be deployed, whether particular lines of inquiry should or should not be followed and even whether or not certain crimes should be prosecuted. It is only if his decision upon such matters is such as no reasonable chief officer of police would arrive at that someone with an interest to do so may be in a position to have recourse to judicial review. The police do not act under the direction of the Home Office or any other part of the Executive.

Lord Denning MR, Salmon LJ, Scarman LJ
[1968] 2 QB 118, [1968] 2 WLR 893
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Stratton, Regina (on The Application of) v Thames Valley Police Admn 7-Jun-2013
The claimant requested the court to set aside a caution accepted by her, when she said that she had not understood the serious consequences and had not admitted the offence.
Held: It was for each Chief Constable to draft his own policy, but . .
Cited – Robinson v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police SC 8-Feb-2018
Limits to Police Exemption from Liability
The claimant, an elderly lady was bowled over and injured when police were chasing a suspect through the streets. As they arrested him they fell over on top of her. She appealed against refusal of her claim in negligence.
Held: Her appeal . .
Cited – Belhaj and Another v Director of Public Prosecutions and Another SC 4-Jul-2018
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, . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.510703

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Police

Blackburn and Another v West Midlands Police: CA 6 Nov 2008

The claimants, female police officers, complained that male officers had received priority payments where they had received none. The defendant said that the payments were justified in achieving a proper aim, namely the encouragement of night working.
Held: The claimants’ appeal failed. The distinction was as to payments made to reward 24/7 working. This was a legitimate purpose. More male officers were ready to work such shifts than female officers. If the legitimate aim was to reward 24/7 working, it was difficult to see how that objective would be furthered if those who do not work 24/7 were also paid the same amount.

Scott Baker LJ, Maurice Kay LJ, Wilson LJ
[2008] EWCA Civ 1208, [2009] IRLR 135
Bailii
Equal Pay Act 1970 1, Police Regulations 2003 34
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – West Midlands Police v Blackburn and Another EAT 11-Dec-2007
EAT Equal Pay Act – Material factor defence
The claimant police officers received less than their male comparator doing like work. The reason was that he worked shifts involving night work and received a . .
Cited – Rainey v Greater Glasgow Health Board HL 27-Nov-1986
The House considered the scope of the ‘genuine material factor’ defence in section 1(3) of the Act where prima facie indirect discrimination exists and objective justification needs to be established.
Held: The House adopted the approach of . .
Cited – Autologic Holdings Plc and others v Commissioners of Inland Revenue HL 28-Jul-2005
Taxpayer companies challenged the way that the revenue restricted claims for group Corporation Tax relief for subsidiary companies in Europe. The issue was awaiting a decision of the European Court. The Revenue said that the claims now being made by . .
Cited – Bilka-Kaufhaus v Webers Von Hartz ECJ 13-May-1986
ECJ An occupational pension scheme which, although established in accordance with statutory provisions, is based on an agreement between the employer and employee representatives constitutes an integral part of . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Police, Discrimination

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.277563

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Discrimination, Police

Regina v Wayne Ward: CACD 29 Jul 1993

An interview took place when an appellant, who was later charged with dangerous driving and taking a motor vehicle without authority, was asked why he was hiding, to which he replied ‘I don’t want to get caught.’ He was then arrested for taking a conveyance without authority, to which he said, according to the officers, ‘Yes, mate, I just lost it’. Although that was disputed, one of the officers then said to the appellant, ‘Do you mean that you were driving?’ and according to the officer said, ‘Yes mate, I took a (inaudible) driving before.’
Held: The Court may consider the provisions of the PACE Codes of Practice with respect to an earlier breach when considering a later alleged breach. It is the nature and not the length of the questions which determines whether there is an interview. One question and answer can amount to an interview if put for the purposes of obtaining evidence about involvement in a criminal offence and which may be given to the court in a prosecution.

Morland J
Times 29-Jul-1993, (1993) 98 Cr App R 337
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 66
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Hughes v Director of Public Prosecutions Admn 12-Oct-2009
The defendant appealed against her conviction for aggravated vehicle taking. She was found near the scene of a road traffic accident involving a stolen car, and her fingerprint on an isnide rear window. She submitted that the officers had asked as . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Practice, Police

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.88256

Posted on November 1, 2021November 1, 2021 by dlsPosted in Criminal Practice, Police

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