Dallas v The United Kingdom: ECHR 11 Feb 2016

Test for contempt was accessible and foreseeable.

The applicant had been convicted of contempt of court in that whilst acting as a juror, and in defiance of an explicit direction from the judge had researched the defendant in the internet, and passed on her findings to other jurors.
Held: the Divisional Court had decided that a specific intention was required on its understanding of what the common law was. The claim under article 7 was admissible, but that there had been no violation of article 7: ‘the test for contempt of court applied in the applicant’s case was both accessible and foreseeable. The law-making function of the courts remained within reasonable limits: the judgment rendered in her case can be considered, at most, a step in the gradual clarification of the rules of criminal liability for contempt of court through judicial interpretation. Any development of the law was consistent with the essence of the offence and could be reasonably foreseen.’

Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska, P
38395/12 (Judgment (Merits and Just Satisfaction) : Court (First Section)), [2016] ECHR 174
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 7
Human Rights
Citing:
At AdmnAttorney General v Dallas Admn 23-Jan-2012
The A-G, using RSC Order 52, sought a finding that the defendant was in contempt when, as a juror she had conducted internet research about the case, revealing her results to other jury members.
Held: She was in contempt. She had deliberately . .
Appeal fromTrail Riders Fellowship and Another, Regina (on The Application of) v Dorset County Council and Others CA 20-May-2013
The Fellowship had applied for orders upgrading public rights of way. The council rejected the applications saying that the digital mapping software used to repare the maps submitted were not compliant with the requirements of the legislation. They . .

Cited by:
CitedHM Solicitor General v Cox and Another QBD 27-May-2016
Applications for committal of the defendants for having taken photographs of court proceedings when their friend was being sentenced for murder and publishing them on Facebook. The SG urged that the offences had aggravating features taking the . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Contempt of Court

Leading Case

Updated: 11 November 2021; Ref: scu.559704