(High Court of Ireland) The council had sought possession of its tenant. The agreement contained a clause allowing the council to terminate on four-weeks’ notice. It said the tenant’s son misused drugs. Section 62 of the Housing Act 1966 established a summary procedure allowing a public authority landlord a warrant for possession without any defence or factual dispute being considered.
Held: Laffoy J said that the tenant’s case fell squarely within the core principles established by the judgments of the ECHR and was an exceptional case.
Judicial review was inadequate as a remedy because it did not address any dispute as to the facts: ‘Accordingly, in the light of the decisions of the ECHR in Connors and Blecic the procedure provided for in s. 62, under which a warrant for possession is issued by the District Court against the tenant of a housing authority on the grounds of breach of the tenant’s tenancy agreement, without affording the tenant an opportunity where there is a dispute as to the underlying facts on which the allegation is based to have the decision to terminate reviewed on the merits, by the District Court or some other independent tribunal, cannot be regarded as proportionate to the need of the housing authority to manage and regulate its housing stock in accordance with its statutory duties and the principles of good estate management.’
A declaration of incompatibility was made under Section 5 of the Human Rights Act 2003.
Judges:
Laffoy J
Citations:
[2008] IEHC 288, 2005 3513 P
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – McCann v The United Kingdom ECHR 13-May-2008
The applicant and his wife were secure joint tenants of a house of a local authority under section 82. Their marriage broke down, and the applicant’s wife moved out of the house with the two children of the marriage. She returned after obtaining a . .
Cited by:
Cited – Coombes, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Another Admn 8-Mar-2010
The landlord council brought proceedings for possession. The tenant (C) had remained in possession after his mother’s death, but enjoyed no second statutory succession. He had lived there since 1954 when he was six. C sought a declaration of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
European, Housing, Human Rights
Updated: 07 December 2022; Ref: scu.414888
