The applicants were detained at Rampton. The form of detention denied the access to space in which they would be able to smoke cigarettes to comply with the law.
Held: The claim failed. The legislative objectives were sufficiently serious to support as rational the imposition of the rules. Having a mental illness is not a ‘status’ within human rights law. ‘there could be cases, though on the evidence we would expect them to be rare, in which the protection of mental health requires that facilities to smoke be made available. As the ECHR stated in Bensaid, mental health is associated with moral integrity and respect for mental stability may engage article 8. The Rampton policy document does provide for exceptions, though they appear to be of narrow ambit. A terminally-ill patient may not be able to venture outside. The expression ‘acute psychiatric condition’ is defined, with respect, imprecisely, as may be inevitable, but it does confer a discretion upon the responsible medical staff.’
Judges:
Pill LJ, Silber J
Citations:
[2008] EWHC 1096 (Admin), Times 28-May-2008, [2008] ACD 80, (2008) 11 CCL Rep 620, [2009] PTSR 218, [2008] UKHRR 788, [2008] MHLR 150, [2008] HRLR 42
Links:
Statutes:
Smoke-free (Exemption & Vehicles) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/765), Human Rights Act 1998, European Convention on Human Rights, Health Act 2007
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
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 – Niemietz v Germany ECHR 16-Dec-1992
A lawyer complained that a search of his offices was an interference with his private life.
Held: In construing the term ‘private life’, ‘it would be too restrictive to limit the notion of an ‘inner circle’ in which the individual may live his . .
Cited – Lopez Ostra v Spain ECHR 9-Dec-1994
A waste treatment plant was built close to the applicant’s home in an urban location and the plant released fumes and smells which caused health problems to local residents.
Held: A duty exists to take reasonable and appropriate measures to . .
Cited – Ostrovar v Moldova ECHR 13-Sep-2005
The ‘cumulative effects’ of conditions in a prison cell, which included ‘exposure to cigarette smoke’ were held to go beyond the ‘threshold of severity under article 3 of the Convention’. . .
Cited – Raninen v Finland ECHR 16-Dec-1997
The complainant had been handcuffed unjustifiably and in public but not with the intention of debasing or humiliating him and not so as to affect him sufficiently to attain the minimum level of severity.
Held: The application was rejected The . .
Cited – Moreno Gomez v Spain ECHR 16-Nov-2004
The court discussed the significance of article 8: ‘Article 8 of the Convention protects the individual’s right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. A home will usually be the place, the physically defined . .
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 – Regina v Sectretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Razgar etc HL 17-Jun-2004
The claimant resisted removal after failure of his claim for asylum, saying that this would have serious adverse consequences to his mental health, infringing his rights under article 8. He appealed the respondent’s certificate that his claim was . .
Cited – Wilson v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry; Wilson v First County Trust Ltd (No 2) HL 10-Jul-2003
The respondent appealed against a finding that the provision which made a loan agreement completely invalid for lack of compliance with the 1974 Act was itself invalid under the Human Rights Act since it deprived the respondent lender of its . .
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 – Botta v Italy ECHR 24-Feb-1998
The claimant, who was disabled, said that his Article 8 rights were infringed because, in breach of Italian law, there were no facilities to enable him to get to the sea when he went on holiday.
Held: ‘Private life . . includes a person’s . .
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 . .
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 – Regina (on the Application of Hunter) v Ashworth Hospital Authority Admn 30-Oct-2001
The court described the regime imposed at Ashworth Hospital as ‘inevitably intense for safety and security reasons. All high risk patients and newly-admitted patients are subject to a high degree of observation at all times. Regular checks are made . .
Cited – Stec and Others v United Kingdom ECHR 12-Apr-2006
(Grand Chamber) The claimants said that differences between the sexes in the payment of reduced earning allowances and retirement allowances were sex discrimination.
Held: The differences were not infringing sex discrimination. The differences . .
Cited by:
Cited – Oxonica Energy Ltd v Neuftec Ltd PatC 5-Sep-2008
The parties disputed the meaning of an patent and know how licence. The parties disputed whether the agreement referred to IP rights before formal patents had been granted despite the terms of the agreement.
Held: ‘The secret of drafting legal . .
Cited – McCann v The State Hospitals Board for Scotland SC 11-Apr-2017
A challenge by request for judicial review to the legality of the comprehensive ban on smoking at the State Hospital at Carstairs which the State Hospitals Board adopted. The appellant, a detained patient, did not challenge the ban on smoking . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Human Rights, Health
Updated: 09 August 2022; Ref: scu.267979