The defendant had appeared in court on a charge of assault. The magistrate considered that he might be unruly and withoutmore bound him over to keep the peace. In the absence of any surety, he was committed to custody.
Held: The proceedings infringed the defendant’s human rights. His liberty was at stake, and he was entitled to representation. A court needed to be sure that such an order did not amount to an automatic sentence of imprisonment.
Citations:
Times 19-Nov-2004, 42317/98, [2004] ECHR 628
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina v Clerkenwell Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, Ex Parte Hooper Admn 28-Jan-1998
A Court requiring a surety before binding a defendant over must give the defendant an opportunity to make representations before rejecting that surety. . .
Cited – Benham v United Kingdom ECHR 8-Feb-1995
Legal Aid was wrongfully refused where a tax or fine defaulter was liable to imprisonment, and the lack of a proper means enquiry, made imprisonment of poll tax defaulter unlawful. A poll tax defaulter had been wrongly committed to prison by . .
Cited by:
Cited – Greenfield, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 16-Feb-2005
The appellant had been charged with and disciplined for a prison offence. He was refused legal assistance at his hearing, and it was accepted that the proceedings involved the determination of a criminal charge within the meaning of article 6 of the . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Human Rights
Updated: 27 June 2022; Ref: scu.219859