swarb.co.uk - law index
These cases are from the lawindexpro database. They are now being transferred to the swarb.co.uk website in a better form. As a case is published there, an entry here will link to it. The swarb.co.uk site includes many later cases.
Prisons - From: 1970 To: 1979
This page lists 12 cases, and was prepared on 02 April 2018.
Dorset Yacht Co Ltd v Home Office; HL 6-May-1970 - [1970] AC 1004; [1970] 2 WLR 1140; [1970] 2 All ER 94; [1970] UKHL 2
Becker v Home Office; CA 1972 - [1972] 2 QB 407
X v United Kingdom (Unreported 5 October 1972)
5 Oct 1972
ECHR
Human Rights, Prisons, Health
A complaint by a prisoner that as a mentally disordered person he should have been held in a psychiatric hospital rather than a prison was rejected as inadmissible.
1 Citers
Neumeister v Austria 1936/63; [1974] ECHR 1; [1974] ECHR 1; (1979) 1 EHRR 136; 1936/63
7 May 1974
ECHR
Pallierii P
Human Rights, Prisons, Damages
The applicant complained, inter alia, of the length of time he had spent in detention while on remand from 24 February to 12 May 1961, that is, two months and sixteen days, and from 12 July 1962 to 16 September 1964, that is two years, two months and four days. The Court had found that there had been a breach of Article 5(3) in that his detention had been continued for longer than a reasonable time. He was later convicted and sentenced by the Court in Austria, and the time spent on remand had been deducted in full from the time to be served. The court now considered the damages whoch might be awarded. Held: "Some losses must have followed from the excessive prolongation of the detention in question but it proves very difficult to isolate and unravel them from those which Neumeister and the Scherzinger company would have had to bear in any event. The Court does not find it necessary on this point to embark on additional proceedings. In effect, the time the applicant had spent in detention on remand was reckoned as part of his sentence and, more especially, he was granted remission of the remainder of his sentence". However, in spite of the measures already taken in favour of the applicant in Austria, the damage resulting from the breach of Article 5 (3) "in itself" in addition calls for some element of monetary compensation of which it is for the Court to assess the amount in the light of all the circumstances of the case. Here, the finding of a violation was sufficient to afford just satisfaction. The circumstances of the case included (i) that the detention on remand was justified, and (ii) that the period on remand had been deducted in full from the sentence.
European Convention on Human Rights
1 Cites
1 Citers
[ Bailii ] - [ Bailii ]
X v The United Kingdom; ECHR 20-Dec-1974 - 5442/72
Golder v The United Kingdom 4451/70; [1975] 1 EHRR 524; [1975] ECHR 1
21 Feb 1975
ECHR
Human Rights, Prisons
G was a prisoner who was refused permission by the Home Secretary to consult a solicitor with a view to bringing libel proceedings against a prison officer. The court construed article 6 of ECHR, which provides that "in the determination of his civil rights . . everyone is entitled to a fair . . hearing", as requiring a right of access to a solicitor. "Article 6(1) does not state a right of access to the courts or tribunals in express terms. It enunciates rights which are distinct but stem from the same basic idea and which, taken together, make up a single right not specifically defined in the narrower sense of the term. It is the duty of the Court to ascertain, by means of interpretation, whether access to the courts constitutes one factor or aspect of this right . . The principle whereby a civil claim must be capable of being submitted to a judge ranks as one of the universally 'recognised' fundamental principles of law; the same is true of the principle of international law which forbids the denial of justice. Article 6(1) must be read in the light of these principles . . It follows that the right of access constitutes an element which is inherent in the right stated by Article 6(1)."
European Convention on Human Rights 6-1
1 Citers
[ Bailii ] - [ Bailii ]
Hess v United Kingdom; ECHR 28-May-1975 - DC 138; 6231/73
Engel And Others v The Netherlands (1); ECHR 8-Jun-1976 - 5101/71; 5354/72; 5102/71; 5370/72; [1976] ECHR 3; 5100/71; (1976) 1 EHRR 647
X and Y v Switzerland (1978) 13 DR 241
1978
ECHR
Human Rights, Prisons
The court considered the denial to a husband and wife of the opportunity to enjoy sexual relations while they were both in prison.
European Convention on Human Rights 12
1 Citers
Regina v Board of Visitors of Hull Prison, Ex parte St Germain (No 2); CA 1979 - [1979] QB 425; [1979] 3 All ER 545; [1979] 1 WLR 1401
Abbott v The Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago and Others [1979] UKPC 15
12 Jun 1979
PC
Criminal Sentencing, Prisons
Trinidada and Tobago
1 Cites
[ Bailii ]
X v The United Kingdom 8575/79
14 Dec 1979
ECHR
Human Rights, Prisons
(Commission - Plenary) - Inadmissible - article 6 inapplicable. The categorisation of a prisoner is "administrative" rather than a determination of disputes about civil rights.
European Convention on Human Rights 6
1 Citers