The applicant complained that, having been convicted in Andorra, no provision availed for review of his detention in France where he served his sentence.
Held: There was no violation ‘The review required by article 5(4) is incorporated in the decision depriving a person of his liberty when that decision is made by a court at the close of judicial proceeding; this is so, for example, where a sentence of imprisonment is pronounced after ‘conviction by a competent court’ within the meaning article 5(1)(a) of the Convention. Only the ‘initial decision’ is contemplated, not ‘an ensuing period of detention in which new issues affecting the lawfulness of the detention might subsequently arise. However, article 5(4) sometimes requires the possibility of subsequent review of the lawfulness of detention by a court. This usually applies to the detention of persons of unsound mind within the meaning of paragraph 1(e), where the reasons initially warranting confinement may cease to exist: ‘…it would be contrary to the object and purpose of article 5 . . to interpret paragraph 4 thereof . . as making this category of confinement immune from subsequent review of lawfulness merely provided that the initial decision issued from a court’. The same principle applies to the detention ‘after conviction by a competent court’ mentioned in paragraph 1(a), but only in certain quite specific circumstances. These include, for example, the placing of a recidivist at the government’s disposal in Belgium, the continuing detention of a person sentenced to an ‘indeterminate’ or ‘discretionary’ life sentence in Great Britain and the detention for security reasons of a person with an underdeveloped or permanently impaired mental capacity in Norway.’
Citations:
(1995) 22 EHRR 153
Jurisdiction:
Human Rights
Cited by:
Cited – Giles, Regina (on the Application of) v Parole Board and Another HL 31-Jul-2003
The defendant had been sentenced for offences of violence, but an additional period was imposed to protect the public. He had been refused leave for reconsideration of that part of his sentence after he completed the normal segment of his sentence. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Human Rights
Updated: 28 July 2022; Ref: scu.185427
