Regina on the Application of Uttley v Secretary of State for the Home Department: CA 30 Jul 2003

Licence conditions imposed at the time of sentence would restrict the defendant after he had served his sentence and been released, and so operated as a heavier penalty, and section 33(1) was incompatible with the defendant’s Art 7.1 rights.
Held: Before the 1991 Act, a prisoner was entitled to release after serving the necessary part of his sentence without additional conditions. Provisions for early release were part of the sentence, and were punitive in nature. Whether punitive or preventive, they operated to restrict the defendant.
Pill LJ said: ‘In my judgment the licence is plainly a part of the sentence originally imposed by the sentencing judge . . While licence conditions vary and in some cases will be more onerous than in others, it is not and cannot be disputed that conditions will inevitably be imposed which are impediments upon the offender’s freedom of action . . Arguments that the purpose of the licence procedures is rehabilitative and preventative, as undoubtedly in part they are, do not detract from their onerous nature viewed as part of the sentence. Whatever the purpose, the effect is onerous.’

Judges:

Lord Justice Pill Lord Justice Longmore Mr Justice Maurice Kay

Citations:

[2003] EWCA Civ 1130, Times 04-Aug-2003, [2003] 1 WLR 2590

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

Criminal Justice Act 1991 33(2), European Court of Human Rights A-7.1

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

Appeal fromRegina (Uttley) v Secretary of State for the Home Department Admn 8-Apr-2003
The court had to consider consider whether the application of statutory provisions requiring a prisoner to be released on licence, that were not applicable at the date of the offence, violated Article 7. The claimant had been sentenced to 12 years’ . .
CitedIbbotson v United Kingdom ECHR 1998
While the applicant was serving a sentence for possession of obscene material, the 1997 Act came into force, requiring him to register with the police. It was argued that the passing of the Act and its impact on the offender involved a ‘penalty’ . .
CitedWelch v United Kingdom ECHR 15-Feb-1995
The applicant was convicted in 1988 of drug offences committed in 1986. The judge passed a sentence of imprisonment but imposed a confiscation order pursuant to an Act that came into force in l987.
Held: The concept of penalty in Article 7 was . .
CitedEzeh and Connors v The United Kingdom ECHR 15-Jul-2002
The applicants were serving prisoners. They had been the subject of disciplinary proceedings in which they had been denied the right to representation. They claimed an infringement of their right to a fair trial.
Held: Both proceedings had . .
Appealed toUttley, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 30-Jul-2004
In 1995 the defendant was sentenced to twelve years for rapes committed in 1983. He complained that the consequences of the later sentence were adverse because of the 1991 Act. He would now serve three quarters of the sentence rather than two . .

Cited by:

Appealed toRegina (Uttley) v Secretary of State for the Home Department Admn 8-Apr-2003
The court had to consider consider whether the application of statutory provisions requiring a prisoner to be released on licence, that were not applicable at the date of the offence, violated Article 7. The claimant had been sentenced to 12 years’ . .
Appeal fromUttley, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department HL 30-Jul-2004
In 1995 the defendant was sentenced to twelve years for rapes committed in 1983. He complained that the consequences of the later sentence were adverse because of the 1991 Act. He would now serve three quarters of the sentence rather than two . .
CitedO’Dowd (Boy George) v National Probation Service London Admn 23-Dec-2009
Refusal of curfew relaxation was reasonable
The claimant had been released from prison early on licence subject to conditions including a home detention curfew. He was offered a place on a TV programme, Celebrity Big Brother, which would require relaxation or alteration of his place of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Criminal Sentencing, Human Rights

Updated: 03 September 2022; Ref: scu.185242