The plaintiff was serving a sentence of imprisonment. Her detention was correctly calculated in accordance with the law as understood. That method was later disapproved when the Divisional Court laid down (everyone has assumed correctly) a different method of calculation. If that new method of calculation was adopted the plaintiff had been detained for 59 days too long. The plaintiff claimed damages for false imprisonment.
Held: The retrospective effect of the change in the law produced by the last Divisional Court decision prevented the Governor from relying as a defence on the law as it had been declared by the earlier Divisional Court decisions which at the time of the 59 days’ detention laid down the relevant law. Court decisions on the application of rules for the calculation of ‘time served’ whilst a prisoner awaited trial are retrospective in effect. Damages for wrongful imprisonment were to be calculated on basis of the decision made subsequent to the prisoner’s release. The idea of the prospective overruling of a judgment has much to commend it.
Judges:
Lord Woolf MR, Judge LJ, Roch LJ (dissenting)
Citations:
Gazette 03-Sep-1998, Times 06-Jul-1998, [1998] EWCA Civ 1042, [1999] QB 1043
Links:
Statutes:
Criminal Justice Act 1991 33 41 51
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Appeal from – Regina v Governor of Her Majesty’s Prison Brockhill ex parte Evans (No 2) HL 27-Jul-2000
The release date for a prisoner was calculated correctly according to guidance issued by the Home Office, but case law required the guidance to be altered, and the prisoner had been detained too long. The tort of false imprisonment is one of strict . .
Cited – National Westminster Bank plc v Spectrum Plus Limited and others HL 30-Jun-2005
Former HL decision in Siebe Gorman overruled
The company had become insolvent. The bank had a debenture and claimed that its charge over the book debts had become a fixed charge. The preferential creditors said that the charge was a floating charge and that they took priority.
Held: The . .
Cited – Regina (Nadarajah) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Abdi v Secretary of State for the Home Department CA 22-Nov-2005
The asylum applicant challenged a certificate given by the respondent that the claim for asylum was manifestly ill-founded. The respondent had made a mistake in applying the appropriate policy, but had sought to correct the error. The claimants . .
Cited – AT and others v Dulghieru and Another QBD 19-Feb-2009
The claimants had been subject to unlawful human trafficking. Their abductors had been imprisoned, and they now sought damages. The court was asked now to assess the damages to be awarded for sexual enslavement. Each claimant suffered chronic post . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Torts – Other, Criminal Sentencing, Damages
Updated: 30 May 2022; Ref: scu.144521