Shelley v The United Kingdom: ECHR 4 Jan 2008

Discrimination on grounds of prisoner status was recognised as falling within ‘other’ status in Article 14: ‘[T]he Court would observe that being a convicted prisoner may be regarded as placing the individual in a distinct legal situation, which even though it may be imposed involuntarily and generally for a temporary period, is inextricably bound up with the individual’s personal circumstances and existence, as may be said, variously, of those born out of wedlock or married. Prisoners’ complaints do not therefore fall outside the scope of Article 14 on this ground. The legal status of a prisoner, is however, very relevant to the assessment of compliance with the other requirements of Article 14.’

Josep Casadevall, P
23800/06, [2008] ECHR 108, (2008) 46 EHRR SE16
Bailii
European Convention on Human Rights 14
Human Rights
Cited by:
CitedStewart v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions CA 29-Jul-2011
The court considered the arrangements for providing public support for the costs of funerals. The claimant’s son had died whilst she was in prison. Assistance had been refused because, as a prisoner, she was not receiving benefits. She complained . .
CitedStott, Regina (on The Application of) v Secretary of State for Justice SC 28-Nov-2018
Extended Determinate Sentence created Other Status
The prisoner was subject to an extended determinate sentence (21 years plus 4) for 10 offences of rape. He complained that as such he would only be eligible for parole after serving two thirds of his sentence rather than one third, and said that . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights, Prisons

Leading Case

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.264333