Szula v United Kingdom: ECHR 4 Jan 2007

A complaint was brought of sexual and physical abuse whilst a minor during the time that he was in a residential approved school.
Held: The applicant’s claim was inadmissible. It was concluded that there was ‘no indication that the authorities showed any lack of diligence or expedition’ in the investigation of his allegations. The court expressly recognised that the criminal law prohibited the physical and sexual abuse alleged by the applicant.
The court, after reviewing steps taken by police and prosecuting authorities, also said: ‘While that sequence of events was somewhat unfortunate, the court does not consider that it discloses any culpable disregard, discernible bad faith or lack of will on the part of the police or prosecuting authorities as regards properly holding perpetrators of serious criminal offences accountable pursuant to domestic law.’

Citations:

18727/06, [2007] ECHR 86

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

European Convention on Human Rights

Jurisdiction:

Human Rights

Cited by:

CitedCommissioner of Police of The Metropolis v DSD and Another SC 21-Feb-2018
Two claimants had each been sexually assaulted by a later notorious, multiple rapist. Each had made complaints to police about their assaults but said that no effective steps had been taken to investigate the serious complaints.
Held: The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Human Rights

Updated: 09 July 2022; Ref: scu.248419