Wright and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Another: HL 21 Jan 2009

The claimants had been provisionally listed as ‘people considered unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults’ which meant that they could no longer work, but they said they were given no effective and speedy opportunity to object to the listing. Typically the process took many months.
Held: The procedure asked only if the employer reasonably considered that misconduct had occurred. The scheme did not comply with Article 6(1). The process does not begin fairly, by offering the care worker an opportunity to answer the allegations made against her, before imposing upon her possibly irreparable damage to her employment or prospects of employment. The solution proposed by the Court of Appeal was inadequate to remedy the failing. The declaration of incompatibility was restored.

Lord Phillips of Worth Matravers, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood
[2009] UKHL 3, (2009) 12 CCL Rep 181, (2009) 106 BMLR 71, 26 BHRC 269, [2009] UKHRR 763, [2009] PTSR 401, [2009] HRLR 13, [2009] 1 AC 73, [2009] 2 WLR 267, [2009] 2 All ER 129
Bailii, HL, Times
Care Standards Act 2000 82, European Convention on Human Rights 6 8
England and Wales
Citing:
At first instanceWright and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health Secretary of State for Education and Skills Admn 16-Nov-2006
The various applicants sought judicial review of the operation of the Protection of Vulnerable Adults List insofar as they had been placed provisionally on the list, preventing them from finding work. One complaint was that the list had operated . .
Appeal fromWright and Others, Regina (on the Application of) v Secretary of State for Health and Another CA 24-Oct-2007
Where it was proposed to provisionally list care workers as been prevented from undertaking work with vulnerable adults or children, that worker should be given opportunity to make representations first. Provisional listing did engage article 6, but . .
CitedLe Compte, Van Leuven And De Meyere v Belgium ECHR 23-Jun-1981
Hudoc The Court was faced with a disciplinary sanction imposed on doctors which resulted in their suspension for periods between 6 weeks and 3 months: ‘Unlike certain other disciplinary sanctions that might have . .
CitedDogmoch v Germany ECHR 18-Sep-2006
An interim order may not engage the Convention in the same way as a finall order. . .
CitedZlinsat, Spol. SRO v Bulgaria ECHR 15-Jun-2006
The Sofia Public Prosecutor’s Office had ordered the suspension of the performance of a privatisation contract relating to an hotel. The office had acted under its criminal jurisdiction and had also brought a civil action. There had been no finding . .
CitedBakker v Austria ECHR 10-Apr-2003
Hudoc Judgment (Merits and just satisfaction) Violation of Art. 6-1 ; Pecuniary damage – claim rejected ; Non-pecuniary damage – finding of violation sufficient ; Costs and expenses (domestic proceedings) – claim . .
CitedRuna Begum v London Borough of Tower Hamlets (First Secretary of State intervening) HL 13-Feb-2003
The appellant challenged the procedure for reviewing a decision made as to the suitability of accomodation offered to her after the respondent had accepted her as being homeless. The procedure involved a review by an officer of the council, with an . .
CitedMarkass Car Hire Ltd v Cyprus ECHR 2-Jul-2002
The complaint was as to the length of the proceedings to set aside an ex parte interim order. The order was obtained on 31 March 1998 and under it the applicant was required to hand over to the plaintiff cars worth over andpound;Cyprus 500,000. It . .
CitedBryan v The United Kingdom ECHR 22-Nov-1995
Bryan was a farmer at Warrington in Cheshire. He built two brick buildings on land in a conservation area without planning permission and the planning authority served an enforcement notice for their demolition. He appealed on grounds (a) (that . .
CitedTsfayo v The United Kingdom ECHR 14-Nov-2006
The applicant challenged the prodecures for deciding her appeal against the council’s refusal to pay backdated housing benefits. She complained that the availability of judicial review of the decision was not adequate.
Held: The system did not . .
CitedRegina (Holding and Barnes plc) v Secretary of State for Environment Transport and the Regions; Regina (Alconbury Developments Ltd and Others) v Same and Others HL 9-May-2001
Power to call in is administrative in nature
The powers of the Secretary of State to call in a planning application for his decision, and certain other planning powers, were essentially an administrative power, and not a judicial one, and therefore it was not a breach of the applicants’ rights . .
CitedStefan v United Kingdom ECHR 1998
. .
CitedX v United Kingdom ECHR 19-Jan-1998
The complainant said that the system under which he had been declared unfit to be involved in the management of an insurance company was unfair. . .
CitedX v Iceland ECHR 18-May-1976
The right to respect for private life was held to ‘comprise also, to a certain degree, the right to establish and develop relationships with other human beings’. . .
CitedCountryside Alliance and others, Regina (on the Application of) v Attorney General and Another HL 28-Nov-2007
The appellants said that the 2004 Act infringed their rights under articles 8 11 and 14 and Art 1 of protocol 1.
Held: Article 8 protected the right to private and family life. Its purpose was to protect individuals from unjustified intrusion . .
CitedSidabras And Dziautas v Lithuania ECHR 27-Jul-2004
Former KGB officers complained that they were banned, not only from public sector employment, but also from many private sector posts. This ‘affected [their] ability to develop relationships with the outside world to a very significant degree, and . .
CitedTurek v Slovakia ECHR 14-Feb-2006
. .

Cited by:
CitedL, Regina (On the Application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis SC 29-Oct-2009
Rebalancing of Enhanced Disclosure Requirements
The Court was asked as to the practice of supplying enhanced criminal record certificates under the 1997 Act. It was said that the release of reports of suspicions was a disproportionate interference in the claimants article 8 rights to a private . .
CitedG, Regina (on The Application of) v X School and Others CA 20-Jan-2010
The claimant was a teaching assistant. A complaint had been made that he had kissed a boy having work experience at the school, but it had been decided that no criminal prosecution would follow. He sought judicial review of the school’s decision to . .
CitedBank Mellat v HM Treasury QBD 11-Jun-2010
The respondent had made an order under the Regulations restricting all persons from dealing with the the claimant bank. The bank applied to have the order set aside. Though the defendant originally believed that the Iranian government owned 80% of . .
CitedBirks, Regina (On the Application of) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis Admn 25-Sep-2014
The claimant police officer sought judicial review of a decision to continue his suspension. He had been investigated and cleared after a death in custody. He sought to join the Church of England Ministry and was offered a post. He was re-assured . .

Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Health Professions, Human Rights, Information

Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.280078