02. Anti-Terrorism

Naik, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2001] EWCA Civ 1546 (19 December 2011)

Freedom of expression curtailed for ‘unacceptable behaviour’ Naik, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2001] EWCA Civ 1546 (19 December 2011) Summary The England and Wales Court of Appeal has upheld a decision to refuse entry to the UK to an Indian national, finding that exclusion on the [...]

Rahmatullah v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs & Anor [2011] EWCA Civ 1540 (14 December 2011)

Court rules that UK must act to secure release of prisoner from notorious US prison Rahmatullah v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs & Anor [2011] EWCA Civ 1540 (14 December 2011) Summary On 14 December 2011, the England and Wles Court of Appeal overturned a decision of the High Court and issued [...]

Equality and Human Rights Commission v Prime Minister & Ors [2011] EWHC 2401 (Admin) (3 October 2011)

Government guidance for intelligent officers should recognise that ‘hooding’ will normally constitute torture or ill-treatment Equality and Human Rights Commission v Prime Minister & Ors [2011] EWHC 2401 (Admin) (3 October 2011) Summary The High Court of England and Wales has partially upheld claims by the Equality & Human Rights Commision and Mr Al Bazzouni [...]

Federation of Law Societies of Canada v Canada (Attorney General), 2011 BCSC 1270 (27 September 2011)

Solicitor-client privilege: sacred principle or conduit for crime? Federation of Law Societies of Canada v Canada (Attorney General), 2011 BCSC 1270 (27 September 2011) Summary In the context of international pressure on states to combat anti-money laundering and terrorism financing, the Supreme Court of British Columbia has held that limitations on solicitor-client privilege imposed by [...]

Home Office v Tariq [2011] UKSC 35 (13 July 2011)

Balancing the right to a fair and public hearing with national security Home Office v Tariq [2011] UKSC 35 (13 July 2011) Summary In this case, the United Kingdom Supreme Court considered the nature and scope of the right to a fair hearing and, in particular, the circumstances in which the nature of allegations against [...]

BB, R (on the application of) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission & Anor [2011] EWHC 336 (Admin) (25 February 2011)

Counter Terrorism and the Use of Undisclosed Evidence BB, R (on the application of) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission & Anor [2011] EWHC 336 (Admin) (25 February 2011) Summary This case considered procedural requirements in the hearing of bail applications made by persons detained on undisclosed national security grounds. The England and Wales High Court [...]

R v Ahmad, 2011 SCC 6 (10 February 2011)

Sufficient Flexibility to Preserve Right to Fair Trail R v Ahmad, 2011 SCC 6 (10 February 2011) Summary The Supreme Court of Canada has held that a two court scheme regulating the disclosure of information relating to international relations, national defence or national security in criminal proceedings does not violate the right to a fair trial. Properly [...]

Aydin v Germany [2011] ECHR 141 (27 January 2011)

Does Criminalisation of Support for an ‘Illegal’ Organisation Violate the Right to Free Expression? Aydin v Germany [2011] ECHR 141 (27 January 2011) Summary The applicant, a Turkish national, brought a claim in the European Court of Human Rights against the Federal Republic of Germany under Article 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights [...]

AN v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 869 (28 July 2010)

Control Orders and the Deprivation of Liberty AN v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 869 (28 July 2010) A recent decision before the England and Wales Court of Appeal has found that if a control order is legally flawed, or revoked by the Secretary of State, then it shall be [...]

Evans, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Defence [2010] EWHC 1445 (Admin) (25 June 2010)

Torture and the Transfer of Prisoners Evans, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Defence [2010] EWHC 1445 (Admin) (25 June 2010) Ms Evans, a peace activist, sought to stop the practice of British personnel transferring detainees to the Afghan authorities by arguing the practice exposed such transferees to a real risk [...]

Secretary of State for the Home Department v AP [2010] UKSC 24 (16 June 2010)

What Constitutes a Deprivation of Liberty? Secretary of State for the Home Department v AP [2010] UKSC 24 (16 June 2010) A recent decision of the UK Supreme Court has confirmed that certain control order restrictions may constitute a deprivation of liberty sufficient to engage the operation of art 5 of the European Convention on [...]

Habib v Commonwealth of Australia [2010] FCAFC 12 (25 February 2010)

‘Act of State Doctrine’ does not Apply when Grave Violations of Human Rights Alleged: Court Agrees to Consider Australia’s Obligations to Citizens Abroad Habib v Commonwealth of Australia [2010] FCAFC 12 (25 February 2010) On 25 February 2010, the Full Court of the Federal Court delivered a significant judgment that will allow the Court to [...]

Mohamed v Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs [2010] EWCA Civ 65 (10 Feb 2010)

Torture, Executive Accountability and the Rule of Law Mohamed v Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs [2010] EWCA Civ 65 (10 Feb 2010) On 10 February 2010, the Court of Appeal (the Lord Chief Justice, the Master of the Rolls and the President of the Queen’s Bench presiding) published its decision in the [...]

Canada (Prime Minister) v Khadr, 2010 SCC 3 (29 January 2010)

Human Rights and Foreign Policy: Supreme Court Considers Canada’s Obligation to Protect the Human Rights of Citizens Abroad Canada (Prime Minister) v Khadr, 2010 SCC 3 (29 January 2010) The Canadian Supreme Court has confirmed that Canadian officials breached Omar Khadr’s right to liberty and security of the person under s 7 of the Charter [...]

Secretary of State for the Home Department v AF [2010] EWHC 42 (Admin) (18 January 2010)

Control Orders, the Right to a Fair Hearing and Compensation for Unlawful Deprivation of Liberty Secretary of State for the Home Department v AF [2010] EWHC 42 (Admin) (18 January 2010) The England and Wales High Court recently held that non-derogating control orders imposed on two UK citizens under anti-terrorism legislation were void ab initio. [...]

Gillan and Quinton v United Kingdom [2009] ECHR 28 (12 January 2010)

European Court Holds that Stop and Search Powers Violate Privacy and are ‘Not in Accordance with Law’ Gillan and Quinton v United Kingdom [2009] ECHR 28 (12 January 2010) The European Court of Human Rights held that stop and search powers granted to police under the ss 44-47 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (UK) were [...]

Canada (Prime Minister) v Khadr, 2009 FCA 246 (14 August 2009)

Governmental Obligations in Foreign Affairs and to Citizens Abroad Canada (Prime Minister) v Khadr, 2009 FCA 246 (14 August 2009) A majority of the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal recently held that Canada’s discretion to decide whether and when to request the return of a Canadian citizen detained in a foreign country, a matter within [...]

Secretary of State for the Home Department v GG [2009] EWCA Civ 786 (23 July 2009)

Legality and the Presumption against the Abrogation of Fundamental Freedoms: Control Orders Cannot Abrogate Fundamental Rights without Express Authority Secretary of State for the Home Department v GG [2009] EWCA Civ 786 (23 July 2009) The Court of Appeal of England and Wales has considered the Home Secretary’s power to restrict a person’s liberty with [...]

Secretary of State for the Home Department v AF & Anor [2009] UKHL 28 (10 June 2009)

Right to a Fair Hearing, Control Orders and Counter-Terrorism Secretary of State for the Home Department v AF & Anor [2009] UKHL 28 (10 June 2009) Nine Lords of the House of Lords have unanimously followed the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (ECHR) in the decision of A v [...]

A and Ors v United Kingdom [2009] ECHR 3455/05 [Grand Chamber] (19 February 2009)

Prohibition against Arbitrary Detention and the Right to Procedural Fairness A and Ors v United Kingdom [2009] ECHR 3455/05 [Grand Chamber] (19 February 2009) In a case relating to the detention of non-national terror suspects in the UK, the European Court of Human Rights held that: detention pending deportation cannot be justified under art 5(1)(f) [...]

RB (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2009] UKHL 10 (18 February 2009)

House of Lords considers Human Rights Implications of Potential Torture of Terror Suspects RB (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2009] UKHL 10 (18 February 2009) In this case the House of Lords dismissed appeals by RB and U, Algerian nationals, from the Court of Appeal which had allowed their appeals from [...]

Secretary of State for the Home Department v JJ [2007] UKHL 45 (31 October 2007)

In a judgment handed down on 31 October 2007, the House of Lords held that obligations imposed on six men under control orders made by the Secretary of State under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 (UK) (‘PTA’), deprived those men of their liberty in violation of art 5 of the European Convention on Human [...]

Charkaoui v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2007 SCC 9

On 23 February 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act 2001 (Can) relating to the detention of permanent residents and foreign nationals on the basis that the provisions contravened the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The Canadian Parliament was given one year to rewrite the IRPA [...]