In the matter of an application by William McFarland for Judicial Review
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Carswell LCJ |
| Judgment Date | 28 June 2002 |
| Neutral Citation | [2002] NICA 28 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 28 June 2002 |
Neutral Citation No. (2002) NICA 28
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)
IN HER MAJESTY’S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
______
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY WILLIAM McFARLAND
FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW
______
BEFORE: CARSWELL LCJ, CAMPBELL LJ, WEATHERUP J
_____
CARSWELL LCJ
[1] This is an appeal against a decision given by Kerr J on 12 February 2002,
whereby he refused the appellant’s application for judicial review of a
decision by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland refusing to grant him
compensation for a period of imprisonment served by him on foot of a
conviction in the magistrates’ court which was subsequently quashed by a
Divisional Court. At the conclusion of the argument, which we heard on 11
June, we dismissed the appeal, with reasons to be given at a future date. This
judgment now contains our reasons for that decision.
[2] The facts are fully set out in the reported decision of the Divisional
Court in Re McFarland’s Application [2000] NI 403, in which the court set aside
the appellant’s conviction and sentence for indecent assault, on the ground
that a remark by the resident magistrate who dealt with the matter had
misled the appellant and his counsel and accordingly the appellant’s plea of
guilty had been vitiated by a lack of true consent. We do not propose in this
judgment to repeat the statement of facts set out at pages 405-7 of the
Divisional Court’s judgment and would adopt and refer to it where required.
[3] Compensation has for many years been paid ex gratia in exercise of the
prerogative power to a limited class of persons detained in custody as the
result of a wrongful conviction. Successive Home Secretaries have followed
this practice in what they classed as exceptional cases. On 29 November 1985
the then Home Secretary the Rt Hon Douglas Hurd MP made a statement in
the House of Commons concerning the practice which he proposed to operate
thenceforth, which sought to implement the Government’s treaty obligations
under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (the Covenant):
Ref: CARC3735
Delivered: 28/06/2002
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