Mr Charles Ayeh-Kumi v The Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Master McCloud |
| Judgment Date | 09 June 2021 |
| Neutral Citation | [2021] EWHC 1564 (QB) |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
| Docket Number | QB-2019-000498 |
| Date | 09 June 2021 |
[2021] EWHC 1564 (QB)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
Master McCloud
QB-2019-000498
REPRESENTATION
For the Claimant: Mr Charles Ayeh-Kumi in person.
For the Defendants: Mr Daniel Cashman of counsel, instructed by the Government Legal Department.
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
Domestic authorities referred to:
Glebe Sugar Refining Company Ltd v The Trustees of the Port and Harbours of Greenock [1921] 2 AC 66 (HL)
Von Lorang v Administrator of Austrian Property [1927] AC 641
John v Rees [1970] Ch 345
Black Clawson International Ltd v Papierwerke AG [1975] 1 All ER 810
R v Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, ex parte Hook [1976] EWCA Civ J0220-5
Brenner Vulkan Schiffbau and Maschinenfabrik v South India Shipping Corp. [1981] AC 909, HL
Fothergill v Monarch Airlines Ltd. [1981] AC 251
Hunter v Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police [1982] AC 529 (HL)
O'Reilly v Mackman [1983] 2 AC 237
R v Lancashire County Council ex p. Huddleston [1986] 2 All ER 941
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex p Fire Brigades Union [1995] UKHL 3
Thomas v Thomas [1995] 2 FLR 668
R v Director of Public Prosecutions, ex parte Kebilene and Others [1999] UKHL 43
R v Director of Public Prosecutions, ex parte Rechah, [2000] 2 AC 326
Arrow Nominees Inc & Anor v Blackledge & Ors [2000] EWCA Civ 200
Hamilton v Al Fayed [2000] UKHL 18; [2000] 2 All ER 224
Johnson v Gore Wood & Co. [2000] UKHL 65
Swain v Hillman [2001] 1 All ER 91
Three Rivers District Council v Governor and Company of The Bank of England [2001] UKHL 16
Bellinger v Bellinger [2003] UKHL 21
Attorney General's Reference No 3 of 2003 [2004] EWCA Crim 868
Campbell v MGN Ltd [2004] 2 AC 457
Harb v King Fahd (DCA intervening) [2005] EWCA Civ 1324
Miller v Miller; McFarlane v McFarlane [2006] UKHL 24
Kay and others and another (FC) v London Borough of Lambeth and others [2006] UKHL 10
Re P and others (AP) (Appellants) (Northern Ireland) [2008] UKHL 38
McCartney v McCartney [2008] EWHC 401 (Fam)
Moseley v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2008] EWHC 1777 (QB)
Aktas v Adepta [2010] EWCA 1170
McLaughlin, Martin and Davis v Lambeth Council [2010] EWHC 2726
Ministry of Defence v AB [2012] UKSC 9
SS v NS (Spousal Maintenance) [2014] EWHC 4183 (Fam)
HRH Prince Abdulaziz Bin Mishal Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud v Apex Global Management Ltd [2014] UKSC 64
Alpha Rocks Solicitors v Alade [2015] WLR 4534
Hart v Hart [2016] EWCA Civ 497 (24 May 2016)
Billington v Davies & Anor [2016] EWHC 1919 (Ch)
Owens v Owens [2017] EWCA Civ 182
Dawes and Beedle v Dawes and Dawes, [2017] (unreported)
SW & TW (Human Rights Claim: Procedure) (No1) [2017] EWHC 450 (Fam)
In the matter of an application by Denise Brewster for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2017] UKSC 8
R (on the application of Kay and another) v Leeds Magistrates' Court and Another [2018] EWHC 1233 (Admin)
R (Citizens UK) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 1812
Saeed & Another v Ibrahim & Others [2018] EWHC 3 (Ch) (09 January 2018)
The Queen on the application of The Law Society and The Lord Chancellor [2018] EWHC 2094 (Admin)
Cherry QC MP v Advocate General [2019] CSIH 49
R (Miller) v The Prime Minister; Cherry & ors v Advocate General for Scotland [2019] UKSC 41
Kings Security Systems Ltd v King & Anor [2021] EWHC 325 (Ch)
ECtHR authorities referred to:
Golder v United Kingdom, 4451/70, [1975] 1 EHRR 524, [1975] ECHR 1
Marckx v Belgium (1979) 2 EHRR 330
The Sunday Times v United Kingdom (1979–80) 2 EHRR 245
Airey v Ireland, 9 October 1979
Young, James and Webster v. United Kingdom — 7601/76; 7806/77 [1981] ECHR 4 (13 August 1981)
Silver And Others v United Kingdom: ECHR 25 1983
Malone (James) v United Kingdom, App No 8691/79 (A/82), [1984] ECHR 10
X and Y v. The Netherlands App No 8978/80 (A/91) (Official Case No) [1985] ECHR 4 (Neutral Citation)
H. v. Belgium ECHR 30 Nov 1987
Dombo Beheer B.V. v The Netherlands App No 14448/88 [1993] ECHR 49
Buckley v United Kingdom (1996) 23 EHRR 101
Mabey v United Kingdom (1996) 22 EHRR CD 123
McGinley and Egan v United Kingdom, 9 June 1998, Reports 1998 III
O'Rourke v United Kingdom [2001] no. 39022/97 (unreported) 26 June 2001
Edwards v United Kingdom 46477/99 [2002] ECHR 303. para. 34
Glass v United Kingdom, no. 61827/00, §§ 74–83, ECHR 2004 II
Roche v United Kingdom [GC], no. 32555/96, § 162, ECHR 2005 X)
Copland v United Kingdom [2007] ECHR 253
McFarlane v Ireland [2010] ECHR 1272
In A, B and C v Ireland [2010] (Application no. 25579/05)
Legislation referred to:
Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, ss.1, 23, 25
Human Rights Act 1998, ss. 6–9, Schedule 1 (ECHR)
Constitutional Reform Act 2005
Hansard references:
1995 – November – Lord Chancellor's statement to the House of Lords.
1996 – Lords – Hansard, 4 March — Quickie Divorce and Unreasonable Behaviour
2017 — Divorce (Financial Provision) Bill [HL] (Second Reading 27th January)
2018 – Divorce (Financial Provision) Bill [HL] (Second Reading 11th May)
2020 – Lord Farmer — Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill [HL]; Volume 802: 3rd March, col 578
Other materials referred to:
Law Society (1979), A Better Way Out
The Financial Consequences of Divorce: The Basic Policy (Law Com. No. 103) (1980)
The Financial Consequences of Divorce, (Law Com. No. 112) (1981)
Law Society (1982), A Better Way Out Reviewed
Gwynn Davis and Mervyn Murch, 1988, Grounds for Divorce
Facing The Future, A Discussion Paper On The Grounds For Divorce, (Law Com No.170) (1988)
Family Law – The Ground for Divorce (Law Com. No. 192) (1990)
Looking to the Future, Mediation and the ground for divorce, presented to Parliament by the Lord Chancellor (1995)
Davis and Murch (1998), Grounds for Divorce – Clarendon Press, Oxford, ISBN-10: 019825220X
Newcastle Centre for Family Studies (2004), Picking Up The Pieces: Marriage and Divorce Two Years After Information Provision. Accessible at:
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.dca.gov.uk/pubs/reports/family2 004-webpageintro.htm
Lord Bingham in his Sixth Sir David Williams lecture in 2006. Accessible at:
https://www.cpl.law.cam.ac.uk/sir-david-williams-lectures/rt-hon-lord-bingham-cornhill-kg-rule-law
Lord Bingham (2007), ‘The Rule of Law’ Penguin; ISBN-10: 014103453X
Professor Dame Hazel Genn “Judging Civil Justice” 2008 Hamlyn Lectures
Conduct Guide Issued by the Treasury Solicitors Department, January 2010
The European Commission on Democracy Through Law in 2011; accessible at: https://www.venice.coe.int/WebForms/pages/?p=02_Rule_of_law&lang=EN
“Family Law: Text, Cases and Materials” by Sonia Harris-Short (Oxford University Press) 2011 ISBN-10: 0199563829
Council of Europe/European Court of Human Rights, 2013; Guide on Article 6 of the ECHR – Right to a fair trial (civil limb)
Matrimonial Property, Needs and Agreements – (Law Com. No. 343) (2014)
No Contest: Defended Divorce in England and Wales by Professor L. Trinder of Exeter University with M Sefton (Nuffield Foundation — 2018) Accessible at:
https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/about/publications/no-contest-defended-divorce-in-england-wales
Trinder & Sefton (2018), No Contest: Defended Divorce in England & Wales
“Reducing family conflict: Government response to the consultation on reform of the legal requirements for divorce” (2018)
Buzzfeed, “A Culture of Deception and Misdirection”. January 5, 2019
The Rt. Hon. Robert Buckland QC MP swearing in speech as Lord Chancellor in July 2019. Accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/lord-chancellor-swearing-in-speech-robert-buckland-qc
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) principles. Accessible at: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/standards-regulations/principles/
CPS, Misconduct in Public Office. Accessible at: https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/misconduct-public-office
By this claim issued on 12 February 2019 Mr Ayeh-Kumi claims against the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice (and therefore effectively against the UK State) remedies in respect of what he alleges are infringements inter alia of the European Convention on Human Rights as incorporated into the law of this jurisdiction by the Human Rights Act 1998. It is trite but since this judgment will be the subject of law reporting in the press I remind the reader that the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights have no connection with the EU or European Union,...
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