R (Catt) v Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Another; R (T) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 04 March 2015 |
| Date | 04 March 2015 |
| Court | Supreme Court |
Supreme Court
Before Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Baroness Hale of Richmond, Lord Mance, Lord Sumption and Lord Toulson
The retention of details of a person's attendances at political protest meetings on a police "domestic extremism" database, although an interference with that person's right to privacy under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, could be justified as being proportionate to the objec tive of maintaining public order and preventing or detecting crime.
Similarly, the retention on a police database for a number of years of a "prevention of harassment" warning letter issued to someone who had allegedly made an homophobic insult to another person could be justified by the need of the police in harassment cases to know if there had been previous alle gations.
The Supreme Court so held (Lord Toulson dissenting in part) in allowing appeals by the defendants, the Association of Chief Police Officers of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, against the decisions of the Court of Appeal (Lord Dyson, Master o f the Rolls, Lord Justice Moore-Bick and Lord Justice McCombe)WLR ([2013] 1 WLR 3305) which had allowed appeals in judicial review proceedings: (i) By the claimant, John Oldroyd Catt, from the decision of the Queen's Bench Divisional Court (Lord Justice Gross and Mr Justice Irwin)UNK ([2012 ] EWHC 1471 (Admin)) refusing to make a declaration that references to him on a national domestic extremism database breached his article 8 rights and should be deleted.
(ii) By the claimant, T, from the decision of Mr Justice Eady in the Administrative CourtWLR ([2012] 1 WLR 2978) refusing her claim, inter alia, that the retention of a prevention of harassment warning letter to her breached her article 8 rights. Mr Jeremy Johnson, QC and Ms Georgina Wolfe fo r the defendants in both appeals; Mr Tim Owen, QC, Ms Alison Macdonald and Mr RaJ Desai for Mr Catt; Mr Paul Bowen, QC, Ms Ruth Brander and Ms Zarah Al-Rikabi for T; Mr Alex Bailin, QC and Mr Dan Squires for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, intervening in the Catt case; Mr Jason Coppel, QC and Mr Robin Hopkins for the Secretary of State for the Home Department, intervening in both cases. The Network for Police...
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