R (Kaiyam) v Secretary of State for Justice
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Master of the Rolls,Lord Justice Underhill,Lady Justice Macur |
| Judgment Date | 09 December 2013 |
| Neutral Citation | [2013] EWCA Civ 1587 |
| Docket Number | Case No: C4/2013/1572 & C1/2013/1147 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Date | 09 December 2013 |
[2013] EWCA Civ 1587
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT, QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION,
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
MR JUSTICE SUPPERSTONE
CO/10470/2012
C1/2013/1147
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT, QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
MRS JUSTICE LANG
CO/414/2012
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Master of the Rolls
Lord Justice Underhill
and
Lady Justice Macur
Case No: C4/2013/1572 & C1/2013/1147
C4/2013/1572
C4/2013/1572
Pete Weatherby QC and Vijay Jagadesham (instructed by Burton Copeland LLP) for the Appellant
Tom Weisselberg and Hanif Mussa (instructed by Treasury Solicitor) for the Respondent
C4/2013/1147
Hugh Southey QC and Jude Bunting (instructed by Michael Purdon Solicitors) for the Appellant
Tom Weisselberg and Hanif Mussa (instructed by Treasury Solicitor) for the Respondent
These two appeals concern claims arising from the continued detention of the appellants following the expiry of the "minimum terms" or "tariff periods" of their indeterminate terms of imprisonment. Once a minimum term of imprisonment has been served, the respondent is obliged to refer the case to the Parole Board and he must thereafter continue to do so at regular intervals until the prisoner is released. The Parole Board is required to direct that the prisoner is released once it is satisfied that it is no longer necessary for the protection of the public that he or she should remain in detention.
Mr Haney is currently serving an automatic life sentence, which was imposed on 13 November 2003 following his conviction for robbery. His minimum term of three years expired on 13 November 2012. He claims damages and a declaration that the respondent has violated his rights under articles 5(1) and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights ("the Convention") as a result of the delay in his transfer to open prison conditions (such transfer being a condition for his being realistically considered suitable for release by the Parole Board). He makes two complaints. First, he says that his continuing detention has been arbitrary and in breach of article 5(1). Secondly, he says that his detention has been in breach of article 14 in conjunction with article 5 in that he has been treated less favourably than a comparable "post-tariff" prisoner solely on the basis of his status as a "pre-tariff" ISP.
Mr Kaiyam was sentenced to imprisonment for public protection on 30 July 2006 for a minimum term of 2 years and 257 days. That sentence was imposed for a number of offences including robbery. His minimum term expired on 3 April 2009. He complains of the respondent's delay in providing him with a suitable course which would afford him a reasonable opportunity to reduce the risk of his reoffending and thereby persuade the Parole Board to direct his release. He claims that the resultant prolonged period of his detention gives rise to a breach of article 5(1) of the Convention in respect of which he claims damages and a declaration. He also claims that the delay in providing a suitable course constitutes a breach of a public law duty at common law in respect of which he claims declaratory relief (but not damages).
All these claims were rejected in the courts below. Both Lang J (in the case of Mr Haney) and Supperstone J (in the case of Mr Kaiyam) held that the decision of the House of Lords in R (James and others) v Secretary of State for Justice [2009] UKHL 22, [2010] 1 AC 553 obliged them to dismiss the claims for breach of article 5 of the Convention, notwithstanding that the ECtHR subsequently held in its decision reported at (2013) 56 EHRR 12 that the House of Lords decision was wrong. Lang J also held that the decision of the House of Lords in R (Clift and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] UKHL 54, [2007] 1 AC 484 obliged her to dismiss the claim for breach of article 14 (taken with article 5), notwithstanding that the ECtHR subsequently held in its decision in Application No 7205/07 (unreported, 13 July 2010) that this House of Lords decision was wrong too.
It is common ground that, in the light of Kay and others v Lambeth London Borough Council [2006] UKHL 10, [2006] 2 AC 465 paras 40 to 45, both judges were right to regard themselves as bound to follow the House of Lords decisions: It is not argued that this is an exceptional case which would justify departing from the general domestic rules of precedent. It is also clear that, although we are obliged to follow the House of Lords decisions, we can (but are not obliged to) review the Convention arguments and express our views on them.
The issues
Since it is accepted that we have no choice but to dismiss the Convention claims in both appeals, the issues before this court in relation to the Convention issues are narrow. They are (i) whether we should grant permission to appeal to the Supreme Court; and (ii) whether we should review the arguments and express our views about them. The additional issue arising in the case of Kaiyam is whether Supperstone J was right to dismiss his common law claim.
The Convention claims
Permission to appeal
The appellants say that we should grant permission to appeal. The respondent says that we should not do so.
In relation to the article 5(1) issue, Mr Weisselberg submits that (i) James is distinguishable from the case of Mr Haney (in particular because Mr Haney's case does not concern a failure to provide a prisoner with a course); and (ii) the ECtHR decision in James should not be followed inter alia because (a) the House of Lords reached the unanimous, emphatic and unqualified conclusion that the applicants' rights under article 5(1)(a) had not been violated; (b) the ECtHR decision was based on a misunderstanding of domestic law; and (c) the decision was otherwise "unclear and unsound": see Jones v Ministry of the Interior of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [2007] 1 AC 270 per Lord Bingham at para 18.
As regards article 14, the case advanced on behalf of Mr Haney is that, as a pre-tariff prisoner, he received different treatment from that accorded to post-tariff prisoners and this difference was on the grounds of "other status" within the meaning of article 14. In Clift, the House of Lords held that the classification of a prisoner as serving "a determinate sentence of 15 years or more (but less than life) was not a form of status protected by article 14 because article 14 was only intended to protect personal characteristics". The ECtHR disagreed. It is submitted on behalf of the respondent that permission to appeal should not be granted in relation to the article 14 issue since Mr Haney's claim should be dismissed in any event because (i) as regards the possibility of transfer to open conditions in order to assist in demonstrating safety for release, pre-tariff prisoners were not in a truly analogous situation to post-tariff prisoners; and (ii) any difference in treatment as between pre-tariff prisoners and post-tariff prisoners was objectively justified.
In relation to article 5(1), I accept that it is arguable that there are material factual differences between the case of Mr Haney and the James cases. But I am not persuaded that this means that the cases of Mr Haney (and certainly that of Mr Kaiyam) are unsuitable vehicles for the Supreme Court to resolve the conflict between our domestic jurisprudence and that of the ECtHR. I accept that a better case might turn up at some time in the future. But enquiries have been made and these have not indicated that any other case (let alone a better one) is in the pipeline. This important area of the law is currently in an unsatisfactory state. The problem can only be resolved by the Supreme Court. In my view, the sooner this is done the better. I see no point in putting the parties to the additional expense and delay that would be entailed in their having to seek permission to appeal from the Supreme Court itself.
It would make little sense to refuse permission to appeal in relation to the article 14 point, but grant it in relation to the article 5 point. In any event, in my view the Supreme Court should resolve the conflict between the domestic jurisprudence and that of the ECtHR here too. The facts of Mr Haney's case may not be ideal for this purpose, but I believe that they are good enough.
Should we review the arguments and express our views?
I recognise that there are some cases where it may be desirable for the Court of Appeal to consider the issues in detail, even where (i) binding authority requires it to decide the appeal in a certain way and (ii) it gives permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. A detailed analysis of the arguments may be of assistance to the Supreme Court, although the Court of Appeal is no better placed than the Supreme Court to address the issues. But I see little purpose in doing so in the particular circumstances of these appeals. The issue of whether the Supreme Court should follow either or both of the Strasbourg decisions in preference to its own (relatively recent) decisions is one pre-eminently for it to determine. Our courts are required by section 2(1) of the Human Rights Act 1998 to do no more than "take into account" the relevant Strasbourg jurisprudence. In these circumstances, whether the Supreme Court decides to follow Strasbourg raises policy...
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