R (Morris) v Westminster City Council (No 3)
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 07 October 2004 |
| Neutral Citation | [2004] EWHC 2191 (Admin) |
| Date | 07 October 2004 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
Before Mr Justice Keith.
Housing - local authority discriminating against parent with child subject to immigration control
A council discriminated against a parent with a dependent child subject to immigration control because it did not treat her as having a priority need for accommodation where a parent with a dependent child not subject to immigration control would have been treated as having such a priority need.
Mr Justice Keith so held in the Queen's Bench Division, when (i) allowing a claim for judicial review by Sylviane Pierrette Morris of Westminster City Council's refusal of her application under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 for accommodation on the basis that she could not rely on the need to accommodate her daughter as giving her a priority need for accommodation because it was thought that her daughter was not eligible for British citizenship, and (ii) granting a declaration of incompatibility of section 185(4) of the Housing Act 1996 with article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
That subsection required a person from abroad who was not eligible for housing to be disregarded when determining whether another perswon had a priority need for accommodation.
Mr Matthew Hutchings for Mrs Morris; Mr David Warner for Westminster; Ms Lisa Giovannetti for the First Secretary of State, as an interested party.
MR JUSTICE KEITH said that the claimant and her daughter came to the United Kingdom from Mauritius. The claimant obtained a British passport but her daughter was not thought eligible for British citizenship.
The facts of the case fell within the ambit of the right to respect for their home and family life under article 8 of the Convention, and so engaged article 14 of the Convention which permitted that right to be enjoyed without discrimination.
There was a difference in treatment between...
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