R (A) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Judge | Lord Justice Goldring |
| Judgment Date | 07 July 2010 |
| Neutral Citation | [2010] EWCA Civ 939 |
| Docket Number | Case No: C1/2010/0716 |
| Date | 07 July 2010 |
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
(His Honour Judge Pearl)
Before: Lord Justice Goldring
Case No: C1/2010/0716
Mr Hugh Southey QC (instructed by Coninghams Solicitors) appeared on behalf of the Appellant.
The Respondent Did Not Appear And Was Not Represented.
Lord Justice Goldring:
This is a renewed application for permission to appeal the judgment of HHJ Pearl, who refused the applicant's application for judicial review.
The fundamental background can shortly be stated. The applicant, who had been convicted of murder, sought judicial review in respect of the Parole Board's refusal to grant his application for release under section 28 of the Crown Sentences Act 1998. An allegation against the applicant was that when out on licence he had been guilty of domestic violence; another allegation was that he was in breach of the conditions of his licence regarding work and residence.
As to the first suggestion, the Parole Board in its findings, as recounted in the decision letter, said this:
“The Panel is satisfied that there is evidence of domestic violence based upon the statement of Ms Ellis and her contemporaneous complaint to the police.”
Miss Ellis was Mr Allen's, the applicant's, partner at the time. In the next sentence, the Parole Board went on to say:
“The panel does not accept the explanation, first given in your evidence to the Panel, that this was her ploy to have you out of the property in order to improve her claim to benefit.”
The submission made by Mr Southey QC, as he now is, to HHJ Pearl, and repeated to me, is that the panel was not applying the correct standard of proof; namely, that it was satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the allegation of domestic violence was made out. It was merely setting out the fact that there was evidence of domestic violence and using that as part of the overall picture in deciding whether or not the applicant should be released on parole.
In his judgment rejecting Mr Southey's submission, the judge said this:
“Read in isolation, and adopting and applying a literal approach to those words, I have to say that I do agree with Mr Southey in his submissions. As indeed I understand Mr Dooley would concede, the words suggest that all that is needed to make a finding of domestic violence in these circumstances … is that, 'there is evidence of domestic violence', which is the way in which the panel chose to express itself. If that is what the Parole Board actually did in reaching its conclusion, then clearly there is an error of law.”
He went on to say this:
“It seems to me that the panel were faced with two conflicting stories as to what happened. They had, on the one hand, an extract from a statement provided by Miss Ellis … It is important to read out, in only in brief, an extract from that because at the end of that page is it said:
'As he [Mr Allen] came towards me, I was backing up into the spare room. Gary...
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting