An Applicaiton for Judicial Review by the Landlords Association for Northern Ireland

JurisdictionNorthern Ireland
JudgeGirvan J
Judgment Date2005
Neutral Citation[2005] NIQB 22
CourtQueen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland)
Date14 March 2005
1
Neutral Citation No. [2005] NIQB 22
Ref:
GIRC5216
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
Delivered:
14/03/2005
(subject to editorial corrections)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION (JUDICIAL REVIEW)
________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY THE LANDLORDS
ASSOCIATION FOR NORTHERN IRELAND FOR LEAVE TO APPLY
FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW
________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY DECLAN BOYLE, ROBERT
GREER, GORDON JACKSON AND DAIRMID LAIRD FOR JUDICIAL
REVIEW
________
IN THE MATTER OF THE COMPATIBILITY OF THE EUROPEAN
CONVENTION ON HUGH RIGHTS WITH ARTICLE 75G OF THE
HOUSING (NORTHERN IRELAND) ORDER 1992 (AS EFFECTED BY
ARTICLE 144) AND SCHEDULE 3 OF THE HOUSING (NORTHERN
IRELAND) ORDER 2003
________
IN THE MATTER OF THE STATUTORY REGISTRATION SCHEME FOR
HOUSES IN MULTIPLE OCCUPATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND
MADE UNDER THE HOUSING (NORTHERN IRELAND) ORDER 2003
BY THE NORTHERN IRELAND HOUSING EXECUTIVE
________
GIRVAN J
Introduction
[1] There is an emerging body of law, anti-social behaviour law, which in
unique to the United Kingdom (See, for example, Collins and Cattermole in
their new textbook “Anti-social Behaviour Powers and Remedies”). This body
2
of law includes the pre-existing common law and statutory law, the recent
reforms in that field and embraces new laws which have the common aim of
regulating conduct in public so as to protect and enhance the communities
and the common good. The legislation and Scheme under consideration in
the present application form part of that corpus of law.
[2] In R v Crown Court at Manchester ex parte McCann [2003] 1 AC 787
the House of Lords had occasion to consider whether anti-social behaviour
orders (ASBOs) were civil orders for the purposes of convention law. In the
course of his speech Lord Steyn succinctly described the problem of anti-
social behaviour thus:
“It is well known that in some areas, notably urban
housing estates and deprived inner city areas, young
persons and groups of young persons cause fear and
distress and misery to law abiding and innocent
people by outrageous anti-social behaviour. It takes
many forms. It includes behaviour which is criminal
such as assaults and threats, particularly against old
people and children, criminal damage to individual
property and amenities of the community, burglary
and theft and so forth. Sometimes, the conduct falls
short of recognisable criminal offences. The culprits
are mostly but not exclusively male. Usually they are
relatively young… in recent years this phenomenon
became a serious social problem. There appears to be
a gap in the law. The criminal law offered insufficient
protection to communities. Public confidence in the
rule of law was undermined by the not unreasonable
view in some communities that the law had failed
them.”
[3] There is no question that people have the right to be protected against
harassment, alarm, distress and anti-social behaviour. Collins and
Cattermole point out that as an instance of so called communitarian policy
such provisions on occasions may not sit well with civil liberties or the
Human Rights Act 1998. The European Court of Human Rights has,
however, recognised as a feature of citizens’ rights under Article 8 of the
Convention that the state authorities may on occasions have a duty to take
steps to deal with what can be broadly termed third party nuisance
behaviour. In a recent decision Moreno-Gomez v Spain (Application No.
4143-02, 16 November 2004) (discussed in an article in the New Law Journal
on 18 February 2005) the court gave a decision on a complaint made against
Spain as a result of Valencia City Council’s failure to take steps to tackle noise
and vandalism near a person’s home. It followed a decision in Surugiu v
Romania (Application No. 48995-99, 20 April 2004) in which a complaint was

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4 cases
  • Tweed's Application (David) (No. 5)
    • United Kingdom
    • Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland)
    • 26 February 2009
    ...or physical, such as noise, emissions, smells and all forms of interference. In Re The Landlord’s Association for Northern Ireland [2006] NI 16 at Para [3] the court discussed the Strasbourg case law relating to the state’s obligations to deal with anti-social behaviour impacting on the pri......
  • In the matter of an application by Peter Neill for judicial review
    • United Kingdom
    • Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland)
    • 7 October 2005
    ...2004. The wider context of anti-social behaviour law [2] As I pointed out in my judgment in Re Landlords Association for Northern Ireland [2005] NIQB 22 there is an emerging body of law, anti-social behaviour law, which is unique to the United Kingdom (see for example Collins and Cattermole......
  • Speednet Communications Ltd v Public Utilities Commission
    • Caribbean Community
    • Caribbean Court of Justice
    • 9 December 2016
    ...Ireland's Application for Leave to Apply for Judicial Review; Re Boyle, Greer, Jackson and Laird's Application for Judicial Review [[2005] NIQB 22.] which involved an application for Judicial Review of a part of the Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 designed “to regulate the duties of l......
  • Speednet Communications Ltd Appellant v Public Utilities Commission Respondent
    • Caribbean Community
    • Caribbean Court of Justice (Appellate Jurisdiction)
    • 9 December 2016
    ...8) [40] (Sosa P); Record 216. 30 Halsbury's Laws (4th edn, 1995) (re-issue) vol 44(1), paras [1456] and [1464] (references omitted). 31 [2005] NIQB 22. 32 Ibid, 33 Ibid. [46]. 34 [2007] EWHC 2307 (Admin). 35 Ibid, [25]. 36 Reinhard Zimmermann, The Law of Obligations: Roman Foundation of the......
1 books & journal articles
  • Human Rights and the Law of Leases
    • United Kingdom
    • Edinburgh Law Review No. , May 2013
    • 1 May 2013
    ...behaviour having an “adverse affect on the area”.7474Landlords Association for Northern Ireland's Application for Judicial Review [2005] NIQB 22. This requirement was considered too wide to meet the test of legal certainty required by Convention rights, in addition to which, the potential P......

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