Othman - High Court ruling

Judgment has been given in R (Othman) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission and others [2012] EWHC 2349 Admin (Hughes LJ and Silber J).  The claimant is in immigration detention pending deportation. On 31 July the court heard, expedited, Othman's combined applications for habeas corpus and for permission to seek judicial review arising from his detention and from the decision of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (“SIAC”) (Mitting J), given on 28 May 2012, to refuse him bail. The court refused the applications and, in this judgment, set out their reasons.  As Hughes LJ noted - "There has been a prodigious litigation history to this claimant’s position in this country."

Earlier posts on this case are at 6th March 2012 ...... 19th April 2012 ..... 9th May 2012

As chairman of SIAC, Mitting J has now fixed a two week hearing for October of this year at which SIAC will adjudicate upon the factual question whether the obstacle to deportation identified by the ECtHR continues to exist or not.   The British government argues that assurances now provided by the Jordanian Government, plus events which have taken place in Jordan, mean that the claimant can lawfully be deported consistently with the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights.  The real risk that the claimant will face evidence which is the product of torture can now, the Home Secretary argues, be seen not to be present.

See European Journal of International Law - "Diplomatic assurances: Torture and Extradition: The case of Othman (Abu Qatada) v United Kingdom"

Stories in the media ~ Disorder ~ Foreign jails ~ Extreme porn ~ Lords reform

The August 2011 disorder is back in the news with the sentencing of 16 offenders.  See The Guardian 9th August 2012 which gives details of the offenders, the offences committed and the individual sentences.  The Daily Mail 9th August covers the same story but places emphasis on the point that one of the offenders - Nasir Muhsen - had been housed in accommodation which would merit a rent of some £6000 monthly on the open market.  The Mail also reports that - "In extraordinary scenes, many of the defendants, aged between 15 and 25, whooped with joy, shouting obscenities and laughing as the judge passed sentence."  In recent years there have been a number of instances of defendants behaving in a manner which almost certainly amounts to a contempt committed in the face of the court.  As far as I know, no additional action has been taken against any such defendant.  Maybe it is time for the authorities to have a think about this?

Mr Trevor Reeves of the Reeves furniture store in Croydon has published an article in The Guardian 9th August.   This is an article well worth reading.  Some positive things emerged as a result of the disorder.   Mr Reeves wrote -

House of Lords Reform Bill abandoned

"Politics is the art of the possible"

The House of Lords Reform Bill has been abandoned for this Parliament - see the announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg. 

Lords reform has been considered in several posts on this blog.  It was the Parliament Act 1911 which declared the intention to move to an elected Chamber but major reform of the type proposed in the Reform Bill has proved to be extremely elusive.

Previous posts: 17th May 2010 - 17th May 2011 - 20th May 2011 - 30th June 2012 - 11th July 2012

The various attempts at reform are set out in the 20th May 2011 post - "Plantagenet Palliser - after 100 years, will Lords reform arrive."

It may be that, as in the past, more limited reforms will find support.  Currently in the list of active Bills is Lord Steel of Aikwood's House of Lords (Cessation of Membership) Bill which will provide that

R v Iftikhar Ahmed and Farzana Ahmed

" ... your concern about being shamed in your community was greater than your love of your child ..." - Mr Justice Roderick Evans

Few crimes shock as much as the murder by a parent of their child.  At the Crown Court in Chester - before Mr Justice Roderick Evans and a jury - Iftikhar Ahmed and Farzana Ahmed were convicted of murdering their daughter Shafilea who was, in the judge's words, "a determined, able and ambitious girl."  The sentencing remarks of the judge have been published via the Judiciary website.

Shafilea was killed on 11th September 2003 and the killing (by suffocation) was done in front of the other children of the family.  Prior to that date, Shafilea had suffered terribly at the hands of her parents - The Guardian 3rd August 2012.  After the killing, the parents attempted to conceal the body and also lied to the Coroners Court.  They also attempted unsuccessfully to have the verdict of unlawful killing overturned and replaced by an open verdict.  Iftikhar Ahmed argued that the coroner's view was 'biased'.

Sentencing had to be in accordance with the sentencing regime in force at the time of of the killing that is, the regime in force after 31st May 2002 and before 18th December 2003.  

The sentence for murder is a fixed sentence

The Olympics ~ related offending

Stratford Magistrates' Court

A District Judge (Magistrates' Courts) has been sitting at Stratford, London to deal with cases arising in connection with the Olympic Games - Duncan Campbell writing in The Guardian 1st August 2012 - "Olympic fast-track court at Stratford Magistrates."  Mr Campbell reports on a few of the cases which he observed.   The idea of a court sitting to deal rapidly with these cases is a legacy of the way in which (mainly) District Judges were used to deal with the disorder in August 2011.  Given that some offending on the part of visitors to the U.K. is bound to occur, it was sensible to make plans for expedited court hearings - (Law Society 12th July). 

Duncan Campbell's report raises a few interesting points.

A glance at Mr Justice Ryder's report on family justice

After the Family Justice Review reported, Mr Justice Ryder was tasked with preparing the response of the judiciary to the report.  This has been completed and is available -Judicial Proposals for the modernisation of family justice. (pdf 25 pages).

In preparing the response, Ryder J took part in some quite extensive consultation with over 5000 interested parties.  It is worthy of note that many of the events he attended were sponsored including the Law Society organising a series of seminars.  The proposals are independent of government though the government's legislative programme is not ignored.  That programme includes the Crime and Courts Bill and, later, there will be a Children and Families Bill.   The Crime and Courts Bill will create a single Family Court below the High Court.  The High Court (Family Division) is not to be absorbed into the new family court though High Court judges will sit in the family court as required.

The principal points of emphasis in Ryder J's document are bringing about strong judicial leadership and management together with

Electronic media and possible offences ~ another Twitter case

Apart from the Communications Act 2003 s.127(1) - (see the post on the TwitterJoke case about the acquittal in the High Court of Mr Paul Chambers) - the law has several other ways of seeking to punish those who send ill-advised messages to others.  Generally, these involve using Acts of Parliament enacted before the advent of modern social media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook) which the internet has made possible.

Serious questions are being asked about the latest Twitter case - that of Reece Messer (aged 17) who put a message on Twitter intended for Olympic swimmer Tom Daley - Daily Mail 1st August - "We can't control Twitter insist Police ..."    The message was undoubtedly very unpleasant.  It said that Daley had "let down" his late father in the synchronised diving event - (see CBC News 31st July).  It also seems that a second very unpleasant message was sent saying - “I’m going to drown you in the pool you cocky t*** your a nobody.”   Reece's father is reported to have apologised on behalf of his son who, it is said, suffers from ADHD - (The Sun 1st August - Father of Tom Daley troll 'so sorry'). 


Messer was arrested in Dorset at 2.45 am 31st July for an alleged offence under the Malicious Communications Act 1988.  Clearly, many Twitter users who saw the message considered it to be unpleasant and unnecessary but did it justify Police attention in the middle of the night?