Article 8 Flashcards
What are the 4 preliminaries?
Standing (victim), time limit, UK jurisdiciton, public authority
Explain standing
S 7(1) HRA 1998 illustrates that the claimant must be victims in order to bring a claim under the act S 7(7) states that ‘victim’ is given the same definition as that in Art 34 ECHR. Klass v Germany further defines this as any person who is ‘directly affected’ by the interference
What is the time limit in the preliminaries?
The action must be brought within a year of the violation (s 7(5) HRA)
What is the UK jurisdiction in the prelims?
Under Art 1 ECHR the UK has a duty to protect the Convention rights of any individual, regardless of nationality, within their jurisdiction
What is the public authorities in the prelims?
s6(1) HRA - unlawful for public authority to act incompatibly with the Convention. No precise definition for public authority in the HRA.
The courts have distinguished between core and hybrid public authorities (Aston Cantlow)
What constitutes core public authority?
A body will be core if its public role is such an inherent part of its nature that it is obviously public (Aston Cantlow v Wallbank)
It is liable for all that is done
What constitutes hybrid public authorities?
Bodies performing FUNCTIONS of a public nature s6(3)(b).
Only liable for the PUBLIC functions they carry out; not if ‘the nature of the act is PRIVATE’ (s 6(5)).
What is article 8?
Article 8 – Right to a private and family life
The state must respect each person’s right to a private and family life, his home and his correspondence (A 8(1))
How may one interfere with article 8?
(A 8(2)):
Prescribed by law
Necessary in a democratic society
Pursuant of a legitimate aim
Interference - what is ‘prescribed by law’?
Three-part test set out in Sunday Times:
1. The interference must be based on a valid legal authority.
- i) The relevant law must be accessible to the individual
ii) The law must be clear and predictable to enable citizens to regulate their conduct
– look out for ‘any’ / vague wording
- It must not be possible to apply the act in an arbitrary way/give unfettered power (sufficiently narrowly prescribed to avoid excessively wide-ranging powers) (Gillan and Quinton v UK)
Interference - what is ‘in pursuit of a legitimate aim’?
Must fall in one of these categories:
national security, public safety, economic well-being of country, prevention of disorder of crime, protection of health or morals, protection of rights and freedoms of others.
Legitimate aim: national security
An assertion of national security will not automatically be accepted
The creation of a database on individual’s political opinions/activities was disproportionate; it was a serious interference (Segerstedt-Wilberg v Sweden)
A 16hr control order and detention 150 miles from family disproportionate (SOS HD v AP)
Legitimate aim: public safety
Deportation of an individual convicted of manslaughter was lawful (Ziya Uder v Netherlands)
Legitimate aim: economic well-being of country
Obtaining a residence permit may require an individual to prove that they will not be a burden on the state (Da Silva v Netherlands)
Working illegally and not paying taxes threatens the economic interests of the country
Legitimate aim: prevention of disorder or crime
- Holding DNA samples indefinitely of suspects cleared of offences was unlawful (S and Marper v UK)
- Wainwright v UK - intimate search of mother and disabled son when visiting family member in jail unlawful.
- Disclosure to all his contracts of conviction for indecent assault of a child was disproportionate because he did not work with children as part of his affiliation with these organisations (R (H) v A City Council)
- Blanket disclosure of all criminal matters, even tiny ones from years back (stolen bikes at 11, accidentally not paying for something 10 years back) (harder to get jobs) in an ECRC went beyond what was necessary to prevent crime and disorder (R (T and Others) v CC of Greater Manchester)
- Statutory scheme preventing serious convictions from ever being ‘spent’ not a blanket policy, as it distinguished between serious offences and those that were not (R (T and Others) v CC of Greater Manchester)
not allowing private life. - Data retention (Catt v Acpo)
Legitimate aim: protection of health or morals
Intimate strip searches of prison visitors disproportionate (Wainwright)
Legitimate aim: protection of rights and freedoms of others
‘Interests of others’ often raised in relation to a right of freedom of expression by the media
An employer’s monitoring of calls / emails / internet a violation (Copland v UK)
Screening a scene of an individual’s private family life without their consent was a breach (T v BBC)
Interference: what is the test for ‘necessary in a democratic society’?
Handyside v UK
- The actions must be in response to a pressing social need
- The actions must be a proportionate response to that need
- Preventing homosexuals serving in the military disproportionate (Smith and Grady v UK).