Cases

Question 1

Factortame Case 1991

Answer 1

• Merchant Shipping Act (1988) restricted the rights of foreign-owned ships to fish in British waters

Question 2

Judicial Reviews: [4]

Answer 2

• Mental Health Act 2002 (court ruled on the UK law required that people detained for mental health reasons had to prove their fitness for release but this offended the ECHR and so in future the authorities had to prove that a person was not fit for release)
• Belmarsh Case 2004 - the court ruled that people detained as suspected terrorists could not be detained without trial as a result of the ECHR (in response to the prevention of terrorism case)
• Suspected Terrorist Ban Asset Case 2010 (government could freeze assets of suspected terrorists but this went against ECHR so government passed parliamentary legislation to allow them to do so)

Question 3

Anti Terrorism, Crime and Security 2001

Answer 3

said it was in response to 9/11

detain without trial

Question 4

power of courts in relation to the government (cases of ultra vires)

Answer 4

• 2010 child poverty action groups vs. the secretary for work and pensions: this ultra vires case made a ruling that the department of work and pensions did not have the legal power to force people to return over payments of welfare benefits when it was the departments fault
• 2010 Mohammed Ahmed vs. the HM Treasury: the UK court ruled that the government did not have the power to freeze the assets of the suspected terrorist, Ahmed

Question 5

EU cases

Answer 5

• voting rights of prisoners were taken away in 2005 and EU ruled against it but parliament chose to ignore this
• the court ruled that it was against the ECHR’s right to privacy to retain the DNA of persons who have not been convicted of a crime

Question 6

HRA or ECHR has protected individual rights

Answer 6

• Ghaidan vs. Godin-Mendoza 2004:
  the right’s of ‘spouses’ to succeed to a tenancy in the event of a tenant’s death was extended to homosexual couples
• 2008 The Court of Appeal blocked the deportation to Jordan of Abu-Quatada, believed to be a senior figure Al-Qaeda
• 2011 Insurance Discrimination Case: statistically women drove safer so they paid less but the ECHR ruled that this discriminated against men and therefore declared it unlawful
• Max Mosley (formula 1 executive) claimed that his privacy had been invaded when details of sadomasochist party reported in the News of the World with several false details, and he was awarded compensation

Question 7

examples of when Parliament have chosen to ignore ECHR

Answer 7

• voting rights of prisoners were taken away in 2005 and EU ruled against it but parliament chose to ignore this
• Suspected Terrorist Ban Asset Case 2010 (government could freeze assets of suspected terrorists but this went against ECHR so government passed parliamentary legislation to allow them to do so)

Question 8

when EU law outranks UK law

Answer 8

Factortame Case 1991: Merchant Shipping Act (1988) restricted the rights of foreign-owned ships to fish in British waters

Question 9

Thatcher civil liberties

Answer 9

• 1984 Police and Criminal Evidence Act: you could be held four days without trial
• 1986 Public Order Act: you had to warn the police 6 days before you wanted to have a public procession

Question 10

Blair Civil Liberties

Answer 10

• 2000 Terrorism Act: hold people for 7 days without trial
• 2001 Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act: detain people without trail (in response to 9/11)
• 2005 Prevention of Terrorism Act: can be tagged and monitored but can’t be put in detention
• 2006 proposed 90 day detention but was defeated in Parliament so proposed 28 days instead