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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions >> McPherson v Secretary Of State For Home Department [2001] EWCA Civ 1955 (19 December 2001) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2001/1955.html Cite as: [2002] INLR 139, [2001] EWCA Civ 1955 |
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COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE IMMIGRATION
APPEAL TRIBUNAL
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL Wednesday 19th December, 2001 |
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B e f o r e :
LORD JUSTICE SEDLEY
and
LADY JUSTICE ARDEN
____________________
MORVEN MARCIA MCPHERSON |
Appellant |
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- and - |
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SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT |
Respondent |
____________________
Smith Bernal Reporting Limited, 190 Fleet Street
London EC4A 2AG
Tel No: 020 7421 4040, Fax No: 020 7831 8838
Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
Mr. Michael Fordham (instructed by Treasury Solicitor for the Respondent)
____________________
Crown Copyright ©
Lord Justice Sedley:
"(1) A person who alleges that an authority has, in taking any decision under the Immigration Acts relating to that person's entitlement to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, acted in breach of his human rights may appeal to an adjudicator against the decision ..
(2) For the purposes of this Part, an authority acts in breach of a person's human rights if he acts, or fails to act, in relation to that other person in a way which is made unlawful by section 6(1) of the Human Rights Act 1998.
(3) Subsections (4) and (5) apply if, in proceedings before an adjudicator or the Immigration Appeal Tribunal on an appeal, a question arises as to whether an authority has, in taking any decision under the Immigration Acts relating to the appellant's entitlement to enter or remain in the United Kingdom, acted in breach of the appellant's human rights.
(4) The adjudicator, or the Tribunal, has jurisdiction to consider the question."
"Since no determination had taken place in relation to the Article 8 submissions, no findings had been indicated by the Adjudicator and there had been no appeal on that point by the Respondent, we decided that we were not in a position to take that aspect of the matter any further. We had considered with Miss Farbey [counsel for Ms. McPherson] the possibility of a remittal to the same Adjudicator for her to determine the appeal in relation to Article 8 but having referred to the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 Schedule 4 Part III Para. 22 we have decided that, since there was no appeal against the Adjudicator's determination in that respect we should not make any order in that respect."
"7.5 The other important point to consider in relation to the appellant's claimed breach of Article 3 rights is of course whether or not the authorities in Jamaica might offer adequate protection against the activities of an individual like Phillip Blackwood. Quite apart from what the appellant has said about him and the attempts of the police to arrest him which proved to be unsuccessful due to his ties within the community and his contacts with the authorities, it appears that the objective evidence does in fact support her case. The Respondent frequently relies on the US State Department Report as objective background information, and I take this as my starting point. The 1999 Country Report for Jamaica, issued by the US Department of State on February 25th 2000, indicates that whilst the government generally respects the human rights of its citizens, "several problems remained in several areas". It is stated that violence and economic discrimination against women remained problems. There were reports of police sexually harassed women and at page 6 of the report, specifically on the subject of women, it is stated that social and cultural traditions perpetuate violence against women, including spousal abuse. Violence against women is widespread, but many women are reluctant to acknowledge or report abusive behaviour, leading to wide variations and estimates of its extent. The Domestic Violence Act of 1995 came into effect in 1996. It provides remedies for domestic violence, including restraining orders and other non custodial sentencing. there were anecdotal reports that the police sexually harassed women "women suffer from economic discrimination and sexual harassment in the work place". As to the police, it is stated that there is continued impunity for those who commit abuses, and "this remains a problem" and reference is also made that apart from the fact that they continue to arrest and detain citizens arbitrarily, it is also stated that they themselves sexually harassed women.
7.6 Apart from the US State Department Report. I have also considered the expert evidence in the form of the statement produced by Professor Le Frank [sic]. Professor Le Franks conclusions are to the effect that the background situation within Jamaica indicates that the appellant would have a problem should she return, given her experiences at the hands of Mr Blackwood. During the course of her report she indicates "The police are really quite unable to provide adequate protection for anyone the frequency with which cases against persons brought to trial collapse because witnesses have disappeared, been killed or too afraid to speak publicly is only one indication that the inability of the police to provide the necessary protection, and the vulnerability of that system to external influences." She goes on to say that victims of domestic violence receive little priority and there are no known protection programmes and that "while murder or other extreme acts of violence will clearly not be condoned, it is likely that given the common value systems there would be a high level of tolerance to the threats and abuse being perpetrated by their partners". She also indicates that whilst there may be a domestic violence act, this would not appear to assist. Indeed, in this respect, I have to say that I agree with the comments made by Miss Farbey to the effect that the sanctions available under the Domestic Violence Act are clearly not as effective as those provided by criminal law with appropriate custodial sentences."
"We should not reconsider findings of fact made by the Adjudicator unless persuaded that they were clearly wrong, ie. that there was insufficient evidence to support a finding. The fact that we might not have made the same finding does not of itself entitle us to interfere."
"The Domestic Violence Act 1995 now provides remedies for domestic violence including restraining orders and other non- custodial sentencing but breach of a restraining order is punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. The Adjudicator in referring to the Domestic Violence Act refers only to the non- custodial penalties (para 7.5) and does not mention the fact that breach of a restraining order leads to possible imprisonment."
"Social and cultural traditions perpetuate violence against women, including spousal abuse. Violence against women is widespread, but many women are reluctant to acknowledge or report abusive behaviour, leading to wide variations in estimates of its extent. The Domestic Violence Act of 1995 came into effect in 1996. It provides remedies for domestic violence including restraining orders and other non custodial sentencing."
"Breaching a restraining order is punishable by a fine of up to $250 (J $ 10,000) and/or six months' imprisonment."
"The Adjudicator went on to consider the expert evidence by way of statement from Professor Le Franc who is obviously a person of some status in her field. The Adjudicator relies heavily on her report. We examined that report carefully and noted the opinions of Professor Le Franc. We then looked (as we should do) for the basis of those opinions, ie. any research carried out and statistics accumulated even on a limited basis. Some statistics were given in relation to the violent nature of Jamaican society which were of limited relevance. In relation to the capacity of the police to provide protection the report opens that section with the swingeing statement "The police are really quite unable to provide adequate protection for anyone" and then identifies reasons for weaknesses in the efficiency of the police concluding with "But then the police do not have much control of the streets". In the absence of an indication of factual research carried out and the sources of information we considered that such statements were unhelpful, do not stand up to common sense consideration and cannot be relied upon. We went on to note that after indicating the lack of priority given to victims of domestic violence Professor Le Franc states "There are no known programmes that provide this kind of protection." This seems to be in conflict with the US State Department report at page 7 that "a number of active women's rights groups exist. They are concerned with a wide range of issues, including violence against women Their effectiveness is mixed, but the groups were successful in advocating enactment of the 1995 Domestic Violence Act". Professor Le Franc makes no comment about any such groups.
The Adjudicator refers to the lack of protection programmes in paragraph 7.6 and goes on, at the end of that paragraph, to agree with Counsel that "the sanctions available under the Domestic Violence Act are clearly not as effective as those provided by criminal law with appropriate custodial sentences". They both seem to have overlooked the fact that the Domestic Violence Act does provide for the possibility of a custodial sentence in the event of a restraining order being breached. Professor Le Franc also tells us that "Jamaica is a small state with a small-scale society" within which it is difficult to hide. We are not told of the size of Jamaica geographically or on a population basis which would have been of assistance. In paragraph 7.8 the Adjudicator finds that "given the size of Jamaica and the nature of Jamaican society, should the Appellant return, I have no doubt that Philip Blackwood would be able to locate her precise whereabouts"" That finding is made without any precise evidence of size or nature. Since we accept the likelihood of future contact between the Respondent and Philip Blackwood that absence of information and the finding caused no problem but is an example of the weakness of that report and a finding based upon it.
.
In relation to the availability of protection from the state we found that the Adjudicator had failed to consider properly the sanctions available to the Respondent against Philip Blackwood to deal with the risk that the Adjudicator had found to exist. The significance of the passing of the Domestic Violence Act since the last violence had been underestimated coupled with a misunderstanding of the sanctions available from that legislation. That, together with the other weaknesses of Prefessor Le Franc's report, satisfied us that there was insufficient evidence to support the finding of the Adjudicator in this respect and that it was clearly wrong."
"The Commission observes at the outset that, while the choice of means designed to secure compliance with Convention rights in the sphere of the relations between individuals themselves is in principle a matter that falls within the Contracting States' margin of appreciation, the effective protection of vulnerable individuals such as children against treatment or punishment falling within Article 3 of the Convention requires the deterrent effect of the criminal law. As the court noted, in the different context of the protection of the Article 8 rights of a mentally handicapped child,. "effective deterrence is indispensable in this area and it can be achieved only by criminal-law provisions " [X and Y v. The Netherlands (1985) 8 EHRR 235, para 27]."
The Court, in general agreement with the Commission, also required "effective deterrence" as a condition of compliance.
" there are different way of ensuring "respect for private life", and the nature of the State's obligation will depend on the particular aspect of private life that is at issue. Recourse to the criminal law is not necessarily the only answer."
"Owing to the absolute character of the right guaranteed, the court does not rule out the possibility that Article 3 of the Convention may also apply where the danger emanates from persons or groups of persons who are not public officials. However, it must be shown that the risk is real and that the authorities of the receiving state are not able to obviate the risk by providing appropriate protection. (Para 40, cited in Grosz, Beatson and Duffy on Human Rights (2000, C 3-11))."
"Even if a court order were obtained under the Domestic Violence Act, given the common value systems, the serious problem of insufficiency of resources, and the high and rising rates of serious crime, going after someone who breached a court order is unlikely to be given a high priority."
Lady Justice Arden:
"As to the appellant's human rights claim under article 3, the burden of proof is on her and the standard of proof is that there must be substantial grounds for believing that she is at real risk of prohibited ill-treatment (i.e. torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment contrary to article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights)."
"The victim's relationship with the offender makes the factual issues less straightforward. There may be suggestions that the allegation has been made in order to punish the defendant for some problem in the relationship. The victim may be under community or family pressure to drop the case, or feel guilt or fear about turning to the courts. Where there are children of the relationship, they may retain contact with the father and she will fear the inability of the courts effectively to protect her from further violence. Domestic violence is often repetitive, and the evidence suggests that it tends to escalate. If the victim takes the matter to court early, before it does so, there is unlikely to be a suitably deterrent penalty; but if she leaves it until later, the admissible evidence cannot usually reflect the history between the parties and, therefore, the sentence may not reflect the true seriousness of the matter. There is also a tendency to regard such cases as less serious because they occur within the home, and with a possibility of reconciliation as a mitigating factor." (Chapter 9 Decriminalisation and Alternatives to Conventional Trial, paragraph 38).
"An example .. is the domestic violence court in Calgary, with its 'restorative justice' approach. The project, begun as a pilot in early 2000, aims to bring together many agencies, such as housing and social services, and to create a forum for discussion of appropriate treatment. The panel discusses the family circumstances and the reasons for the offending and seeks to produce an agreed solution, which might be a combination of community orders. The court oversees the process and can call the case in at any stage before sentencing. The project also aims to improve the speed of intervention and expertise about domestic violence in the core criminal justice system agencies. There is as yet no full evaluation of the pilot, but like other 'restorative' approaches that I saw in North America, its success appears to be, not so much in devising alternative procedures, but in gathering together the resources of a number of concerned agencies and focusing minds on the issue." (above, paragraph 39).
"(115) The Court notes that the first sentence of Article 2(1) enjoins the State not only to refrain from the intentional and unlawful taking of life, but also to take appropriate steps to safeguard the lives of those within its jurisdiction (see the LCB v the United Kingdom judgment of 9 June 1998, Reports of Judgments and Decisions 1998). It is common ground that the State's obligation in this respect extends beyond its primary duty to secure the right to life by putting in place effective criminal law provisions to deter the commission of offences against the person backed up by law-enforcement machinery for the prevention, suppression and sanctioning of breaches of such provisions. It is thus accepted by those appearing before the Court that Article 2 of the Convention may also imply in certain well-defined circumstances a positive obligation on the authorities to take preventive operational measures to protect an individual whose life is at risk from the criminal acts of another individual. .."
Lord Justice Aldous:
Order: Appeal allowed with costs, to be assessed on a public funding basis.