Human Rights

• Senior coroner John Leckey was right to decide next of kin should be allowed to see edited versions of the probes into a series of controversial Royal Ulster Constabulary shootings 28 years ago - see here for press statement and High Court Judgement (27 May 2010)

• See latest EU wide updates on civil liberties (May 09) at http://www.statewatch.org/whatsnew.htm

• Debate in the Lords Grand Committee on 24 November 2008 on the British Government's response to European Human Rights Judgements ()
  Contains useful discussion on political procedures for responding to court rulings and information on Inquiry Act (particularly re Pat Finucane)

• See latest comments (Nov 08) in European Court
  Cases concerning the action of security forces in Northern Ireland
  Progress achieved in implementing the Court’s judgments since Interim Resolution CM/ResDH(2007)73 and outstanding issues. Memorandum prepared by the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the European Court of Human Rights

• Arming Big Brother: The EU's Security Research Programme by Ben Hayes (Statewatch/Transnational Institute, Amsterdam):
   http://www.statewatch.org/news/2006/apr/bigbrother.pdf ()

• Investigating Lethal Force Deaths in Northern Ireland. The Application of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights. A report from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission ()

•  Report by the Commissioner for Human Rights on his visit to the United Kingdom, 4th-12th November 2004 ()

•  UN Special Rapporteur produces damning report on how governments are using the "war on terrorism" to undermine and ignore fundamental rights. See Statewatch Report at http://www.statewatch.org/news/2004/nov/un-torture.pdf ()

•  ‘Getting Away With Murder – From the Bogside to Basra’ (May 2004)

•  Can Kill, Won't Count: The UK and the civilian death-toll in post-war Iraq (November 2003)
  A report from Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price with reference to the implications of Article 2 for the investigation of civilian deaths in Iraq caused by the British military. ()

•  Northern Ireland: A Report to the Association of the Bar of the City of New York from a Mission of the Committee On International Human Rights March 2004 ()

•  Report on the Operation in 2003 of Part VII of the Terrorism Act 2000 ()

•  See Statewatch online resources for the full-text of UK laws (Acts of Parliament) relevant to human rights and civil liberties:
   UK laws 1988 - ongoing: http://www.statewatch.org/docbin/uklaws.htm

•  The International Commission of Jurists, an international NGO dedicated to the implementation of international law and principles that advance human rights also offers a selection of legal human rights resources at www.icj.org

•  European Court Collusion judgements (Statements and hyperlinks to judgements)

•  Memorandum () incorporating the response by the British Government to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe concerning 6 lethal force cases in Northern Ireland:
  
  
  •  Jordan v UK, May 2001
  •  Kelly & Others v UK, May 2001
  •  McKerr v UK, May 2001
  •  Shanaghan v UK, May 2001
  •  McShane v UK, May 2002
  •  Finucane v UK, July 2003

•  Regina v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) ex parte Amin (FC) (Appellant)
  This judgement strengthens the European Court of Human Rights decision in the cases of Jordan, Kelly & Ors, Shanaghan and McKerr v. UK. In Amin, the House of Lords held that the standards laid down by the European Court in Jordan et al set minimum standards that a state must meet to be Article 2 compliant. Thus, the Amin decision brings these standards into domestic law.

  see also http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/10/279081.html

Article 2

•  Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland
   In the matter of an application by David Adams for Judicial Review
   The appellant David Adams sought judicial review of decisions of the respondent, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland (the DPP), not to prosecute police officers in respect of matters which occurred at and following the arrest of the appellant on 10 February 1994 or to provide adequate reasons for those decisions.

•  Middleton, R (on the application of) v HM Coroner for West Somersetshire [2002] EWCA Civ 390 (27th March, 2002)
   These two appeals raise important issues as to the application in United Kingdom domestic law of Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms (“the Convention”) which provides that “everyone’s right to life shall be protected by law”. Article 2 imposes two distinct but complementary obligations on the State. These two appeals concern the extent to which there is a duty on the State to conduct an investigation into the death of an individual where it is alleged that, exercising reasonable care, the State could and should have prevented the death.

•  Appellate Committee Report (11 March 2004)
   Regina v. Her Majesty's Coroner for the Western District of Somerset (Respondent) and other (Appellant) ex parte Middleton (FC) (Respondent)

•  Between the Queen on the Application of Mahammed Farooq Khan - Appellant - and - The Secretary of State for Health - Respondent. 10th October 2003.
   The legal issues on this appeal are addressed by asking five questions:
   1) What is the content of the state's Article 2 obligation in the present case?
   2) Has that obligation already been performed?
   3) If the state has not yet performed that obligation, can the holding of the inquest satisfy that obligation if Mr Khan cannot play an effective part in it himself?
   4) If the answer to question 3 is "no", does the 1998 Act apply, so that Mr Khan can obtain relief in a national court?
   5) Whatever the answer to the first four questions does the Secretary of State have power to make the necessary funding available?

•  High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland, Queen's Bench Division (Judicial Review)
   In the matter of an application by Owen McCaughey & Pat Grew for Judicial Review
   This is an application by the fathers of Martin McCaughey and Desmond Grew, who were killed by soldiers on 9 October 1990, for Judicial Review of the decisions of the Chief Constable and the Coroner concerning the disclosure of documents for the purposes of the Inquests into the deaths.

 
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