J.N. v UK – European Court on Human Rights Rule Detention Violation of Article 8
Published: 1 Jun 2016
This judgement by the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) was made in May 2016. The briefing was issued by the ECtHR on 19 May 2016 and has been reprinted in full. The full decision is available here.
The case concerned a complaint about the system of immigration detention in the United Kingdom. The applicant, Mr J.N., is an Iranian national who was born in 1971 and lives in Barking (England, UK). Mr J.N. arrived in the UK in January 2003 and claimed asylum. His claim was refused in October 2003. He was subsequently convicted of indecent assault, sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment and served with a deportation order. On completion of his sentence, he remained in immigration detention for a total of 55 months, notably from March 2005 to December 2007 and then from January 2008 to December 2009.
During the first period of detention Mr J.N. indicated that he wished to return to Iran and eventually, in November 2007, the Iranian Embassy agreed to issue a travel document provided that he sign a “disclaimer” consenting to his return. He refused, however, to sign the disclaimer. He was released in December 2007 pursuant to a court order but became liable for detention again because of failure to comply with the conditions for his release, namely that he take the necessary steps to obtain travel documents. He was thus detained again one month later while reporting to the immigration authorities. During this second period of detention, Mr J.N. continued to repeatedly refuse to cooperate with the authorities’ attempts to engage him in a voluntary return or to sign a disclaimer. He was released in December 2009 when the High Court granted him permission to apply for judicial review and the Home Office was ordered to release him on bail.
Mr J.N. brought two sets of judicial review proceedings: the first during his initial period of immigration detention, which he failed to pursue following his release in December 2007; and the second, which resulted in the Administrative Court finding that his detention had been unlawful from 14 September 2009 and awarding him 6,150 British pounds in damages. The Administrative Court notably concluded that “the woeful lack of energy and impetus” applied to Mr J.N.’s case from at least the middle of 2008 meant that it could not be said that his deportation was being pursued with the obligation under the relevant national law to act with “reasonable diligence and expedition”.
Relying on Article 5 § 1 (f) (right to liberty and security), Mr J.N. complained about the excessive length of his detention as well as the system of immigration detention in the UK, notably alleging that the time-limits on the maximum period of immigration detention had been unclear and that there had been no automatic judicial review.
Violation of Article 5 § 1 – in respect of the period of detention from mid-2008 to 14 September 2009
Just satisfaction: EUR 7,500 (non-pecuniary damage) and EUR 10,000 (costs and expenses)