Mike Pemberton, a partner at Stephensons Solicitors LLP and Head of Civil Liberties at the Firm has welcomed the final judgment in the case of James, Wells and Lee v UK.
The ECHR gave the original judgment in James, Wells and Lee v UK in September, but the Government had three months to appeal and made an application within this time.
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that the Government’s appeal against the judgment of 18 September 2012 should not be accepted.
This means that the provisional judgment of 19 September 2012 became final on 11 February 2013 confirming that that three offenders’ human rights were breached because they were not given access to courses which would have aided their rehabilitation and made it possible for them to be released.
Mike who represented Jeffrey Lee said: “While Mr Lee has now been released from detention, the final judgment acknowledges that his detention became illegal because of a lack of opportunity to demonstrate his risk had fallen.
“He had been convicted of criminal damage in September 2005 and was sentenced automatically to an indeterminate sentence for public protection under the Law in force from April 2005, despite a recommendation that he should receive a suspended sentence. He received a minimum term of only 163 days which meant that he was eligible for release after this time if the Parole Board was satisfied that his risk could be managed in the community. Unfortunately the Parole Board consider whether risk can be managed by looking at what steps the prisoner has taken to rehabilitate themselves and specifically whether they have done courses which may help this.
“Mr Lee did not have any opportunity of accessing the required courses until some 25 months AFTER his minimum term had expired.”
A Court challenge was made which progressed through the High Court to the House of Lords in 2009 complaining that the ongoing detention without access to the courses was unlawful and breached Article 5(1) and 5(4) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The House of Lords held that the Secretary of State had breached the duty to provide courses, but this did not mean that the detention had become unlawful under English and Welsh law, or under the Convention. The case then proceeded to the ECHR, which unanimously disagreed.
Mike continued: “The underlying problem with the IPP sentence, which has recently been replaced for new offences but continues for those already imposed, has been a lack of resources.
“This has lead to high numbers of prisoners stagnating in the system. While the concept of public protection is an important one; the costs to the tax payer of this sentence have been immense. It is estimated that an IPP prisoner costs on average £40,000 per year to imprison. There are over 6,000 such prisoners in the system and about 50% will be over tariff.”
Tim Owen QC and Nick Armstrong of Matrix Chambers acted for Lee, instructed by Mike Pemberton.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Mike Pemberton specialises in prison law, human rights and judicial review and has a special interest in all aspects of life and indeterminate sentences.
- Chambers UK recognises Mike Pemberton as a leader in his field of law and is a finalist in the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year category of the Manchester Legal Awards 2013.
- The firm has 31 partners and almost 400 staff across offices in Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside. For more information visit www.stephensons.co.uk
Judgements in this case can be found:
Media information: Lianne Tracey
Stephensons Solicitors LLP
Tel: 01616 966 229
Email: lianne.tracey@stephensons.co.uk