The Weekly Round-up: The Kaba acquittal, proposed Anonymity for police officers, alternative remedies in Supreme Court, and asylum seekers in the Chagos archipelago
28 October 2024
In UK news
This week police firearms officer Sgt Martyn Blake was acquitted of the murder of Chris Kaba, after shooting Mr Kaba through the windscreen of his car. Mr Kaba was unarmed and driving with both hands on the steering wheel at the time of the shooting. Sgt Blake told the court that he feared Mr Kaba would breach a police barrier and use his car as a weapon to kill police officers. In the aftermath of the trial, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced a series of reforms to boost confidence in police accountability which include:
- A presumption of anonymity for firearms officers facing criminal proceedings following police shootings, up until the point of conviction.
- Raising the threshold for the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) to refer police officers to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) so that only cases with a reasonable prospect of conviction are referred.
- A rapid independent review to consider the legal test for use of force in misconduct proceedings and the threshold for unlawful killing in inquests.
- An examination of CPS guidance and processing in charging police officers for offences committed in the course of their duties.
- Creating a national database of deaths or serious injuries following police contact or pursuits to incorporate the findings into training and guidance.
- IOPC victims’ right to review to be placed on a statutory footing.
The Minister of State for Europe, North America and the UK Overseas Territories, Stephen Doughty, has announced that the UK government has reached a deal with the government of Mauritius regarding asylum seekers arriving in the Chagos Archipelago. The UK government has recently agreed to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius. Once the treaty between the UK and Mauritius comes into force, Mauritius will be responsible for any asylum seekers arriving in the Chagos Archipelago. In the interim period, any asylum seekers who arrive will be transported more than 5000 miles to St Helena, a remote British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. This decision comes amid mounting legal challenges regarding Tamil asylum seekers allegedly unlawfully detained by the British government in Diego Garcia in the Chagos Archipelago.
In the courts
The Supreme Court has considered what alternative remedies claimants should seek instead of launching judicial review proceedings. Noeleen McAleenon claimed that she suffered physical symptoms and a deterioration in her mental health due to the odours emanating from a landfill site close to her home. She complained to her local council, Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, and subsequently launched judicial review proceedings alleging that the council failed to conduct a proper investigation of the nuisance odour, as well as making an article 8 ECHR claim. The council argued that Mrs McAleenon should have sought alternative remedies such as a private prosecution or a nuisance claim against the manager of the landfill. The Supreme Court stated that judicial review is less time consuming and expensive than either a private prosecution or a nuisance claim. Either of those options would not provide Mrs McAleenon with remedies as extensive as her judicial review or article 8 claim, with regard to availability and the quantum. Furthermore, it is not appropriate for a public authority to seek to avoid liability by pointing to an alternative defendant, in this case the manager of the landfill.
In international news
The Tribunal of Rome has held that Italy’s deal with Albania to transport asylum seekers from Italy to a “repatriation centre” in Gjader, Albania is unlawful. In this case, none of the asylum seekers were Albanian, they were all either from Bangladesh or Egypt. They were detained under the “border procedure” that applies to individuals coming from “safe” countries of origin. The Tribunal of Rome relied on a recent CJEU case that holds that a country cannot be designated as “safe” where parts of its territory do not satisfy the requirements of safety. The court found that Egypt and Bangladesh are safe with exceptions for certain groups such as political dissidents, human rights defenders, LGBTQ+ individuals, victims of gender based violence, ethnic minorities among others. Thus, neither of the countries could be designated as safe and the Italian government’s scheme to send them to Albania were unlawful. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has now issued a decree to allow the government to designate countries as “safe” to bypass the legal obstacle.
