Father Not Allowed to Regain Contact with His Young Daughter - Violation of Article 8

In Chamber judgment1 in the case of Haddad v. Spain (application no. 16572/17) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been: a violation of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the placement of the applicant’s youngest child in foster care. The applicant’s three children, including his daughter, then aged one and a half, were placed in a residential centre in Madrid, at their mother’s request, and declared abandoned. The children were later placed in centres in Murcia. The applicant was not informed of their placement. As criminal proceedings were pending against him for domestic violence, based on a complaint filed by his wife, he was not allowed to have contact with his children or to approach them. He was ultimately acquitted. Currently having regained the custody of his two sons, he has been seeking to recover custody of his minor daughter.

The Court found that the Spanish administrative authorities should have envisaged other, less radical measures than pre-adoption foster care for the minor daughter and should have taken account of the applicant’s requests to re-establish contact with her, at least after the criminal proceedings against him had been terminated. They had not made appropriate or sufficient efforts to ensure respect for the applicant’s right to live with his daughter, together with her brothers.

Source: ECtHR



Prisoners Denied Access to a Computer & Internet Access - Violation of Article 2

In Chamber judgment1 in the case of Mehmet Re?it Arslan and Orhan Bingöl v. Turkey (application no. 47121/06) the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been: a violation of Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (right to education) to the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned the right to education of two convicted prisoners. Having been sentenced to life imprisonment and wishing to continue their higher-education studies, which had been interrupted by their conviction, the applicants had asked the prison authorities to allow them to use a computer and access the Internet. Their requests were denied. They appealed to the courts but were unsuccessful. Having examined the circumstances, the Court found that the domestic courts had failed to weigh up the applicants’ interests on the one hand and the imperatives of public order on the other.

Source: ECtHR



Prisoners: Repatriation

Asked by Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government, as a result of international conventions and bilateral agreements on the transfer of sentenced persons, how many people have (1) returned to the UK from any such country, and (2) been repatriated from the UK.[HL16006]

Lord Keen of Elie: Any foreign national who comes to our country and abuses our hospitality by breaking the law should be in no doubt of our determination to punish and deport them.

More than 48,000 foreign national offenders have been removed from the UK since 2010, and in the last financial year more than 5,000 were removed from prisons, immigration removal centres, and the community. Prisoner transfer is one of the mechanisms used to remove foreign national offenders. Between 1 May 2014 and 31 May 2019, 464 sentenced prisoners were transferred from England and Wales to other countries under international prisoner transfer arrangements. During the same period 233 sentenced prisoners were transferred to England and Wales. The transfer of prisoners into and out of Scotland and Northern Ireland is a devolved matter.