Prison disciplinary proceedings unfair

Whitfield and others v United Kingdom (Application nos 46387/99, 48906/99, 57410/00 and 57419/00) ECtHR TLR 27 April

In prison disciplinary proceedings the persons answerable to the Home Office, whether as prison officer, governor or controller in the applicants’ prisons, drafted and laid the charges against the applicants, investigated and prosecuted those charges and determined the applicants’ guilt or innocence together with their sentences. The misgivings of the applicants about the independence and impartiality of their adjudications had accordingly been objectively justified. The court held unanimously that there had been a violation of article 6.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The court also held unanimously that the four applicants had been denied the right to be legally represented in violation of the guarantee contained in article 6.3(c) of the Convention and there had therefore been a violation of that provision.