Scottish Court of Session Decisions

You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> Scottish Court of Session Decisions >> GIFFORD, PETITION OF MATILDA GIFFORD FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW [2018] ScotCS CSOH_108 (21 November 2018)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/scot/cases/ScotCS/2018/[2018]_CSOH_108.html
Cite as: [2018] ScotCS CSOH_108, [2018] CSOH 108

[New search] [Printable PDF version] [Help]

Page 1 ⇓

OUTER HOUSE, COURT OF SESSION

[2018] CSOH 108

P1032/16

OPINION OF LADY CARMICHAEL

In the Petition of

MATILDA GIFFORD

for

Petitioner

Judicial Review

Petitioner: O’Neill QC; Balfour + Manson LLP

First Respondent: Webster; Office of the Advocate General

Second Respondent: O’Neill (sol adv); Scottish Government Legal Directorate

21 November 2018

Introduction

[1] The petitioner avers that she is an environmental campaigner and activist associated

with a group, Plane Stupid, which campaigns and protests against climate change and

environmental degradation associated with air transport. Her petition challenges two

decisions. One is a decision of the United Kingdom government refusing to amend the

terms of reference of the Mitting inquiry into undercover policing (“the UCPI”) so as to

cover the activities of English police forces in Scotland and the activities of Scottish police

forces. The second decision is a decision of the Scottish Government not to direct that there

be a public inquiry in relation to these matters.

Page 2 ⇓

[2] The petitioner avers that she is directly affected by each of these decisions as she, and

the group Plane Stupid with which she has been associated, were the victims of undercover

policing in Scotland. Her petition relates that she was arrested in 2009 following a protest

at Aberdeen Airport and that Plane Stupid was infiltrated by police after that protest, and

that police officers from Strathclyde Police were deployed as undercover agents to spy on

activist groups including Plane Stupid. She says that she does not yet know the full scale of

this undercover police activity directed against her (amongst others) and separately against

Plane Stupid and other activist groups, and that, therefore an independent inquiry into

undercover policing is required.

[3] The petitioner’s pleadings regarding her own involvement with undercover police

operatives are lengthy, and I summarise them here.

 When she was on bail after her arrest in 2009 she was charged with a further

offence of housebreaking with intent to steal, and was held in custody over a

weekend. While she was held she was questioned about her membership of

Plane Stupid and about how the group functioned.

 She returned to the police office afterwards to pick up keys which had not been

returned to her when she was released, and when she did so she was invited in

for a “chat” with two individuals who tried to obtain her assistance as an

informant as to the activities of Plane Stupid.

 A further two meetings took place between the petitioner and these individuals,

in which they made further attempts to obtain her assistance and hinted that she

would be paid for information. The petitioner recorded the meetings. The

recordings and transcripts were published by the Guardian newspaper.

Page 3 ⇓

 One of the individuals met the petitioner briefly in the street and told the

petitioner that if she did not cooperate in providing information she might later

find herself in prison.

 The petitioner made a subject access request in relation to her meetings with

these individuals. This was successful to the extent that Strathclyde Police

confirmed that the individuals were both officers in that force and on duty at the

material times. The petitioner had also asked whether Strathclyde Police had

any officers working with them who were employed by other agencies or police

forces in the UK such as the security services.

 Mark Kennedy, then calling himself Mark Stone, an individual whose activities

have become the subject of a great deal of publicity, and which are to be

investigated by the UCPI, attended an activists’ workshop held by the petitioner

and organised by Plane Stupid in August 2010. The purpose of the workshop

was “how to resist police infiltration”.

[4] The petitioner makes various other averments about the activities of London-based

undercover operatives in Scotland, and refers to findings in the HM Inspector of

Constabulary(“HMIC”) publication A Review of national police units which provide intelligence

on criminality associated with protest (February 2012) relating to the deployment of

Mark Kennedy, including a finding that he made 14 visits to Scotland.

[5] The petition contains allegations about industrial blacklisting of construction

workers. The averments were added on the last day for adjustment.

[6] The petitioner avers that the second decision was taken in September 2016, and that

further reasons for it were given in February 2018. The second respondents maintain that

the decision was taken in February 2018. Their position was, therefore, initially, that the

Page 4 ⇓

petition was premature. They accept, however, that the grounds of challenge in the petition

and in relation to which permission was given are in essence the grounds which inform the

challenge to the decision which they say was made in February 2018, that they did make a

decision not to direct an inquiry, and that their decision is competently brought under

review in this petition.

The decisions

[7] The Secretary of State for the Home Department established the UCPI under the

Inquiries Act 2005 on 12 March 2015. In a written statement (HCWS381), she said:

“The role of the inquiry will be to consider the deployment of police officers as

covert human intelligence sources by the SDS [Special Demonstration Squad], the

National Public Order Intelligence Unit and by any other police forces in England

and Wales.”

She announced the inquiry’s terms of reference on 16 July 2016, which narrate its purpose in

the following terms:

“To inquire and report on undercover police operations conducted by English and

Welsh police forces in England and Wales since 1968 …”

The terms of reference include a section headed “Scope”. The final sentence of that section

reads:

“The inquiry will not examine undercover or covert operations conducted by any

body other than an English or Welsh police force.”

[8] The petitioner has produced correspondence between the Cabinet Secretary for

Justice, Michael Matheson MSP, and the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the

Rt Hon Theresa May MP. That correspondence was provided to Dr Dònal O’Driscoll on

28 August 2017 following a Freedom of Information request by him on 31 July 2017.

Page 5 ⇓

[9] The Cabinet Secretary wrote to the Secretary of State on 10 December 2015. His letter

has not been recovered, but it is apparent from the correspondence that follows that he had

inquired whether the activity of undercover officers in Scotland would be considered by the

inquiry. The Secretary of State replied on 11 January 2016, saying:

“I am not minded to expand the terms of reference at this time, but I am happy to

discuss further with you by telephone if you would find that helpful.”

The correspondence records that the two spoke by telephone on 2 February 2016, and that

the Secretary of State had undertaken to look at whether anything could be done to enable

the undercover policing inquiry to consider specific incidents where Metropolitan Police

officers had been involved in national operations in Scotland. On 9 March 2016 she wrote:

“I have made further careful consideration of the issues in light of your concerns. It

is clear that the inquiry is unable to take, or give any degree of consideration to, any

evidence relating to activities in Scotland within the existing terms of reference. The

only way to enable such evidence to be considered is through an amendment to the

terms of reference. As you know, I am not minded to revisit the scope at this stage

given the impact of doing so. I must therefore advise you that, regrettably, the

inquiry will not be able to consider activities in Scotland.”

The Cabinet Secretary for Justice wrote further on 22 March 2016 saying:

“I note with some disappointment that you are not minded to revisit the scope of the

inquiry at this stage.

… As you are aware there is a great deal of Scottish interest in understanding the full

story of how the Metropolitan police may have operated in Scotland, and it is my

understanding that a number of individuals are already providing Lord Pitchford’s

inquiry with information that relates to MPS activities in Scotland. I therefore

remain of the view that the best course of action would be to extend the remit of the

inquiry to cover MPS activities in Scotland.”

On 12 April 2016 the Secretary of State wrote:

“Although the Chairman of the inquiry has a wide discretion as to which documents

he reviews, given the parameters of the inquiry established by the terms of reference

he will not be able to make any conclusions or findings with regard to activities in

Scotland even if such evidence is submitted. Any evidence which relates to activity

outside England and Wales is beyond the inquiry’s terms of reference.”

Page 6 ⇓

The Cabinet Secretary responded on 25 May 2016:

“[David Ford, former Justice Minister in Northern Ireland] proposes that the Inquiry

be empowered to consider any relevant evidence of activities that have taken place in

any UK jurisdiction, where it is considering a case in England and Wales and the

operative has subsequently crossed a jurisdictional boundary.”

Two further pieces of correspondence are dated 25 July 2016 and come from the

Minister of State for Police and the Fire Service, the Rt Hon Brandon Lewis MP. The

first is addressed to the Cabinet Secretary and encloses a letter addressed to Claire

Sugden MLA, the then current Minister of Justice in Northern Ireland, and includes

the following passages:

“ It would not be possible to apply David Ford’s proposal in Scotland for the same

reasons as outlined in my letter to Claire Sugden. The Home Secretary does not

intend to extend the scope of the inquiry beyond England and Wales, for reasons also

set out in the enclosed letter and in the Home Secretary’s previous correspondence

with you.”

The letter to Ms Sugden includes the following passages:

“The current terms of reference for the undercover policing inquiry specify that it

should “… inquire into and report on undercover police operations conducted by

English and Welsh police forces in England and Wales …” This geographical

limitation reflects both the police forces involved and the scope of the Home Office’s

responsibility for policing.

…

The inquiry as it stands is extensive and complex, with around 200 core participants.

Amending the terms of reference at this stage would require further consultation and

delay the progress of the inquiry.

In the interests of learning lessons from past failures and improving public

confidence, it is important that the inquiry proceed swiftly and make

recommendations as soon as possible. The Home Office is confident the inquiry can

both gain an understanding of historical failings and make recommendations to

ensure unacceptable practices are not repeated without a need to consider every

instance of undercover policing, wherever it was undertaken … On balance

therefore, the former Home Secretary has confirmed that she does not intend to

amend the terms of reference.”

[10] The Minister of State wrote to Neil Findlay MSP in terms similar, but not identical, to

those in which he had written to Ms Sugden.

Page 7 ⇓

[11] Finally on 26 June 2018, the Rt Hon Nick Hurd MP, who had in the meantime

become Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service, wrote to the Cabinet Secretary,

apparently in response to a letter of 7 February 2018 referring to the HMICS report on its

strategic review of undercover policing in Scotland. It contains the following:

“I have carefully considered the then Home Secretary's decision not to amend the

UCPI Terms of Reference, taking into account relevant findings in HMICS' report

and other factors. I have concluded that amending the UCPI Terms of Reference

would have a disproportionate adverse impact on the Inquiry, with limited scope for

improving overall outcomes.

The UCPI was established in 2015 in response to substantial evidence on the extent

and serious nature of failings involving undercover officers deployed by English and

Welsh police forces. The Inquiry needed to be framed in a way that allows it to get to

the truth, and make recommendations across a wide range of issues as soon as

possible. It needs to be able to do this, and in my view can do so, without being

required to investigate every single instance of undercover activity in England and

Wales or elsewhere within the United Kingdom.

In this respect, I welcome and have regard to HMICS' view that it would be

"reasonable to accept that any findings and recommendations from the UCPI would

apply equally to similar concerns which might arise from the historic deployment of

SOS and NPOIU officers in Scotland. Our findings should therefore be considered in

conjunction with the outcomes of the UCPI in terms of continuous improvement and

how undercover policing should be conducted in the future." It is in the best interests

of all those affected by the work of the UCPI, that it delivers its important work as

quickly as possible.

Therefore we must allow the independent Inquiry to focus on delivering its

challenging and complex programme of work. Since you wrote to the Home Office

about the UCPI Terms of Reference in 2016, the Inquiry has continued to make

progress. An amendment to the UCPI Terms of Reference would, through

unnecessary complexity, introduce delay.

The Inquiry, under its current Terms of Reference, can receive evidence from key

witnesses in relation to the tasking by English and Welsh forces of undercover

officers who were also deployed outside of England and Wales. It will then be for the

Inquiry to decide whether such evidence should form part of the narrative in its final

report; for example in relation to any systemic or institutional issues that it might

identify. Accordingly, in all the circumstances it is reasonable and proportionate that

the Inquiry is not required to distinctly examine or report on undercover activities

undertaken in Scotland.

Page 8 ⇓

I share your concern for anyone affected by undercover policing activity led by the

SOS or NPOIU to be able to seek redress. You will be aware that the purpose of an

Inquiry is to establish what has happened and ensure that lessons are learned.

Although it does not have the authority to determine criminal or civil liability, the

Inquiry may decide to share evidence it receives with the relevant authorities for

their consideration.”

[12] The correspondence just referred to was not public, but some statements about it

appeared in the press. The references in the press were collated for the purposes of these

proceedings in an affidavit by Dr O’Driscoll. The chronology is relevant because the first

respondent argues that the present petition is time-barred.

[13] On 22 September 2016, the Scottish Government announced a decision to direct a

strategic review of undercover policing. That announcement came in the form of a Written

Answer by the Cabinet Secretary to a question from Gil Paterson MSP:

“Gil Paterson (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Scottish National Party): To ask the

Scottish Government, following the decision of the UK Government not to allow the

Pitchford inquiry into undercover policing in England and Wales to follow the

operational evidence of undercover policing activity by Metropolitan Police units in

Scotland, what action it plans to take.

Michael Matheson: The Scottish Government is extremely disappointed that the UK

Government has indicated it does not support extending the terms of reference of the

Pitchford Inquiry into Undercover Policing to include the activities of undercover

Metropolitan Police units in Scotland. We continue to believe that a single coherent

inquiry is the most effective approach to provide a comprehensive investigation into

these activities.

An extension of the terms of reference would have been the right thing to do, but in

the light of the Home Office’s decision I have today directed Her Majesty’s

Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland to undertake a strategic review of

undercover policing in Scotland and to report on the extent and scale of undercover

policing in Scotland conducted by Scottish policing since the Regulation of

Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 came into force; and the extent and scale of

undercover police operations carried out in Scotland by the National Public Order

Intelligence Unit [“NPOIU”] and the Special Demonstration Squad [“SDS”] in the

same period.”

Page 9 ⇓

[14] Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (“HMICS”) reported in

November 2016, although the report was not published until February 2018. On

7 February 2018 the Cabinet Secretary made a statement to the Scottish Parliament about the

strategic review. His statement refers to, amongst other things, the current proceedings:

“The accumulation of revelations of highly questionable and unethical behaviours

eventually led to the establishment of the undercover policing inquiry. They all relate

to English police forces that fall within the ultimate responsibility of the Home

Secretary.

“Despite the evidence that the SDS and the NPOIU had been active in Scotland, the

terms of reference for the undercover policing inquiry did not and do not extend to

Scotland. I wrote on a number of occasions to Theresa May and Amber Rudd stating

that I was disappointed that the terms of reference for the inquiry would not be

extended to allow it to consider the evidence of those English and Welsh units’

activity in Scotland. In her letter of January 2016, Theresa May wrote of the inquiry:

“They are interested in the whole story and are bound to encourage those coming

forward to provide a complete picture when submitting their evidence.”

Despite that response, neither Mrs May nor her successor saw fit to amend the terms

of reference in order to allow that “whole story” to be considered.

The HMICS report confirms that undercover officers from the SDS and the NPOIU

were active in Scotland. However, this activity was, as we understand it, not

standalone and not self-contained within Scotland, nor did it have any particular

Scottish focus. Nothing set it aside as something distinctive from the units’ activities

that were being considered by the undercover policing inquiry.

Those undercover units’ officers required to be authorised. The HMICS review

confirms that, with the exception of a number of authorisations made around the G8,

they were authorised under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. That is

the appropriate statute for the authorisation of activity by law enforcement bodies in

England and Wales. The review comments that a number of G8 authorisations were

dual authorised under RIPA and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland)

Act 2000. My understanding is that that was seen as a belt-and-braces approach and

that the RIPSA authorisations, which were made by Tayside Police, were effectively

a subset of the wider RIPA authorisations. Those authorisations would have been

subject to oversight at the time by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners.

RIPA allows for authorised activity to cross the border north into Scotland, but it

does so with one important caveat: it can do so only as long as not all the activity

authorised takes place in Scotland. In simple terms, the activity of the English and

Page 10 ⇓

Welsh undercover officers in Scotland was authorised as part of an operation that

began, or mainly took place, south of the border.

In 2005, SDS and NPOIU officers were deployed in support of the Scottish police

operation for the G8 summit at Gleneagles. The HMICS review states:

“The SDS, the NPOIU and other deployments of undercover officers at the G8

Summit were undertaken with the full knowledge, co-operation and authorisation of

Tayside Police. Outwith the policing of the G8 summit, the undercover deployments

by the SDS and the NPOIU to Scotland were the responsibility of the SDS and

NPOIU.”

The report makes clear that, outwith the G8, Scottish police forces were unsighted on

SDS and NPOIU operations in Scotland.

I welcome the HMICS recommendation that Police Scotland should, in partnership

with the relevant United Kingdom bodies, establish a formal process for the

reciprocal notification of cross-border undercover operations.

Members in this chamber and others have called on the Scottish Government to

establish a Scottish inquiry. Both the Scottish and UK Governments are currently

subject to a judicial review relating to the undercover policing inquiry. The case is

currently in court, so I cannot go into detail about it, but the basis of it is a matter of

public record. It challenges the UK Government on its decision not to extend the

undercover policing inquiry to cover Scotland and it challenges the Scottish

Government because we have not held an inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 with

similar terms of reference in Scotland.

The HMICS strategic review was always going to be instrumental in informing my

decision on how to respond to calls for a separate Scottish inquiry. We have seen no

evidence of the sort of behaviour by Scottish police forces that led to the

establishment of the undercover policing inquiry.

The HMICS review provides reassurance to the public and to the Parliament around

the extent and scale of the use of undercover police officers since 2000, identifies

room for improvement and makes a number of recommendations that Police

Scotland has committed to implement in full.

I have considered carefully whether I should establish a separate Scottish inquiry

under the Inquiries Act 2005. Given all the circumstances, I am not satisfied that

establishing a separate inquiry is necessary or in the public interest.

There is some legitimate public concern around undercover policing activity in

Scotland and I have had regard to that concern in reaching a decision on this matter.

However, on balance, I consider that establishing a Scottish inquiry, under the 2005

act, into undercover policing is not necessary or justified. The factors that have led

Page 11 ⇓

me to that view include the lack of evidence of any systemic failings within

undercover policing in Scotland.

In light of the limited scale of the activities of SDS and NPOIU police officers in

Scotland, I believe that setting up a further inquiry would not be a proportionate

response. I believe that such an inquiry would inevitably create a measure of

duplication with the undercover policing inquiry by involving many of the same

core participants and law enforcement officers, and that it would have the potential

to overlap with that inquiry in its conclusions and remedies. It could, because of the

scale and duration of the undercover policing inquiry, be subject to potential delay in

obtaining Metropolitan Police service participation and documentation, and it would

be disproportionate in terms of cost.

Responsibility for the actions of English and Welsh police units sits with the UK

Government, London’s deputy mayor for policing and crime, and the relevant chief

officers.

The Scottish Government’s position remains that the clearest and most effective way

of addressing concerns about what might have happened in Scotland as a result of

actions of English and Welsh police officers is for the terms of reference of the

undercover policing inquiry to be amended to allow it to look at the activity of

English and Welsh police operations that took place across Great Britain.

Accordingly, I have today written again to the Home Secretary to ask her to

reconsider the terms of reference. I have provided her with a copy of HMICS’s

strategic review.

I assure the Parliament that any recommendations that arise from the undercover

policing inquiry will be considered and, where appropriate and necessary,

implemented in Scotland.

I have every sympathy for individuals if they have suffered due to the actions of

undercover police officers who have behaved in ways that are entirely unethical and

unacceptable. However, on the basis of the evidence that we have, I am clear that

such behaviour by police officers in English and Welsh units is properly a matter for

the Home Secretary and that the most effective way for the undercover policing

inquiry to see the “whole story” and “complete picture” to which the current Prime

Minister referred is for the inquiry to be allowed to consider all the relevant

evidence.”

[15] In response to questions from John Finnie MSP and Liam McArthur MSP regarding

the decision not to order a public inquiry, the cabinet secretary indicated that if further

information were to come to light he would consider it.

Page 12 ⇓

“John Finnie will be aware that the report recognises that, as things stand, some of

the information is provisional and is based on millions of documents that are being

indexed and analysed as part of the preparations for the undercover policing inquiry.

That is why I said that, if new evidence or information comes to light in due course

on undercover policing operations involving police officers in Scotland, I will give

due regard to that. However, as things stand, based on the information that HMICS

has been able to get access to and which is available to it as part of the

documentation process, I do not believe that that evidence is sufficient to justify

establishing a public inquiry at this stage.

…

In relation to Liam McArthur’s first point, on the undercover policing inquiry, I have

been very clear as to the rationale behind and my reasoning for arriving at that

decision. I recognise that some members in the chamber do not agree with it, but I

reached it on the basis of the evidence in the HMICS report. I have also said that,

should new information become available—particularly during the undercover

policing inquiry, if that is not extended to include issues relating to English and

Welsh units operating in Scotland—I will give full consideration to it in due course.”

Summary of arguments

[16] The petitioner submitted:

 that the decisions were incompatible with certain of her Convention rights;

 that the decisions were unlawful because the reasons given for each did not

satisfy the test in Wordie v Secretary of State for Scotland 1984 SLT 345; and

 that the decisions were irrational, and, separately, disproportionate, and

therefore unlawful.

[17] The respondents resisted each of those challenges on its merits. The first respondent

resisted the petition also on the basis that it was time-barred so far as directed at the decision

by the United Kingdom Government. The plea is in general terms, and there are averments

directed towards demonstrating that the petition was time-barred in its entirety. The

Statement of Issues and the Note of Argument, however, refer to time-bar “at least quoad the

challenge based on purported failure to give effect to Convention rights”.

Page 13 ⇓

Procedural matters

[18] A number of developments in the pleadings took place, and a number of additional

documents were lodged, either shortly before, or some time after the discharge of the

procedural hearing. The procedural hearing, which was to have taken place on 16 May

2018, was discharged on the basis of representations that all parties were ready for the

substantive hearing.

[19] On the last day for adjustment, the petitioner added averments about construction

industry blacklisting in Scotland. A link to environmental activism can be discerned from

the content of an affidavit dated 9 May 2018 from Dr Nick McKerrell, who depones that he

was involved in various forms of political activism in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and that

he was also involved in the campaign against the extension of the M77 motorway. He later

discovered, following inquiry with the Information Commissioner’s Office, that, despite

never having been a construction worker, he was on the “green” (ie environmental) part of a

construction industry blacklist, and eventually received compensation. A further affidavit

relating to the construction industry blacklist, by Dave Smith, is dated 16 May 2018. I do not

suggest that the petitioner did not have standing – at least in relation to the common law

challenges made in the petition – to challenge the exclusion of police activity in Scotland or

by Scottish forces and related to these matters from the scope of the UCPI. The second

respondents referred to the breadth of matters covered in the petition, and queried whether

the petitioner was necessarily a victim, for Convention rights purposes, in relation to all of

them. They did not, however, attack any particular aspect of her case on that basis. I

observe that standing is a matter which is to be considered at permission stage, and that in

Page 14 ⇓

some cases, if the matters covered by the petition are significantly expanded, separate and

later consideration of standing in relation to the new matters will be required.

[20] More significantly, however, the petitioner lodged a report by Dr Eveline Lubbers

dated 15 June 2018. It is 60 pages long and largely deals with matters which are not the

subject of averment. It includes interviews with women who are said to have formed

intimate relationships with police officers. At the start of the hearing I asked counsel to

clarify what use he sought to make of it. He explained that the report indicated that there

was more to the issue as to the necessary scope of any inquiry than was disclosed by the

HMICS review. Dr Lubbers’s report set out “what more there might be, and why”. The

extent to which any of its content was material which was before either the respondents and

which ought to have been taken into account in any decision-making was not the subject of

submission by the petitioner. Ms O’Neill submitted that the report was irrelevant, as it was

not before the second respondents when they made their decision. She also submitted that

it appeared that Dr Lubbers might be an activist rather than an independent expert.

[21] While it may be that Dr Lubbers’s report identifies particular matters pertaining to

activities in Scotland which will not be the subject of a public inquiry, that is not in my view

relevant in these proceedings, in the absence of submissions orally or in writing linking its

content to one or more of the grounds of challenge in the petition. It is wide ranging, and it

is impossible to tell how much if any of its content the petitioner contends reflects

information that should have informed either of the challenged decisions. I have, therefore,

not taken it into account.

[22] Dr Lubbers’s report was received into process on an unopposed motion. I

appreciate that decisions not to oppose motions of this sort may be made to avoid

unnecessary expenditure of public funds, particularly where submissions can be made at a

Page 15 ⇓

substantive hearing to the effect that a late production is simply irrelevant. That said,

however, one purpose of the timetable issued when permission is granted is to ensure that

the court has material available before the hearing that focuses the issues and enables the

judge to identify what to read in preparation for the hearing. That purpose can be

undermined when a report like the one in this case is lodged after the discharged procedural

hearing, and where there is nothing in the pleadings or the notes or argument to indicate

what is to be made of it.

Convention rights

[23] The petitioner argued that the decisions of the respondents were unlawful

interferences with her Convention rights. Mr O’Neill referred to CF v Secretary of State for

the Home Department [2014] 1 WLR 4240; El-Masri v Former Republic of Macedonia (2010) 57

EHRR 25; Al-Nashiri v Poland (2015) 60 EHRR 16; R(Mousa) v Secretary of State for Defence

[2012] HRLR 210; Szulc v Poland (no 43932/08, 13 November 2012); Magyar Helsinki Bizottság

v Hungary (no 18030/11, 8 November 2016); Király and Dömötör v Hungary (no 10851/13,

17 January 2017); Guberina v Croatia (2018) 66 EHRR 524; and Savez Crkava “Riječ Života” v

Croatia (2012) 54 EHRR 1245.

[24] Mr O’Neill submitted that the decisions were incompatible with the “right to the

truth” which the Strasbourg court had recognised. They were incompatible with the

petitioner’s rights under Article 8 and Article 10. They were incompatible also with her

right not to be discriminated against in the enjoyment and protection of other Convention

rights; Article 14 read with Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11. Although the petition raised challenges

under Articles 9, 10 and 11 without reference to Article 14, these were not advanced in the

note of arguments or in oral submission.

Page 16 ⇓

“The right to the truth”

[25] In connection with this submission, Mr O’Neill referred particular to CF, Al Nashiri,

Mousa, and to Study on the right to the truth, a report to the Office of the United Nations High

Commissioner for Human Rights (E/CN.4/2006/91).

[26] The respondents submitted that there was no freestanding Convention right to the

truth. While the procedural aspects of Articles 2 and 3 give rise to obligations to

investigate, those articles were not in issue in the present case. Even in cases where Article

2 or 3 was engaged, that did not necessarily entail a statutory public inquiry. The second

respondents cited R(L) v Justice Secretary [2009] 1 AC 588, a case relating to a near-suicide in

custody, which had resulted in serious and permanent injury, particularly passages at

paragraphs 31, 63, 67, 77, and 106-108. In R(Litvinenko) v Secretary of State for the Home

Department [2014] HRLR 131, also cited by the second respondents, Article 2 was engaged.

A refusal to set up a public inquiry was not held to be incompatible with Article 2, but

irrational on other grounds. Even then, and where there were strong grounds for setting up

such an inquiry, doing so was not the only rational option.

[27] The UN report cited by the petitioner provides a useful survey of the approaches

taken under various international instruments to a right to the truth. The concept of a right

to the truth is important in combating impunity where atrocities have been committed: see,

for example Dermot Groome, The Right to Truth in the Fight against Impunity, 29 Berkeley J

Int’l Law 175 (2011). It is important particularly in cases of forced disappearance and where

an individual has died in state custody. Some human rights instruments explicitly

recognise a right to the truth. The United Nations Set of principles for the protection and

Page 17 ⇓

promotion of human rights through action to combat impunity (E/CN.4/2005/102/Add.1), for

example, does so. Principles 2 and 4 are in the following terms:

“PRINCIPLE 2. THE INALIENABLE RIGHT TO THE TRUTH

Every people has the inalienable right to know the truth about past events

concerning the perpetration of heinous crimes and about the circumstances and

reasons that led, through massive or systematic violations, to the perpetration of

those crimes. Full and effective exercise of the right to the truth provides a vital

safeguard against the recurrence of violations.

PRINCIPLE 4. THE VICTIMS’ RIGHT TO KNOW

Irrespective of any legal proceedings, victims and their families have the

imprescriptible right to know the truth about the circumstances in which violations

took place and, in the event of death or disappearance, the victims’ fate.”

[28] The ECHR does not expressly recognise a right to the truth. The Court has, however,

recognised the rights to an effective investigation and to an effective remedy in relation to

Articles 2 and 3. The expression “right to the truth” was used by the Court in Al Nashiri, at

paragraph 489:

“489. Furthermore, where allegations of serious human rights violations are involved

in the investigation, the right to the truth regarding the relevant circumstances of the

case does not belong solely to the victim of the crime and his or her family but also to

other victims of similar violations and the general public, who have the right to

know what has happened.

An adequate response by the authorities in investigating allegations of serious

human rights violations may generally be regarded as essential in maintaining public

confidence in their adherence to the rule of law and in preventing any appearance of

impunity, collusion in or tolerance of unlawful acts. For the same reasons, there must

be a sufficient element of public scrutiny of the investigation or its results to secure

accountability in practice as well as in theory.”

The context was one in which the applicants were both persons thought by the United States

authorities to be terrorists. The CIA operated a special interrogation and detention program

designed for suspected terrorists at secret detention facilities outside the United States in

cooperation with the governments of the countries concerned known as the High-Value

Detainees Program (the HVD Program). Both applicants were detained in Poland.

Page 18 ⇓

Various interrogation techniques were authorised in relation to HVDs, namely shaving,

stripping, diapering, hooding, isolation, white noise or loud music, continuous light or

darkness, uncomfortably cool environment, restricted diet, shackling, water dousing and

sleep deprivation. In addition “enhanced interrogation techniques” were authorised, namely

the attention grasp, the walling technique, facial hold, facial or insult slap, cramped

confinement, the use of insects, wall standing, stress positions, sleep deprivation and “water

boarding”. The Court found a breach of the substantive aspect of Article 3, on the basis of

Poland’s connivance in the programme, and its permission of rendition in the knowledge

that there was a real risk of treatment contrary to Article 3. It also found a breach of the

procedural obligations associated with Article 3, stating, at paragraphs 491 and 492:

“491. Moreover, the Court considers that the importance and the gravity of the issues

involved require particularly intense public scrutiny of the investigation in the

present case. First, those issues include the allegations of serious human rights

violations, encompassing torture and occurring in the framework of a secret large-

scale programme of capture, rendition, secret detention and interrogation of terrorist

suspects operated by the CIA owing to cooperation with the intelligence services of

Poland and many other countries. No less importantly, it involves the questions of

the legality and the legitimacy of both of decisions taken by Polish State officials and

of activities in which the national security and intelligence services were engaged in

the implementation of the CIA HVD Program on Poland’s territory.

Securing proper accountability of those responsible for the alleged, unlawful action

is instrumental in maintaining confidence in the Polish State institutions’ adherence

to the rule of law and the Polish public has a legitimate interest in being informed of

the investigation and its results. It therefore falls to the national authorities to ensure

that, without unacceptably compromising national security, a sufficient degree of

public scrutiny is maintained in the present case.

492. The instant case, apart from raising an issue as to an effective investigation of

alleged ill-treatment contrary to art.3 of the Convention, also points out in this

context to a more general problem of democratic oversight of intelligence services.

633 The protection of human rights guaranteed by the Convention, especially in arts

2 and 3 , requires not only an effective investigation of alleged human rights abuses

but also appropriate safeguards—both in law and in practice—against intelligence

services violating Convention rights, notably in the pursuit of their covert operations.

The circumstances of the instant case may raise concerns as to whether the Polish

legal order fulfils this requirement.”

Page 19 ⇓

[29] CF relates to challenges made to control orders on the grounds of abuse of process,

and the duties on the Secretary of State Secretary to disclose to the controlee the gist his case,

including both his allegations against the controlee and his case in response to the abuse of

process allegation. It concerned also the duty on the court to provide reasons for a decision,

notwithstanding the availability of a statutory closed material procedure. The petitioner

relied on the following passage, at paragraph 19:

“I do not consider El-Masri to be a new panacea for the uninformed. It no doubt has

its limits. However, the express inclusion of the criterion of maintaining public

confidence in adherence to the rule of law is apt. It reflects what Lord Phillips said in

the AF (No 3) case [2010] 2 AC 269, para 63:

“Indeed, if the wider public are to have confidence in the justice system, they need to

be able to see that justice is done rather than being asked to take it on trust.”

[30] The context in which El-Masri v Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (2013) 57

EHRR 25 was discussed in CF is set out by Maurice Kay LJ at paragraph 13:

“13. After this case left the Administrative Court, the European Court of Human

Rights decided El-Masri v Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia which concerned an

allegation of “extraordinary rendition”. It is relied on by MAM and CF in the present

case because it addresses not only the interest of the affected person but also the

public interest. The court said, at paras 191 and 192:

“191. …the court also wishes to address another aspect of the inadequate character of

the investigation in the present case, namely its impact on the right to the truth

regarding the relevant circumstances of the case. In this connection it underlines the

great importance of the present case not only for the applicant and his family, but

also for other victims of similar crimes and the general public, who had the right to

know what had happened. The issue of ‘extraordinary rendition’ attracted

worldwide attention …

“192. …However, while there may be obstacles or difficulties which prevent progress

in an investigation in a particular situation, an adequate response by the authorities

in investigating allegations of serious human rights violations, as in the present case,

may generally be regarded as essential in maintaining public confidence in their

adherence to the rule of law and in preventing any appearance of collusion in or

tolerance of unlawful acts. For the same reasons, there must be a sufficient element of

public scrutiny of the investigation or its results to secure accountability in practice

as well as in theory. As the Council of Europe stated in its guidelines of 30 March

Page 20 ⇓

2011 on eradicating impunity for serious human rights violations, ‘impunity must be

fought as a matter of justice for the victims, as a deterrent to prevent new violations

and to uphold the rule of law and public trust in the justice system’.”

[31] El Masri concerned the detention of the claimant at the Serbian/Macedonian border,

his torture at Skopje airport, and his rendition to a CIA-run facility in Afghanistan. The

passage just quoted relates to the lack of an effective investigation in breach of the

procedural aspect of Article 3.

[32] Mousa was an application for judicial review of the Secretary of State’s refusal to

order a public inquiry into allegations that persons detained in Iraq between 2003 and 2008

were ill-treated by British Armed Forces personnel contrary to Article 3. The Secretary of

State had set up a form of inquiry under the auspices of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team.

The Court of Appeal found that that team lacked the requisite independence, because it

included members of the Provost Branch, who would be responsible for investigating

allegations of abuse said to have occurred at a time when Provost Branch members were

involved in matters surrounding the detention and internment of suspected persons in Iraq.

[33] There is no “right to the truth” in the Convention other than insofar as one arises

from the procedural obligations associated with particular articles of the Convention. One

of the third party interveners in El- Masri, the United Nations High Commissioner for

Human Rights, contended specifically for an autonomous right to the truth, while also

submitting that it was embodied in Article 13 and “woven in” to Articles 2, 3, and 5: El-

Masri, paragraph 175. The Grand Chamber did not adopt the suggestion that there was an

autonomous right to the truth, but proceeded to consider whether there had been violations

of particular articles of the Convention.

[34] In Al Nashiri, El-Masri and Mousa Article 3 was engaged. The petitioner does not

claim in her application for judicial review that her rights under Article 2 or 3 have been the

Page 21 ⇓

subject of interference by virtue of the activities of undercover police officers, or that the

decisions of the respondents are incompatible with either of those Articles. The Strasbourg

Court recognises that insofar as there is a “right to the truth” in consequence of the

procedural aspects of articles of the Convention, it is not exclusive to the victim of the

violation, in the sense that, to combat impunity, and to maintain public confidence, there

must be public scrutiny. It does not, however, extend the status of victim to any member of

the public who might be aggrieved by the want of a proper inquiry. The victims remain the

persons who have been subjected to ill treatment, and in some cases their family members.

[35] None of the cases cited was authority for the proposition that a failure to hold a

public inquiry into the activities of English and Welsh forces in Scotland and of Scottish

forces in the circumstances of the present case was an unlawful interference with the

petitioner’s Convention rights, and this chapter of submission does not advance her case.

Article 8 – access to information

[36] The petitioner relied on Szulc v Poland, which concerns an individual who had been

approached by the Polish security services in the 1970s. They had tried to recruit her as a

collaborator, but she had refused. She sought access to the documents of the communist

security services. She made many attempts to get access to them, over a ten year period,

before finally being granted full access to her file. In the course of that period her name had

appeared on a list, published on the internet, of alleged collaborators. Article 8 applied

because the storing of information relating to an individual’s private life in a secret register

and the release of that information comes within the scope of Article 8(1): paragraph 81.

The court found that Poland had not fulfilled its positive obligation to provide an effective

Page 22 ⇓

and accessible procedure enabling her to have access to all relevant information that would

allow her to contest her classification by the secret services as their secret informant.

[37] Regarding the positive obligation in question, the Court said:

“84. The Court recalls that, in addition to the primarily negative undertakings in

art.8 of the Convention, there may be positive obligations inherent in effective

respect for private life. In determining whether or not such a positive obligation

exists, it will have regard to the fair balance that has to be struck between the general

interest of the community and the competing interests of the individual concerned,

the aims in the second paragraph of art 8 being of a certain relevance.

85. With regard to access to personal files held by the public authorities, with the

exception of information related to national security considerations, the Court has

recognised a vital interest, protected by the Convention, of persons wishing to

receive information necessary to know and to understand their childhood and early

development, or to trace their origins, in particular the identity of one’s natural

parents or information concerning health risks to which interested persons were

exposed.

86. In those contexts, the Court has considered that a positive obligation arose for

the respondent State to provide an “effective and accessible procedure” enabling the

applicant to have access to “all relevant and appropriate information”.

[38] I accept that Article 8 gives rise to certain positive obligations. The petitioner’s case,

however, is not that she should be given access to data held regarding her, but that the

respondents’ refusal to order a public inquiry into undercover policing in Scotland is an

unlawful interference with her Article 8 rights. I find it impossible to derive support for that

case from the reasoning in Szulc.

Article 8 – effective investigation

[39] The petitioner relied on Király and Dömötör, a case in which the state’s failure to

investigate and prosecute criminal acts was characterised as a breach of a positive obligation

under Article 8 to protect the psychological integrity of the applicants. The applicants

complained of failures on the part of the state in relation to a demonstration by right-wing

Page 23 ⇓

politicians and activists. A right wing politician, GF, announced that a demonstration

would take place in Devecser under the slogan “Live and let live”. It followed shortly after

riots between Roma and non-Roma families in the area. The police had been informed, by

official sources, that in addition to members of the politician’s party, nine far-right groups

known for militant behaviour and anti-Roma racism would be present at the demonstration.

The websites of the far-right groups contained statements that the demonstration was aimed

“against Roma criminality” and similar expressions. At the demonstration GF invoked

crimes committed by the Roma community, and demanded the reintroduction of the death

penalty. He said that the Roma were not “normal”. The judgment (paragraphs 9-10) relates

a number of inflammatory and racist statements about Roma people by leaders of various of

the groups involved, including claims that the Roma wanted to exterminate Hungarians.

One declared that the only way to deal with the Roma was to apply force to “stamp out this

phenomenon that needs to be purged”.

[40] After the speeches the demonstrators marched through an area where many Roma

people lived, chanting, among other things, “Roma, you will die”, and “We will burn your

house down and you will die inside”. Concrete, stones, and plastic bottles were thrown.

[41] The police were present but were said by the applicants to have remained passive.

The conduct of the police was criticised by the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights. The

applicants complained to the police about their failure to take measures against the

demonstrators, thereby endangering their life and limb and human dignity. The police

dismissed the complaint, on the basis that the demonstration had remained peaceful, and no

conflict had broken out, other than by stones being thrown. Only a small group of

demonstrators had been armed with sticks and whips, and measures to detain suspects

would have aggravated the situation and strengthened the hostility of the demonstrators

Page 24 ⇓

towards the police. Appeals against the dismissal of the complaints were unsuccessful, as

was judicial review of those decisions. Criminal investigations in respect of the content of

the speeches were discontinued. One person was eventually convicted of throwing stones.

[42] The passage on which the petitioner founded was at paragraphs 61-62. Paragraph 60

of the judgment provides further context:

“60. The Court reiterates that while the essential object of Article 8 of the Convention

is to protect the individual against arbitrary action by public authorities, there may in

addition be positive obligations inherent in effective “respect” for private and family

life and these obligations may involve the adoption of measures in the sphere of the

relations between individuals (see Söderman, cited above, § 78). To that end, States

are required to maintain and apply in practice an adequate legal framework

affording protection against acts of violence by private individuals (see Sandra

Janković v. Croatia, no. 38478/05, § 45, 5 March 2009, and A v. Croatia, no. 55164/08, §

60, 14 October 2010).

61. The State’s positive obligation under Article 8 to safeguard the individual’s

physical integrity may also extend to questions relating to the effectiveness of the

criminal investigation (see Osman v. the United Kingdom, 28 October 1998, § 128,

Reports 1998-VIII, and C.A.S. and C.S. v. Romania, no. 26692/05, § 72, 20 March 2012)

and to the possibility of obtaining reparation and redress (see, mutatis mutandis, A, B

and C v. Latvia, no. 30808/11, § 149, 31 March 2016), although there is no absolute

right to obtain the prosecution or conviction of any particular person where there

were no culpable failures in seeking to hold perpetrators of criminal offences

accountable (see, for example, Brecknell v. the United Kingdom, no. 32457/04, § 64, 27

November 2007). More generally, however, in respect of less serious acts between

individuals which may violate psychological integrity, the obligation of the State

under Article 8 to maintain and apply in practice an adequate legal framework

affording protection does not always require that an efficient criminal-law provision

covering the specific act be in place. The legal framework could also consist of civil-

law remedies capable of affording sufficient protection (see Söderman, cited above,

§ 85).

62. The Court also reiterates that its task is not to substitute itself for the competent

domestic authorities in determining the most appropriate methods for protecting

individuals from attacks on their personal integrity, but rather to review under the

Convention the decisions that those authorities have taken in the exercise of their

power of appreciation. The Court will therefore examine whether Hungary, in

handling the applicants’ case, has been in breach of its positive obligation under

Article 8 of the Convention (see mutatis mutandis, Sandra Janković, cited above, § 46).

Page 25 ⇓

[43] The Court found that Hungary had indeed breached its positive obligations under

Article 8. As in RB, the finding was in relation to decisions taken after the demonstration,

rather than in relation to the decision not to disperse it or to take particular steps during it.

The relevant passages are paragraphs 71-80:

“71. As regards the ensuing criminal proceedings against the speakers and the

participants of the demonstration, the Court notes that the criminal investigation into

the crime of incitement against a group was discontinued because the domestic

authorities found that the speakers’ statements during the march were not covered

by the said offence (see paragraph 29 above). It also notes that an investigation was

opened into the criminal offence of violence against a member of a group, in the

course of which four demonstrators were found to have thrown stones at a house

inhabited by a Roma family. The ensuing criminal proceedings led to the conviction

of one of the demonstrators, the other three remaining unidentifiable (see paragraph

30 above).

72. The Court has already dealt with cases of harassment motivated by racism which

involved no physical violence, but rather verbal assault and physical threats. It found

that the manner in which the criminal-law mechanisms had been implemented was a

relevant factor for its assessment of whether the protection of the applicant’s rights

had been defective to the point of constituting a violation of the respondent State’s

positive obligations under Article 8 of the Convention (see R.B. v. Hungary, cited

above, §§ 84-85).

73. In considering the present case, the Court will draw inspiration from the

principles formulated in its previous case-law under Article 10 of the Convention

concerning statements alleged to have stirred up violence, hatred and intolerance.

The key factors in the Court’s assessment were whether the statements had been

made against a tense political or social background (see Zana v. Turkey, 25 November

1997, §§ 57-60, Reports 1997-VII; Sürek v. Turkey (no. 1) [GC], no. 26682/95, §§ 52

and 62, ECHR 1999-IV; Soulas and Others v. France, no. 15948/03, § 33, 10 July 2008,

and Féret v. Belgium, no. 15615/07, §§ 66 and 76, 16 July 2009), whether the statements,

fairly construed and seen in their immediate or wider context, could have been seen

as a direct or indirect call for violence or as a justification for violence, hatred or

intolerance (see, among other authorities, Özgür Gündem v. Turkey, no. 23144/93, § 64,

ECHR 2000-III and Fáber v. Hungary, no. 40721/08, §§ 52 and 56-58), and the manner

in which the statements had been made, and their capacity - direct or indirect - to

lead to harmful consequences (see Karataş v. Turkey ([GC], no. 23168/94, §§ 51-52,

ECHR 1999-IV).

74. In all of those cases, it was the interplay between the various factors, rather than

any one of them taken in isolation, that determined the outcome of the case. The

Court’s approach to that type of case can thus be described as highly context-specific

(see Perinçek, cited above, § 208).

Page 26 ⇓

75. Aware of its subsidiary role, the Court is mindful that it is prevented from

substituting its own assessment of the facts for that of the national authorities.

Nonetheless, based on the above, it cannot but consider that the domestic authorities

should have paid particular attention to the specific context in which the impugned

statements were uttered.

76. In particular, the rally in general quite clearly targeted the Roma minority, which

was supposedly responsible for “Gypsy criminality”, with the intention of

intimidating this vulnerable group. Besides the adherents of a right-wing political

party, it was attended by members of nine far-right groups, known for their militant

behaviour and acting as a paramilitary group, dressed in uniforms, marching in

formation and obeying commands. The speakers called on participants to “fight

back” and “sweep out the rubbish from the country”. Their statements referred to an

ongoing ethnic conflict and the use of all necessary means of self-protection. It was

following the speeches that the demonstrators marched down Vásárhelyi Street

between the houses inhabited by the Roma, uttered obscenities against the

inhabitants and engaged in acts of violence. Throughout the event, the police placed

themselves between the demonstrators and the Roma residents to ensure the

protection of the latter, while the participants themselves threatened the Roma that

they would come back once the police had gone and demanded the police not to

protect the Roma minority.

77. Moreover, the event was organised in a period when marches involving large

groups and targeting the Roma minority had taken place on a scale that could

qualify as “large-scale, coordinated intimidation” (see Vona, cited above, § 69).

78. For the Court, these were relevant factors that should have been taken into

consideration when assessing the nature of the speeches. This is all the more so that

according to the domestic courts’ case-law, racist statements together with the

context in which they were expressed could constitute a clear and imminent risk of

violence and violation of the rights of others (see paragraph 36 above). However, it

appears that the investigating authorities paid no heed to those elements when

concluding that the statements had been hateful and abusive but that they had not

incited violence. Thus, the domestic authorities inexplicably narrowed down the

scope of their investigations.

79. As regards the criminal investigations into the offence of violence against a

member of a group, the Court recalls that for an “investigation to be regarded as

‘effective’, it should in principle be capable of leading to the establishment of the

facts of the case and to the identification and punishment of those responsible. This is

not an obligation of result, but one of means” (see, albeit in the context of Article 3,

Identoba and Others v. Georgia, no. 73235/12, § 66, 12 May 2015). In the present case,

these proceedings lasted almost three years; and their scope was statutorily bound to

be limited to the actual acts of violence. The authorities eventually identified one

incident liable to prosecution; the perpetrator was prosecuted for, and charged with,

violence against a member of a group and convicted of that offence. Although the

Page 27 ⇓

police had had sufficient time to prepare themselves for the event and should have

been able to interrogate numerous persons after the incident (see paragraph 17

above), only five demonstrators were questioned; and three of the alleged

perpetrators could not be identified. For the lack of any other elements possibly

falling within the hypothesis of the offence in question, the police were not in a

position to extend the scope of the prosecution to any other protagonists. In these

circumstances, the Court finds that this course of action in itself was not “capable of

leading to the establishment of the facts of the case” and did not constitute a

sufficient response to the true and complex nature of the situation complained of.

80. The cumulative effect of those shortcomings in the investigations, especially the

lack of a comprehensive law enforcement approach into the events, was that an

openly racist demonstration, with sporadic acts of violence (see paragraphs 11-12

and 25-26 above) remained virtually without legal consequences and the applicants

were not provided with the required protection of their right to psychological

integrity. They could not benefit of the implementation of a legal framework

affording effective protection against an openly anti-Roma demonstration, the aim of

which was no less than the organised intimidation of the Roma community,

including the applicants, by means of a paramilitary parade, verbal threats and

speeches advocating a policy of racial segregation. The Court is concerned that the

general public might have perceived such practice as legitimisation and/or tolerance

of such events by the State.

[44] The case is in a line of authority that includes Osman v United Kingdom

[2000] 29 EHRR 245; X and Y v Netherlands 26 March 1985, § 27, Series A no 91 and Janković v Croatia

no 38478/05, 5 March 2009. Violence or harassment falling short of the severity required for

Article 3 may require investigation in order to comply with the positive obligation

associated with Article 8. Incidents which are said to be motivated by race require

particularly careful scrutiny. In RB v Hungary, no 64602/12, 12 April 2016, which is cited on

a number of occasions in Király and Dömötör, the Court found that there had been a breach of

Article 8 in respect of a failure to investigate an incident of racist verbal abuse against the

applicant, but not in respect of a failure to disperse a rally. The Court in RB explained at

paragraphs 78, 83, 84 and 99:

“78. The notion of “private life” within the meaning of Article 8 of the Convention is

a broad term not susceptible to exhaustive definition. The notion of personal

autonomy is an important principle underlying the interpretation of the guarantees

provided for by Article 8. It can therefore embrace multiple aspects of a person’s

Page 28 ⇓

physical and social identity. The Court has accepted in the past that an individual’s

ethnic identity must be regarded as another such element (see S. and Marper v. the

United Kingdom [GC], nos. 30562/04 and 30566/04, § 66, ECHR 2008, and Ciubotaru v.

Moldova, no. 27138/04, § 49, 27 April 2010). In particular, any negative stereotyping

of a group, when it reaches a certain level, is capable of impacting on the group’s

sense of identity and the feelings of self-worth and self-confidence of members of the

group. It is in this sense that it can be seen as affecting the private life of members of

the group (see Aksu v. Turkey [GC], nos. 4149/04 and 41029/04, § 58, ECHR 2012).

…

83. When investigating violent incidents, State authorities have an additional duty

under Article 3 of the Convention to take all reasonable steps to unmask any racist

motive and to establish whether or not ethnic hatred or prejudice may have also

played a role in the events (see Abdu, cited above, § 29, and Šečić, cited above, § 66).

Furthermore, the Court has previously found under Article 8 of the Convention that

acts of violence such as inflicting minor physical injuries and making verbal threats

may require the States to adopt adequate positive measures in the sphere of criminal-

law protection (see Sandra Janković, cited above, § 47).

84. The Court therefore considers that a similar obligation might arise in cases where

alleged bias-motivated treatment did not reach the threshold necessary for Article 3,

but constituted an interference with the applicant’s right to private life under Article

8, that is, when a person makes credible assertions that he or she has been subjected

to harassment motivated by racism, including verbal assaults and physical threats. In

this connection it stresses that the increasingly high standard being required in the

area of the protection of human rights and fundamental liberties correspondingly

and inevitably requires greater firmness in assessing breaches of the fundamental

values of democratic societies (see, mutatis mutandis, Selmouni v. France, [GC], no.

25803/94, § 101, ECHR 1999-V). Moreover, in the Court’s view, in situations where

there is evidence of patterns of violence and intolerance against an ethnic minority

(see paragraphs 75-76 above), the positive obligations incumbent require a higher

standard of States to respond to alleged bias-motivated incidents.

…

99. Nonetheless, as the Court held in the context of Articles 2 and 3, bearing in mind

the difficulties involved in policing modern societies, the unpredictability of human

conduct and the operational choices which must be made in terms of priorities and

resources, the positive obligation on the authorities to take preventive operational

measures in certain well-defined circumstances to protect an individual must be

interpreted in a way which does not impose an impossible or disproportionate

burden on the authorities (see Đorđević v. Croatia, no. 41526/10, § 139, ECHR 2012,

and Osman v. the United Kingdom, 28 October 1998, § 116, Reports of Judgments and

Decisions 1998-VIII). For the Court, the same consideration holds true as regards the

State’s positive obligation under Article 8 to protect an individual’s private life from

the acts of another individual, while taking into account the wide margin of

Page 29 ⇓

appreciation the Contracting States enjoy in this area (see paragraphs 80 above). In

this context, the Court accepts that in certain situations the domestic authorities

might be required to proceed with the dispersal of a violent and blatantly intolerant

demonstration for the protection of an individual’s private life under Article 8.”

[45] The petitioner invites me to conclude, on the basis of the reasoning in Király and

Dömötör, that the respondents have acted incompatibly with their positive obligations under

Article 8 by declining to order a public inquiry. The Court found a breach of a positive

obligation arising from Article 8 in a context where the approach of the state authorities led

to impunity for individuals inciting racial hatred and to the potential for a perception on the

part of the general public that the state legitimised or tolerated the conduct in question:

paragraph 80. The criticism of the state was in relation to the detection and prosecution of

crime; the absence of effective measures affording protection from acts by private

individuals which violated the psychological integrity of others. The approach of the

Strasbourg court is one of increasingly close scrutiny of decisions about investigation and

prosecution where there are allegations of harassment or threatening behaviour motivated

by racism, and particularly in the context of evidence of patterns of violence and intolerance

against an ethnic minority. Surveillance by the police undoubtedly falls within the ambit of

Article 8. Actions of certain types taken by the police in the course of surveillance may

violate the psychological integrity of individuals. What this petitioner avers is, however,

not a violation of psychological integrity of the sort considered by the Court in Király and

Dömötör. The present case involves no allegation of violence, or harassment, or racially

motivated conduct. It is usual for domestic and Strasbourg jurisprudence to march hand in

hand: Brown v Parole Board for Scotland 2018 SC (UKSC) 49, Lord Reed at paragraph 42. To

infer a duty to direct that there be a public inquiry in the circumstances of this case would

require a significant extension of the reasoning in Király and Dömötör. The petitioner has not

Page 30 ⇓

demonstrated that either respondent has acted incompatibly with her Convention rights on

this basis.

Article 10 – access to information

[46] In this connection Mr O’Neill referred to Magyar Helsinki Bizottság. The applicant

was a NGO monitoring the implementation of international human rights standards in

Hungary. It investigated the effectiveness of a system for the appointment of defence

counsel. The applicant requested the names of public defenders selected in 2008 and the

number of assignments given to each lawyer from a total of twenty eight police

departments. Two police departments refused to provide the information. The applicant

was unsuccessful in the national courts in obtaining the information. The decision of the

Strasbourg court is notable for extensive discussion about the jurisprudence relevant to the

circumstances in which Article 10 will give rise to an obligation on a state party to impart

information to an individual. These are where access to the information is instrumental for

the individual’s exercise of his or her right to freedom of expression, in particular the

freedom to receive and impart information, and where its denial constitutes an interference

with that right.

[47] The court also proposes four threshold criteria, which overlap to some extent, for the

assessment of whether and to what extent a denial of access to information constitutes an

interference with an applicant’s right to freedom of expression: paragraphs 157-169.

[48] The first of these is the purpose of the information request. The request must be to

enable the applicant’s exercise of the freedom to receive and impart information and ideas to

others. It is relevant to consider whether the request is in connection with journalism or the

“watchdog” function of an NGO.

Page 31 ⇓

[49] Second, the information, data, or documents sought must meet a public interest test:

paragraphs 161-163.

“161. Maintaining this approach, the Court considers that the information, data or

documents to which access is sought must generally meet a public interest test in

order to prompt a need for disclosure under the Convention. Such a need may exist

where, inter alia, disclosure provides transparency on the manner of conduct of

public affairs and on matters of interest for society as a whole and thereby allows

participation in public governance by the public at large.

162. The Court has emphasised that the definition of what might constitute a subject

of public interest will depend on the circumstances of each case. The public interest

relates to matters which affect the public to such an extent that it may legitimately

take an interest in them, which attract its attention or which concern it to a significant

degree, especially in that they affect the well-being of citizens or the life of the

community. This is also the case with regard to matters which are capable of giving

rise to considerable controversy, which concern an important social issue, or which

involve a problem that the public would have an interest in being informed about.

The public interest cannot be reduced to the public’s thirst for information about the

private life of others, or to an audience’s wish for sensationalism or even voyeurism.

In order to ascertain whether a publication relates to a subject of general importance,

it is necessary to assess the publication as a whole, having regard to the context in

which it appears (see Couderc and Hachette Filipacchi Associés v. France [GC], no.

40454/07, §§ 97 to 103, ECHR 2015 (extracts), with further references).

163. In this connection, the privileged position accorded by the Court in its case-law

to political speech and debate on questions of public interest is relevant. The

rationale for allowing little scope under Article 10 § 2 of the Convention for

restrictions on such expressions (see Lingens v. Austria, 8 July 1986, §§ 38 and 41,

Series A no. 103, and Sürek v. Turkey (no. 1) [GC], no. 26682/95, § 61, ECHR 1999-IV),

likewise militates in favour of affording a right of access under Article 10 § 1 to such

information held by public authorities.”

[50] Third, the role of the applicant is relevant, and here there is some overlap with

consideration of the purpose of the request. An important consideration in assessing

whether a state has interfered with Article 10 rights by denying access to documents is the

role of the applicant: is the applicant seeking information in order to provide information to

the public, in the capacity of a public “watchdog”? A right to access to information does

not apply exclusively to journalists and NGOs. A high level of protection applies to

academic researchers, and authors of literature on matters of public concern. The internet

Page 32 ⇓

plays an important role in enhancing the public’s access to news and facilitating the

dissemination of information, so bloggers and popular users of social media may be

regarded as having a similar function.

[51] Fourth, the court will have regard to the fact that information is “ready and

available”, and does not necessitate collection of data by the government. Difficulty in

gathering information will not avail a state where the government’s own practice has

generated the difficulty, as in Österreichische Vereinigung zur Ehrhaltung, Stärkung und

Schaffung v Austria (no 29434/07, 28 November 2013). I note that in Österreichische

Vereinigung the applicant had offered to reimburse the cost of producing the information.

The information in question was decisions made by a body charged with determining civil

rights and obligations. The circumstance that it did not publish its decisions was remarked

on by the Strasbourg court both as striking and as the source of the difficulty: Österreichische

Vereinigung at paragraph 46.

[52] Again, the reasoning in Magyar Helsinki Bizottság does not translate readily to the

circumstances of this application. The petition does not disclose on what basis it could be

contended that access to particular information is instrumental for the petitioner to exercise

her right to receive and impart information. The circumstances in the present application

are far removed from those in Magyar Helsinki Bizottság. There is nothing averred in the

petition or said in submission to indicate that the petitioner is fulfilling a “watchdog” role,

or that she is requesting specific information with a view to communicating it to others in

exercising such a role. She is asking the state to order a public inquiry; that is to carry out a

costly exercise to gather information that it does not already have to hand. The second

criterion (public interest) appears to be intended to be applied to identified, existing data.

There are no identified data sought in the present case. As the information is not

Page 33 ⇓

identified, it is more difficult to apply a public interest test to it, although I accept that there

is a public interest in discovering unlawful activity by the forces of the state. These are

plainly matters that the public may legitimately take an interest in, as opposed to matters

which would satisfy an audience wish for sensationalism. Application of the threshold

criteria indicates that this application does not disclose an interference with the petitioner’s

Article 10 rights by virtue of the decisions complained of.

[53] The Strasbourg court has engaged in incremental development of its jurisprudence

as to the circumstances in which the state is obliged to provide access to information held by

public authorities under reference to Articles 8 and 10. Magyar Helsinki Bizottság in

particular represents a development of the right of access to information by virtue of Article

10, but it does not recognise an equal right of all citizens to access information as an aspect

of their Article 10 rights.

Article 14 with Articles 8, 9, 10 and 11

[54] The petitioner’s argument was that there was discrimination, on a geographical

basis, between victims of undercover policing located in Scotland and those located in

England. Mr O’Neill submitted that the Supreme Court had recently recognised that there

might in principle be unlawful discrimination on the basis of the place of residence of an

individual: R(A) v Health Secretary [2017] 1 WLR 2492, Lord Reed paragraphs 37-49.

[55] The state had provided a public inquiry. If the state had gone beyond what was

required of it by the Convention by setting up an inquiry, it could not then discriminate

contrary to Article 14 by affording that benefit to some citizens rather than others,

discriminating on a geographical basis. He referred to Savez Crkava “Riječ života” v Croatia

and in particular a passage at paragraphs 56-58. He relied on Guberina v Croatia at

Page 34 ⇓

paragraphs 67-74, in particular paragraph 71, for a passage confirming that indirect

discrimination in relation to the enjoyment of a Convention right may be unlawful by virtue

Article 14.

[56] Mr O’Neill initially conceded that this challenge could be made only against the first

respondent, which had provided for an inquiry, but one limited in the ways of which he

complained. There could be no such challenge against the second respondent, which had

not made provision for a public inquiry. He later, however, submitted that once the first

respondent had acted unlawfully by providing an inquiry on a basis that discriminated

unlawfully in terms of Article 14, it fell to the second respondents to provide an inquiry that

remedied that unlawfulness. If they did not, they, similarly, were acting incompatibly with

Article 8 taken with Article 14. An act included a failure to act: Scotland Act 1998,

section 100(4).

[57] Both respondents accepted that the subject matter of the petitioner’s complaint fell

within the ambit of Article 8.

[58] Mr Webster’s response was that, properly analysed, there was no discrimination of

the sort contemplated by Lord Reed in A. There was no discrimination based on the

geographical location of the victims of undercover policing. The location of the victims

was irrelevant. The geographical limitation was in relation to the police forces involved,

and the location where the operations had been conducted. In the course of debate there

was some discussion as to whether there might be indirect discrimination in the sense that

the decision of the first respondent impacted disproportionately on victims of undercover

policing resident in Scotland. That argument was not, however, developed beyond the

reference to Guberina.

Page 35 ⇓

[59] Ms O’Neill submitted that she had not anticipated the argument, as Mr O’Neill came

to formulate it in his oral submissions. It was not foreshadowed in the pleadings or the

notes of argument. Her submission came to be that the petition simply gave no notice at all

of any argument concerning Article 14 ECHR.

[60] The only references at all to Article 14 in the petition are in Statement of Fact 43, in

the body of a quotation from Thlimmenos v Greece (2001) 31 EHRR 15, in a passage dealing

with discrimination contrary to Article 9 ECHR; and at Statement 58. The latter reference is

within a section of the petition dealing with a failure at common law to give reasons, and is

directed at the second respondents. It is in the following terms:

“Section 28 of the Inquiries Act 2005 clearly allows the Scottish Ministers to set up an

inquiry under the Inquiries Act 2005 with terms of reference effectively mirroring

those of the formerly Pitchford (now Mitting) Inquiry to inquire into and report on

undercover police operations conducted by Scottish police forces in Scotland. The

reasons letter simply gives no adequate explanation as to why the second

respondents refuse so to do, particularly against the background that the UK

Supreme Court has confirmed that geographical differences within the United

Kingdom in the availability of or access to rights may amount to unlawful

discrimination in breach Article 14 ECHR: R (A) v Health Secretary … per Lord Reed

from §§ 37-49. … The decision is therefore unlawful at common law.”

[61] Nowhere in the petition is it pled that either respondent acted incompatibly with

Article 14 taken with any other article of the Convention by making one of the challenged

decisions. The petitioner’s note of arguments, contains the following, formulated in

exactly the same way in respect of each respondent.

“It is incompatible with the right under Article 14 ECHR not to be discriminated

against in the enjoyment and effective protection of other Convention rights

(including rights of privacy under Article 8 ECHR, the right to conscientious

objection under Article 9 ECHR, the right to free expression under Article 10 ECHR

and the right to free assembly and association under Article 11 ECHR) for provisions

for an Convention compatible public inquiry to be made in respect of victims of

undercover policing operations in England and Wales but not for victims of

undercover policing in Scotland: R(A) v Health Secretary [2017] UKSC 41 [2017] 1

WLR 2492 per Lord Reed from §§ 37-49. “

Page 36 ⇓

[62] Inclusion in the note of arguments of a challenge not foreshadowed in the petition is

something that ought to have been detected. It should have been discussed at the

procedural hearing. The procedural hearing in this case, as in many others, was discharged

on the basis of correspondence from parties to the Court, representing that they were ready

to proceed. As became apparent at the substantive hearing, however, there was an

outstanding issue as to whether a particular line of argument fell within the scope of the

challenges of which fair notice was given in the petition. An issue of this sort is suited to

discussion and disposal at a procedural hearing. A party should not represent to the Court

that it is ready to proceed to the substantive hearing if there is an outstanding case

management issue like this one, raised by the second respondents only in the course of the

substantive hearing in this case.

[63] I do not encourage pleadings in judicial review that are of excessive length, or an

unduly formalistic approach to the content of the pleadings. That would be inappropriate in

proceedings of this sort. As Lord Hope of Craighead observed in Somerville v Scottish

Ministers 2008 SC (HL) 45, at paragraph 65:

“… the degree of precision and detail in written pleadings that has traditionally been

looked for in other forms of action in Scotland is not to be looked for in petitions for

judicial review (Clyde and Edwards, Judicial Review, para 23.19). The core

requirement is simply this. The factual history should be set out succinctly and the

issues of law should be clearly identified.”

[64] If, however, the issues of law are to be clearly identified, the petition should provide

notice of the bases on which a decision or measure is challenged. Form 58.3 requires a

petitioner to state briefly, in numbered paragraphs, the legal argument with reference to

enactments or authority. The argument in this case is not a refinement of a line of

challenge mentioned in the petition. It is a discrete ground of challenge. The court, and a

Page 37 ⇓

respondent, can reasonably expect to find in a petition specific mention of each of the articles

of the Convention relied on by a petitioner. The reference to the article in question need be

no longer than the concise formulation in the petitioner’s note of arguments, quoted above.

[65] The petitioner did not give notice in the pleadings of an article 14 case against either

respondent. No permission was granted in relation to a challenge formulated by reference

to Article 14 taken with any other article of the Convention. Section 27B of the Court of

Session Act 1988 provides, so far as material:

(1) No proceedings may be taken in respect of an application to the supervisory

jurisdiction of the Court unless the Court has granted permission for the application

to proceed.

…

(4) The Court may grant permission under subsection (1) for an application to

proceed—

(a) subject to such conditions as the Court thinks fit,

(b) only on such of the grounds specified in the application as the Court thinks fit.

[66] The addition of new grounds after the initial grant of permission was considered by

the Inner House in MIAB v Secretary of State for the Home Department 2016 SC 871, at

paragraph 64:

“… the Scottish Civil Courts Review (2009) (chapter 12, para 51) had recommended

the introduction of the requirement for leave to proceed in order to filter out

unmeritorious applications from the system. It was this recommendation which

became section 27B, which requires that any application to the supervisory

jurisdiction requires permission, which can only be given if the ground upon which

it proceeds has a “real prospect of success”. The Court, when granting permission,

may do so in respect of particular grounds only. It is not immediately apparent that

consideration was given to the situation where a petitioner might seek to introduce

new grounds after permission to proceed generally had been granted. It must

follow, however, that, since permission could only have been given for the grounds

stated in the original application, such permission must also be necessary for any

new grounds introduced later. Where the court is considering a Minute of

Amendment in proceedings raised after the introduction of section 27B, it ought to

be asked to grant or refuse permission to proceed on any new grounds advanced, at

least at the stage of allowing any amendment.”

Page 38 ⇓

[67] The petitioner has not sought to amend the petition, but instead has sought to

advance a ground of challenge not mentioned in the petition. Given the terms of

section 27B(1) and the decision in MIAB, the ground of challenge is not properly before the

court, and I therefore decline to consider it.

Adequacy of reasons

[68] In relation to each decision, I was invited to assess the adequacy of reasons by

reference to the test in Wordie, at page 348. A decision must leave the informed reader and

the court in no real and substantial doubt as what the reasons for it were and what were the

material considerations which were taken into account in reaching it.

First respondent

[69] The petitioner argued that the reasons amounted to nothing more than assertion that

to extend the inquiry to Scotland would delay the progress of the inquiry. They took into

account an irrelevant consideration, namely the scope of the Home Office’s responsibility for

policing.

[70] In seeking to defend on its merits this aspect of the petition, the first respondent

relied exclusively on the content of the letter dated 25 July 2016.

[71] While those reasons are brief, I accept that, as the first respondent argued, they must

be viewed in the context of a request to extend the terms of reference of an inquiry which

had already started work. The reasons are, in essence, the avoidance of delay in the

inquiry, and a view that the inquiry would achieve sufficient insight into historical failings

to permit it to make recommendations without examining every instance of undercover

Page 39 ⇓

policing, wherever it was undertaken. There is no lack of clarity in the reasons given. It

seems to me that the petitioner’s complaint is really that, examining those reasons, the

decision is irrational.

[72] The argument that the first respondent took into account an irrelevant consideration

is really a separate challenge – one to the lawfulness of the decision based on the reasons

given, rather than on the inadequacy of the reasons. On the face of it, the reasons given

disclose some level of misunderstanding on the part of the first respondent. As was

accepted by all parties, it would be competent for the Secretary of State to direct an inquiry

that covered the activities of Scottish police forces, whether in Scotland or elsewhere in the

UK: Inquiries Act 2005, section 27, subject to the requirement to consult in section 27(2)(a).

It would be competent for her to direct an inquiry that covered the activities of English or

Welsh forces in Scotland. So far as the decision was said to reflect her responsibility for

policing, she had responsibility for the activities of English and Welsh forces in Scotland.

[73] It is, however, correct to say that if there was any misunderstanding in relation to

these matters, it did not lead the Secretary of State to think that she could not extend the

terms of reference. The letter to Ms Sugden proceeds on the basis that it would be

competent to extend the terms of reference of the inquiry. The factors leading to the

decision not to do were those already summarised, rather than any misunderstanding about

responsibility for policing or the competency of extending the terms of reference. I

therefore accept as correct the first respondent’s submission that any error in this respect

was not a material one.

Page 40 ⇓

Second respondents

[74] The date on which the decision was made was not the focus of discussion at the

substantive hearing. Whether or not the decision to direct a review by HMICS should be

regarded as a decision not to direct a public inquiry, it is my view that the second

respondents took a decision in the light of the outcome of that review, and that they decided

at that stage not to direct a public inquiry. If there was an earlier decision, it is superseded

by the decision taken following the review. It is on that decision, taken in February 2018,

that attention is properly focused in these proceedings. The petitioner criticises the reasons

given by the second respondents particularly on the basis that the second respondents

should have appreciated that the decision of the Home Secretary was productive of a

difference in treatment on a geographical basis, which might be unlawfully discriminatory,

having regard to the reasoning of Lord Reed in R(A) v Health Secretary: see paragraph 54

above.

[75] The reasons for the decision of the Scottish Ministers are in my view patent from the

Cabinet Secretary’s statement to Parliament, read with the contents of the HMICS review.

[76] The HMICS review involved examination of SDS records held by Operation Herne,

an active investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service into the SDS. The review

concluded that between 1997 and 2007 the SDS deployed eleven undercover officers to

Scotland, including six in support of the Scottish policing of the G8 summit in July. In

respect of NPIOU involvement, HMICS relied on material provided by the National Police

Chief’s Council. HMICS stated that the information regarding NPIOU deployments in

Scotland should be regarded as provisional, in the light of ongoing investigation by

Operation Elter, which was investigating the activities of the NPIOU.

Page 41 ⇓

[77] So far as the activities of Scottish forces were concerned, between 2000 and 2016 there

had been 423 undercover operations, of which a significant majority related to drug related

offences, with the remainder categorised as relating to “crime other”, theft, violence,

homicide, and human trafficking and exploitation. In relation to a much shorter period

(1 October 2009 - 30 September 2013) there had been 3,466 such operations in England and

Wales. HMCIS concluded that the use of undercover officers in Scotland was not

widespread and, indeed, that two categories of officer, namely undercover advanced

officers, and undercover online officers had been underutilised.

[78] The reasons given by the Cabinet Secretary on 7 February 2018 identify the following

material considerations:

 the revelations of questionable and unethical behaviours which had led to the

establishment of the UCPI related to English police forces;

 although SDS and NPIOU officers were active in Scotland, their activities were

not “standalone” or self-contained within Scotland, and did not have any

particular Scottish focus;

 outwith the context of the G8 summit, Scottish police forces were “unsighted” as

regards the activities of the SDS and the NPIOU. A further, Scottish, inquiry

into the activities of the SDS and NPIOU in Scotland would produce some

duplication with the work of the UCPI and would be disproportionate in terms of

cost;

 the Cabinet Secretary had seen no evidence of the sort of behaviour by Scottish

police forces that had led to the establishment of the UCPI;

 the HMICS review provided reassurance to the public and Parliament around the

extent and scale of use of undercover police officers since 2000;

Page 42 ⇓

 the HMICS review made recommendations that Police Scotland had committed

to implementing;

 setting up a Scottish inquiry would not be proportionate, as it would create

duplication with the UCPI by involving many of the same core participants and

law enforcement officers, and there would be potential for overlap with the

recommendations of the UCPI;

 a Scottish inquiry could be subject to delay because of the scale and duration of

the UCPI, and would be disproportionate in terms of cost.

[79] It is correct to say that consequences of the decision by the second respondents not to

order that there be an inquiry to complement the UCPI are that the activities of Scottish

police forces will not be investigated in a public inquiry, and that the activities of English

forces in Scotland will not be investigated. To that extent there is a geographical distinction.

The Cabinet Secretary’s reasons include reference to the absence of evidence that Scottish

police forces had engaged in unethical practices, and the evidence in the HMICS as to the

scale of activities by Scottish forces. They include also considerations as to duplication of

effort, expense and the circumstance that activities of English forces in Scotland were not

self-contained in Scotland, and did not have a particular Scottish focus. I consider that the

reasons given leave no real and substantial doubt as to why the second respondents made

the decision that they did, notwithstanding that it left activities which had taken place in

Scotland rather than England or Wales not subject to the scrutiny of a public inquiry.

Proportionality

[80] Mr O’Neill invited me to consider the proportionality of the decisions at common

law. He referred to the discussions of proportionality as a ground of review in Bank Mellat v

Page 43 ⇓

HM Treasury (No2) [2014] AC 70; Pham v Secretary of State for the Home Department and R

(Keyu and others) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2016] AC 1355.

The correct approach to proportionality was as set out by Lord Reed in Bank Mellat at

paragraph 74.

[81] Both respondents submitted that lack of proportionality was not a relevant ground in

common law.

[82] The discussions in the cases referred to by Mr O’Neill, particularly Pham and Keyu,

reflect an analysis whereby proportionality is categorised as a tool providing a structured

form of review. It will not inevitably require a more intense review than one based on

rationality. Rather, intensity of review is dependent on context: see, for example, Pham,

Lord Mance at paragraphs 94-96. The structured approach promoted by proportionality

has certain advantages: Kennedy v Information Commissioner [2015] AC 445, Lord Mance,

paragraph 54. Where common law rights are in issue, an approach to review has come to

be adopted which incorporates significant elements of the principle of proportionality: Pham,

Lord Sumption at paragraphs 105-107, 109-110; Lord Reed paragraph 118.

[83] Lord Reed, in Pham at paragraph 120, noted that there had been no argument made

that the power at issue in Pham (the power to deprive a British citizen of that status) should

be justified as being necessary to achieve the legitimate aim pursued, so expressly declined

to express any view on the point. He noted, also, that the case was not the proper occasion

to review cases such as R v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex p Brind [1991] 1 AC

696 in which the House of Lords declined to accept that proportionality had become a

distinct head of review in domestic law: paragraph 115.

[84] In Keyu the appellants argued that Wednesbury rationality should be replaced by a

more structured approach based on proportionality. Lord Neuberger, with whom

Page 44 ⇓

Lord Hughes agreed, noted that such a change would have potentially profound and far

reaching consequences, and that it was not appropriate for a five-justice panel of the

Supreme Court to determine the matter: paragraphs 132, 133. Lord Mance agreed with

Lord Neuberger’s reasoning generally, and that the decision at issue was neither

disproportionate nor unreasonable: paragraphs 142, 143. Lord Kerr (paragraph 271) agreed

that it would not be appropriate for a five member panel of the court to determine the issue.

He expressed the view that without an identifiable fundamental right in issue, it would be

difficult to say that the decision under challenge was disproportionate: paragraph 283.

Lady Hale dissented as to the result, but reached it by reference to the Wednesbury standard.

As to proportionality, she wrote (paragraph 304):

“… I agree with Lord Kerr JSC that it is one thing to apply a proportionality analysis

to an interference with, or limitation of, a fundamental right and another thing to

apply it to an ordinary administrative decision such as whether or not to hold some

sort of inquiry.”

[85] The position, then, is still that proportionality is not a free-standing ground for

review of lawfulness at common law. A structured approach akin to proportionality has

been adopted in a number of cases involving interferences with important common law

legal rights. Where Parliament authorises significant interferences with such rights, the

courts may interpret the legislation as requiring that any such interference should be no

greater than is objectively established to be necessary to achieve the legitimate aim of the

interference: Pham, Lord Reed, paragraph 119.

[86] The petitioner in this case has not identified an interference with an important

common law legal right of the sort at issue in the cases discussed by Lord Reed in Pham.

There is at present no basis for me to employ proportionality in reviewing the decision in

this case under the common law.

Page 45 ⇓

[87] Mr O’Neill, responding in oral submissions, sought to found on the concession made

by the respondents, in the context of their response to his Article 14 argument, that the

provision of an inquiry fell within the ambit of Article 8. Their having done so, he said,

meant that I was obliged to review the proportionality of the decisions by reference to

Article 8. The respondents required to justify their decisions.

[88] The concessions, in the context of an Article 14 argument, that the matter falls within

the ambit of Article 8, are not concessions that either of the decisions interfered with the

Article 8 rights of the petitioner so as to require justification. A decision not to provide a

facility or benefit may not interfere with a particular article, but a decision to provide it,

which goes further than the state is obliged to do by virtue of the Convention rights, may

still fall within the ambit of that article, so that discriminatory provision is unlawful by

reference to Article 14: see, for example, Savez Crkava “Riječ života” v Croatia, at

paragraphs 57-58.

[89] I therefore do not consider that the concession made by the respondents requires me

to regard the decisions at issue as interferences with the petitioner’s rights requiring

justification and an assessment of proportionality.

Rationality

[90] The petitioner mentions in her pleadings information available to each decision

maker from earlier reports and inquiries which indicate that undercover police activity took

place in Scotland. Statements of fact 63 and 64, for example, make reference to the HMIC

publication from 2012, A Review of national police units which provide intelligence on

criminality associated with protest, and the HMICS review already mentioned. In each case

the activities of Mark Kennedy are mentioned. According to the HMICS review, he

Page 46 ⇓

accounted for the majority of NPIOU deployments to Scotland, and between 2004 and 2010

visited Scotland on at least seventeen occasions with multiple activities during each visit.

The chair of the UCPI indicated that the conduct of Mark Kennedy as an undercover officer

would come under close scrutiny during the Inquiry: Core Participants ruling of 21 October

2015, paragraph 27. The chair noted that many of the applicants for designation as core

participants had claimed that Mr Kennedy was an active participant in several

environmental and political campaigns. The petitioner avers that he attended a meeting of

Plane Stupid. It is not difficult to see why someone in her position would be aggrieved by

the notion that close scrutiny should be applied to his activities in England, but not his

activities in Scotland.

[91] Mr O’Neill urged me to apply an approach to rationality similar to that employed by

Lady Hale in Keyu, itself a case about a decision not to order an inquiry. At paragraphs 308

to 301 she set out lists of considerations that a rational decision-maker would have taken

into account about the background history, about the advantages of an inquiry, and about

the disadvantages of an inquiry. Particularly significant for present purposes were the

“benefits of catharsis, accountability and public confidence” and the “importance of

acknowledging what had gone wrong and setting the record straight” (paragraph 310). She

was critical of the Secretaries of State for focusing on what might be learned of

contemporary relevance from an inquiry. They had not considered the most cost-effective

form of inquiry or the “bigger picture”: the public interest in properly inquiring into the

event in question, and the private interests of relatives and survivors in knowing the truth

and seeing the reputations of deceased relatives vindicated (paragraph 312).

[92] I am bound to recognise that Lady Hale was in the minority. She did not reach the

same conclusion on the rationality challenge as any of the other justices, and her process of

Page 47 ⇓

analysis was not one articulated in the same way by any of the other justices: compare Lord

Neuberger of Abbotsbury (with whom Lords Mance and Hughes agreed) at paragraphs 129-

130. Lord Kerr was unable to find that the decision was disproportionate. Where no

fundamental right was engaged he envisaged a “loosely structured proportionality

challenge” (paragraph 282, quoting Lord Mance in Kennedy) – a testing of the decision in

terms of its suitability or appropriateness, necessity and the balance or imbalance of benefits

and disadvantages. Where no fundamental right is involved, I cannot, at common law,

become involved in assessing the balance struck by the decision-maker between competing

interests, or the weight to be accorded to those interests: Keyu, Lord Neuberger, paragraph

133.

First respondent – rationality

[93] In this context at least, both the first respondent and the petitioner categorise the

decision as one to decline to extend the terms of reference of the UCPI. The Secretary of

State took into account

 that the UCPI had already begun work;

 that it was extensive and complex;

 that it had 200 core participants;

 that amending the terms of reference of the inquiry at the stage that had by then

been reached would require further consultation and delay the progress of the

inquiry;

 that it was important in the interests of learning lessons that the inquiry proceed

swiftly and make recommendations as soon as possible;

Page 48 ⇓

 and that the UCPI could gain an understanding of historical failings and make

recommendations to ensure unacceptable practices were not repeated without

needing to consider every instance of undercover policing wherever it was

undertaken.

[94] The essence of the petitioner’s criticism was that undue weight had been given to the

disadvantages of extending the terms of reference, as against the advantage that would be

gained in promoting transparency and public confidence in policing, given the available

information as to the extent of undercover police activity in Scotland. For the reasons I

have already given, I do not consider that it is open to me to assess the balance struck in

relation to these competing considerations. Each of the considerations listed above is one

which the Secretary of State was entitled to take into account, and she was also entitled to

look at them cumulatively. Although the reasons given are brief, they do not disclose

irrationality.

Second respondents – rationality

[95] In considering the “reasons” challenge, I have already set out the material

considerations which were disclosed by the Cabinet Secretary in his statement to the Scottish

Parliament. I do not repeat them in full here. These were all matters which in my view the

second respondents were entitled to take into account. It seems to me that the reasons

given disclose a number of considerations including cost, duplication of effort, the

circumstance that activities by English officers in Scotland were not self-contained in

Scotland, and the relatively small scale of undercover operations by Scottish forces. The

Cabinet Secretary left open the possibility that he might reconsider matters if fresh

information came to light in the course of the UCPI. The decision is one which in my view

Page 49 ⇓

falls within the range of responses reasonably open to the second respondents, and cannot

be categorised as irrational.

Time-bar

[96] Section 27A of the Court of Session Act 1988 provides

“27A (1) An application to the supervisory jurisdiction of the Court must be made

before the end of—

(a) the period of 3 months beginning with the date on which the grounds giving rise

to the application first arise, or

(b) such longer period as the Court considers equitable having regard to all the

circumstances.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to an application to the supervisory jurisdiction of

the Court which, by virtue of any enactment, is to be made before the end of a period

ending before the period of 3 months mentioned in that subsection (however that

first-ending period may be expressed).”

[97] Article 4 of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (Commencement No 3,

Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2015 (SSI 2015/247) made provision as to time

limits where the grounds giving rise to an application first arose before 22 September 2015.

“4(1) Paragraph (2) applies where the grounds giving rise to an application to the

supervisory jurisdiction of the Court of Session first arose before 22nd September

2015.

(2) Section 27A of the 1988 Act (time limits) has effect as if the reference to the date

on which the grounds giving rise to the application to the supervisory jurisdiction of

the Court of Session first arise were a reference to 22nd September 2015.”

[98] The petitioner made her application for judicial review on 24 October 2016. The first

respondent avers that the Secretary of State established the UCPI on 12 March 2015 and

announced the terms of reference on 16 July 2015. Both the announcement and the terms of

reference made it clear that the UCPI would not address activities of Scottish police forces,

or activities of English and Welsh forces in Scotland. The first respondent argues that the

application therefore required to be made before the end of the three months beginning with

Page 50 ⇓

22 September 2015. He makes that argument primarily, but not exclusively, in relation to

the challenge founded on Convention rights. The first respondent argues, further, that

even if the challenged decision is properly characterised as one to decline a request to extend

the terms of reference of the UCPI, the decision to decline that request was made on

11 January 2016 and was reaffirmed on 9 March 2016.

[99] The petitioner contended that the grounds giving rise to the application (so far as

directed against the first respondent) arose only on 25 July 2016, when the correspondence

between the Cabinet Secretary and the Secretary of State came to an end. Her challenge, as

formulated in the petition, is to a decision to refuse to amend the terms of reference of the

UCPI.

[100] Mr Webster referred to a passage at paragraph 33 of Wightman v Secretary of State for

Leaving the European Union 2018 SLT 356 (the Opinion of the Inner House in the reclaiming

motion on permission in that case):

“So far as time bar is concerned, the 3 month limit in section 27A of the 1988 Act

cannot be circumvented simply by persuading a person to repeat a decision or other

act complained of. That is essentially the petitioners’ argument relative to the letter of

7 December 2017 which, in any event, is a document containing a statement of

unchallenged policy and is hardly susceptible to reduction. However, the issues

raised in the petition concern the effects of what is said to be an ongoing “position”

which has the potential to influence future Government and Parliamentary action. In

such circumstances, there is a substantial argument that the 3 month period should

be extended under section 27A(1)(b).”

Mr Webster submitted that the present petitioner was relying on the repetition of the

decision made in 2015 as to the scope of the inquiry in order to circumvent time-bar. If that

analysis were correct, Mr O’Neill responded, the situation was similar to that in Wightman:

the position of the first respondent was an ongoing one. I was told that in Wightman the

Inner House had not only expressed a view about the strength of the position regarding

extension of the time-bar, but had pronounced an interlocutor extending it. The competing

Page 51 ⇓

positions had been respectively (for the petitioners and reclaimers) that time started to run

from the date of a letter containing a statement of policy and (for the respondent) that it

started to run from the date of notification of withdrawal.

[101] Wightman is an unusual case. It relates to questions about the revocability or

otherwise of the notification made by the UK to the EU under Article 50 TEU. Its subject

matter is succinctly described in Wightman v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union

[2018] CSIH 62, at paragraph 7:

“At the expiry of the two year period, there may or may not be an agreement. If there

is an agreement, Parliament will have to decide whether to approve it. If it is not

approved, and nothing further occurs, the treaties will cease to apply to the UK on 29

March 2019. The stark choice is either to approve the agreement or to leave the EU

with no agreement. The petitioners seek a ruling on whether there is a valid third

choice; that is to revoke the notification with the consequence, on one view, that the

UK would remain in the EU. If that choice were available, the petitioners argue,

members of the UK Parliament could decide which of three options was preferable.

They could not only elect to reject the agreement because it was, in their view, a

worse deal than having no agreement at all, but also because both the agreement or

the absence of an agreement were worse than remaining in the EU; a situation which

could be achieved by revoking the notification. If such revocation were not

a legally valid option, the stark choice would be all that was left. The petitioners wish

to have a definitive ruling, to enable them to make informed choices based on the

options legally available.”

[102] I have no difficulty in accepting that the time limit in section 27A cannot be

circumvented by persuading someone to repeat a decision made earlier. The present

petitioner has not done that. What she relies on are rejections of requests from the Scottish

government to extend the terms of reference of the inquiry. Nevertheless, the underlying

logic of the passage in Wightman (reclaiming motion, permission) is that, where a decision is

simply adhered to in the face of repeated representations, the grounds giving rise to the

application will in general have arisen when the decision is made, not each time it is then

adhered to. This is not necessarily a hard and fast rule. It may be necessary to consider

exactly what the representations have been, the circumstances of their rejection, and exactly

Page 52 ⇓

what is the focus of the challenge in order to identify when the grounds giving rise to a

particular challenge arose. In some cases responsible efforts to avoid litigation by making

further representations may be relevant to the exercise of the court’s discretion.

[103] I do not find the approach to extending the time-bar in Wightman of assistance here.

As I have already noted, the matter challenged in Wightman is unusual. At permission

stage, while on the face it the petitioner sought reduction of a letter, and to challenge what

was said to be government policy, the nature of the challenge was really to a position. By

the time of the reclaiming motion on the substance of the issue, the focus of the challenge

had shifted from one which sought to challenge what was alleged to be Government policy

to one seeking a declarator irrespective of the Government’s position. None of that

translates easily to an argument about time-bar in the much more familiar situation, in the

present case, where orders are sought about particular decisions. As a result I do not find

the way that the Inner House dealt with time-bar in Wightman, so far as extension of the

period is concerned, of assistance here.

[104] The petitioner challenges the exclusion of the activities of Scottish forces and

activities in Scotland from the scope of the UCPI. She was not aware before 21 December

2015 that there was dialogue between the Cabinet Secretary and the Secretary of State. Their

correspondence had as matter of fact begun on 10 December 2015, before the end of the three

month period, but she did not know that. She does not, and cannot, claim that her decision

not to raise proceedings on or before 21 December 2015 was influenced by knowledge that

there were political discussions going on between the two governments about the matter, or

that she believed that an earlier challenge would be premature because those discussions

were happening.

Page 53 ⇓

[105] The grounds underlying the Convention rights challenges may simply be the

exclusion from the UCPI of Scottish forces and activities in Scotland, which has been

apparent since the terms of reference were announced. The challenges so far as based on

adequacy of reasons for the decision, and rationality, however, focus on the adequacy of

reasons given when making a decision in response to express requests from the Scottish

Government that the terms of reference be extended. The grounds for the challenge relate

specifically to the decision not to extend the terms of reference. The reasons given by the

Secretary of State include the need to avoid further consultation, and resultant delay by so

extending them. The first respondent, in his note of arguments, refers to the adequacy of

the reasons precisely in the context of “a request to extend the terms of reference of the UCPI

which had been set in July the year before and where the Inquiry had already started work”.

[106] There was a decision not to extend the terms of reference of the inquiry. In relation

to the challenges made on the basis of adequacy of reasons and rationality, the first

respondent seeks to defend those on the basis of considerations which arise because of the

stage in the process at which the decision was taken, such as the circumstance that, by then,

the UCPI already had 200 core participants. Those considerations would not have applied

in March or July 2015. The first respondent has not sought to represent that reasons were

given for the decision taken in 2015 as to the terms of reference of the UCPI insofar as they

excluded activities undertaken in Scotland or by Scottish forces. The correspondence dated

25 July 2016 relates that the former Home Secretary had confirmed that she did not intend to

amend the terms of reference, “on balance”: that is, having apparently undertaken a

balancing exercise, of considerations, including those attaching to “amending the terms of

reference at this stage” (emphasis added).

Page 54 ⇓

[107] I am satisfied that the challenges, at least in so far as based on adequacy of reasons

and rationality, are directed at the decision not to extend the terms of reference of the

inquiry. Even on that analysis, however, first respondent pleads that the petition is time-

barred, as the decision was taken on 11 January 2016.

[108] The letter of 11 January is in terms which indicate that there is scope for further

discussion, by inviting discussion by telephone. That of 9 March 2016 again uses the

expression “not minded to” in relation to whether the terms of reference should be

amended, although it does not invite further discussion. The correspondence of 25 July

2016 states, “The Home Secretary does not intend to extend the scope of the Inquiry …”

[109] The content of that correspondence was not public. The correspondence was

obtained by Dr O’Driscoll, following a request by him on 31 July 2016 under the Freedom of

Information (Scotland) Act. Dr O’Driscoll’s affidavit, the content of which has not been

challenged, helpfully sets out a history of press reporting of the correspondence between the

Home Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary. The earliest press coverage was in articles on

17 January 2016. Four articles all included a quotation attributed to a Scottish Government

spokesperson:

“We have received a response from the UK Government in which the Home

Secretary has offered to discuss the matter further with Mr Matheson. The Justice

Secretary intends to take her up on her offer in due course.”

That statement would convey to the reader the impression that the Secretary of State had not

made a final decision on the matter. The next press report was on 9 March, when the Daily

Record quoted a Scottish Government spokesperson as saying:

“Discussions concerning extending the Pitchford Inquiry to cover activities of the

Metropolitan Units in Scotland are still ongoing.”

Page 55 ⇓

The first public reporting of a final decision on the matter was in a BBC online article on

28 July 2016.

[110] I do not consider that the letter dated 11 January 2016 demonstrates that a final

decision had been taken. The position is perhaps less clear as regards the letter of 9 March,

although it is notable that the Scottish Government continued to make representations

following it. I consider that a final decision was made and communicated on 25 July 2016.

Had I been of the view that the grounds for challenge arose before 25 July 2016, I would

have been sympathetic to a submission that it was equitable to allow the petition to proceed,

given that the correspondence containing the discussions was not public, and that the

information available to the public, including the petitioner, did not indicate that a final

decision had been taken until the BBC online article of 28 July 2016. The petitioner brought

these proceedings less than three months after that date.

[111] I considered the Convention rights challenges directed against the first respondent

on their merits, as there was no point of distinction between the arguments made against the

first respondent and those made against the second respondents, and I have rejected those

challenges on their merits. I do consider, however, that the grounds giving rise to the

Convention rights challenges directed against the first respondent first arose earlier than the

grounds giving rise to the challenges based on adequacy of reasons and rationality. The

challenges based on Convention rights would have been open to her by the point when the

terms of reference were announced, and the petition so far as based on them is time-barred.

[112] There was some discussion in submissions as to the extension of the time-bar, in the

event that I found that the application had been brought out of time, under reference to the

decision in Wightman, which as I have said, does not assist the petitioner here. As a matter

of practice possible grounds for the exercise of the Court’s discretion should be articulated in

Page 56 ⇓

the pleadings, even if only as representing an “esto” or fall-back position, by the stage of a

substantive hearing. No such grounds were articulated in the petition as adjusted.

Disposal

[113] For the reasons already given I repel the pleas in law for the petitioner, and sustain

the fourth and sixth pleas in law for the first respondent, and the third and fifth pleas in law

for the second respondents. I sustain the first plea in law for the first respondent only

insofar as directed to the petitioner’s Convention rights challenges.