Caselaw Digest
Caselaw Digest

Jason Kessie-AdjeiI v Secretary of State for Justice

23 June 2023
[2023] EWCA Civ 720
Court of Appeal
A man's license was revoked, but the police didn't arrest him for a year. Even though this was bad administration, the court said he was rightfully in prison because he broke the rules of his release from an earlier sentence. The delay didn't make his arrest unfair.

Key Facts

  • •Jason Kessie-Adjei (appellant) was recalled to prison after his license was revoked for breaching conditions (committing a further offense).
  • •The recall was lawful under domestic law, but the appellant argued it breached Article 5(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
  • •The appellant was not informed of the license revocation for approximately one year.
  • •His probation officer, Mr. Haddow, made a comment suggesting the license was expiring, misleading the appellant.
  • •The police did not arrest the appellant until over a year after the revocation, despite being notified.
  • •The Secretary of State exercised discretion under PSI 3/2015 to include part of the unlawfully at large period in his sentence.

Legal Principles

Arbitrary detention under Article 5(1) ECHR: Detention must not be arbitrary; it must genuinely conform to the purpose of the permitted restrictions and there must be a relationship between the ground of permitted deprivation and the place and condition of detention. Bad faith or deception by authorities constitutes arbitrary detention.

James v United Kingdom (2013) 56 E.H.R.R. 12, Čonka v Belgium (2002) 34 E.H.R.R. 54

Foreseeability under Article 5(1) ECHR: National law authorizing deprivation of liberty must be sufficiently accessible, precise, and foreseeable to avoid arbitrariness.

Del Rio Prada v Spain [2013] EHCR 307

Causation under Article 5(1) ECHR: There must be a sufficient causal connection between the conviction and the deprivation of liberty; this link can be broken if a decision not to release is based on grounds inconsistent with the sentencing court's objectives or is unreasonable.

James v United Kingdom [189], Del Rio Prada [214]

Early release arrangements do not affect the sentencing court's decision; Article 5 does not guarantee a right to early release; the lawfulness of detention is determined by the sentencing court for the whole sentence.

R(Khan) v Secretary of State for Justice [2020] EWHC 2084 (Admin)

Article 5 applies to measures affecting the execution of a sentence if those measures involve detention or deprivation of liberty.

Morgan v Ministry of Justice [2023] 2 WLR 905

Outcomes

Appeal dismissed.

The appellant's detention, while marked by administrative incompetence, was lawful and not arbitrary. The causal link between the original sentence and the detention was unbroken despite the delay. The misleading comment by Mr. Haddow did not render the detention unforeseeable. PSI 3/2015, relating to discretionary inclusion of unlawfully at large time, did not determine the detention and thus did not breach Article 5.

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