Law Weblog

Human Rights Act is not retrospective

Saturday 13 March 2004 at 3:20 pm | In News | Post Comment

Re: McKerr [2004] HL
[Statutory interpretation – presumptions – legislation is not generally retrospective – HRA not retrospective]
The latest decision by the Law Lords in respect of the alleged shoot to kill policy that allegedly operated in Northern Ireland. This alleged policy was investigated both by John Stalker and Colin Sampson. The applicant in this case sought amongst other things a declaration that the failure by the government to hold an Article 2 compliant investigation was unlawful. Article 2 of the Convention concerns the right to life and The European Court of Human Rights has held that by implication article 2 also requires there should be some form of effective official investigation when individuals have been killed as a result of the use of force the obligation to hold an investigation is an obligation triggered by the occurrence of a violent death.

Held: The deaths relating to this action occurred 20 years before the Act came into force. The government’s failure to hold an effective official investigation into a violent death caused by a police officer had not breached the Human Rights Act 1998 s. 6(1) since the Act was not retrospective and created no right to investigate deaths which had occurred before its implementation.

Whole case here