JR123, convicted of arson in 1980 and sentenced to five years imprisonment, challenged the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978 as incompatible with Article 8 ECHR. He argued the Order should provide individualised review mechanisms for serious offenders to have convictions treated as spent. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding the category-based rehabilitation scheme fell within the state's margin of appreciation.
Mr Leander was denied employment at a Swedish Naval Museum due to secret police records classifying him as a security risk. He was never told the contents of these records. The Court found Sweden's personnel control system lawful and necessary for national security, with adequate safeguards against abuse.
Mrs López Ostra lived 12 metres from a waste treatment plant that emitted fumes, smells and noise causing health problems and nuisance. Despite complaints, Spanish authorities failed to adequately address the pollution. The ECtHR held Spain violated Article 8, establishing that severe environmental pollution can breach the right to private and family life.
Paula Marckx, an unmarried mother, challenged Belgian law which required formal recognition to establish legal ties with her illegitimate daughter Alexandra. The Court found Belgian law discriminated against illegitimate children and unmarried mothers regarding affiliation, family relationships, and inheritance rights, violating Articles 8 and 14 of the Convention.
A journalist complained that Austrian courts failed to protect his reputation after being accused in a magazine of being part of a 'hunting society' that drove a professor to suicide. The ECtHR held that Austria violated Article 8 by failing to balance the applicant's right to reputation against freedom of expression, as the accusations lacked sufficient factual basis.
Mrs Pretty, suffering from terminal motor neurone disease, sought an undertaking that her husband would not be prosecuted if he assisted her suicide. The European Court of Human Rights held that the UK's prohibition on assisted suicide did not violate Articles 2, 3, 8, 9 or 14 of the Convention, finding the blanket ban justified to protect vulnerable persons.
Police secretly attached a listening device to a private house, recording the appellant admitting involvement in heroin importation. Despite the evidence being obtained through civil trespass and without statutory authority, the House of Lords held it was admissible. The case confirmed that improperly obtained evidence remains admissible subject to judicial discretion.
A British citizen who travelled to ISIL-controlled Syria with her husband had her citizenship revoked on national security grounds. She appealed against both the deprivation decision and refusal of entry clearance to rejoin her children in the UK. The Supreme Court clarified SIAC's role in reviewing national security assessments, holding it applies administrative law principles rather than making independent factual determinations on risk.
A mentally handicapped sixteen-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at a care home. Her father could not file a criminal complaint on her behalf due to a gap in Dutch law requiring victims over sixteen to complain personally. The Court found the Netherlands violated Article 8 by failing to provide effective criminal law protection for her physical and moral integrity.
