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Human rights

22 January 2010
Issue: 7401 / Categories: Case law , Law digest
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R (on the application of O’Dowd (aka Boy George)) v National Probation Service, London [2009] EWHC 3415 (Admin), [2010] All ER (D) 26 (Jan)

The proceedings concerned a challenge by the claimant, a well-known singer, songwriter and disc jockey known as “Boy George” to the decision of the Probation Service precluding him from participating in the television programme “Celebrity Big Brother”.

The court held that the unqualified obligation in s 2(2) of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000 to have regard to the proper punishment of offenders applied to the management of offenders on licence. When considering what restrictions could properly be placed on offenders as incidents of supervision on licence, as part of a sentence of imprisonment, regard could be had to the expectations of right-thinking members of the democracy under whose laws a judge had imposed that sentence.

Those expectations were not to be discovered by reading editorials, articles or petitions in newspapers, whether broadsheet or tabloid. Right-thinking members of the public would take the view that an offender serving the non-custodial part

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
The Court of Protection has ruled in Macpherson v Sunderland City Council that capacity must be presumed unless clearly rebutted. In this week's NLJ, Sam Karim KC and Sophie Hurst of Kings Chambers dissect the judgment and set out practical guidance for advisers faced with issues relating to retrospective capacity and/or assessments without an examination
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
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