The case A v Secretary of State for the Home Department (No 2) ¹ was a UK constitutional law case, concerning the rule of law and the admissibility of evidence obtained by torture. The case involved ten men who were certified and detained as suspected international terrorists under the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. The certification was based on information obtained by torture inflicted by foreign officials without the complicity of the British authorities. The men appealed their certification and claimed that the tainted information should not have been admitted. The House of Lords held that such information was indeed inadmissible in proceedings before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, as it violated the common law and the Torture Convention.
The relevance of the case is that it affirmed the principle that torture and its fruits are abhorrent to the English common law and to international law, and that no court should rely on such evidence to deprive a person of his liberty or rights. The case also highlighted the tension between national security and human rights, and the role of the judiciary in upholding the rule of law. The case has been cited as a landmark decision in the field of human rights law and constitutional law.
(1) A v Home Secretary (No 2) – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_v_Home_Secretary_%28No_2%29.
(2) ICD – A v. Secretary of State for the Home Department (No. 2) – Asser …. https://www.internationalcrimesdatabase.org/Case/901/A-v-Secretary-of-State-for-the-Home-Department-%28No-2%29/.
(3) A (FC) and others (FC) (Appellants) v. Secretary of State for the Home …. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldjudgmt/jd051208/aand-1.htm.
(4) A v Secretary of State for the Home Department – Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_v_Secretary_of_State_for_the_Home_Department.
(5) undefined. https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldjudgmt/jd051208/aand.pdf.
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