PROCEDURE

The case originated in an application (no. 36273/97) against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland lodged with the European Commission of Human Rights (“the Commission”) under former Article 25 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a British national, Mr Eric Oldham (“the applicant”), on 10 July 1996.

The applicant was represented by Mr R. Atter, a lawyer at Atter MacKenzie, solicitors practising in Evesham, England. The Government of the United Kingdom (“the Government”) were represented by their Agent, Mr H. Llewellyn, of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The applicant, a discretionary life prisoner who had been released on licence and recalled to prison, made two complaints under Article 5 § 4 of the Convention. He complained, firstly, that he had been denied a fair hearing before the Parole Board on 8 November 1996 and, secondly, that he had not had his detention reviewed until just over two years later.

On 22 October 1998 the Commission decided to give notice of the application to the Government and invited them to submit their observations on its admissibility and merits. The Government submitted their observations on 19 March 1999, after an extension of the time-limit fixed for that purpose, to which the applicant replied on 4 May 1999.

The application was transmitted to the Court on 1 November 1998, when Protocol No. 11 to the Convention came into force (Article 5 § 2 of Protocol No. 11). The application was allocated to the Third Section of the Court (Rule 52 § 1 of the Rules of Court).

On 7 March 2000 the Court declared the complaint concerning the fairness of the Parole Board hearing inadmissible. It declared admissible the complaint concerning the delay between reviews [ Note by the Registry. The Court's decision is obtainable from the Registry.].

The Registrar received the applicant's and the Government's further comments on 19 May 2000 and 7 June 2000 respectively.

THE FACTS

I. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE

In April 1970 the applicant, then aged 21, was convicted of manslaughter, qualified as such on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Medical evidence adduced at the trial showed that the applicant suffered from a mental abnormality induced by alcohol.

On 27 July 1993 the applicant was released on life licence for the third time subject to the condition, amongst others, that he should comply with any reasonable requirement imposed by his probation officer for the treatment of his alcohol problem. He had been recalled to prison twice previously and had since been transferred to open prison conditions in 1989.

On 1 July 1996 the police were called to the home of the applicant's partner, M., who is a deaf mute. She was taken to hospital where she received treatment for injuries to her face and back.

On 2 July 1996 the Secretary of State revoked the applicant's licence and recalled him to prison. By a letter dated 4 July 1996, the Secretary of State indicated that the licence was revoked on the grounds that the applicant had caused M.'s injuries after drinking at least eight cans of lager. This was so stated in the report by the applicant's probation officer who had met with M. on 2 July 1996. The case was referred to the Parole Board which confirmed the revocation of the applicant's licence on 12 July 1996.

On 8 November 1996 the Parole Board's Discretionary Lifer Panel (“the DLP”), chaired by a High Court judge, met to consider the applicant's representations against recall. It considered the applicant's written and oral representations, the views of two probation officers, the oral evidence of M. and the submissions of the applicant's solicitor and counsel for the Secretary of State. In her oral evidence M. gave evidence to the effect that it had been she and not the applicant who had been responsible for her injuries. A prison officer, who had attained a stage 1 British Sign Language qualification and was training towards stage 2, attended the hearing and acted as interpreter for M.

In its written decision of 12 November 1996 the DLP stated, in its reasons for rejecting the applicant's representations, that it had accepted the evidence which indicated that the applicant had been responsible for M.'s injuries, rather than the account put forward on behalf of the applicant. It expressed the opinion that, in order to minimise the risk posed by the applicant to members of the public, the applicant needed to carry out further work in respect of alcohol, anger and relationships. This was communicated to the applicant in a letter dated 15 November 1996 by the Secretary of State, who informed the applicant that his next Parole Board review was set for November 1998.

The applicant and M. married in prison on 6 February 1997.

The applicant applied for legal aid to challenge the DLP's decision by judicial review. On appeal, legal aid was granted for the limited purpose of seeking further evidence and counsel's opinion. On 15 March 1997, counsel advised that an application for judicial review would be unsuccessful and legal aid was not extended.

While in prison, the applicant attended courses in anger management, relationships, alcohol awareness and men and violence run by the Manchester Probation Service. These had been completed within eight months of his recall.

On 7 December 1998 the applicant had a further hearing before the DLP. Despite expressing some reservations, the DLP concluded that the applicant had made significant and sufficient progress since his previous review and recommended to the Secretary of State that he be released on licence. The applicant was released on 17 December 1998.