Buddington, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Court of Appeal - Administrative Court, October 14, 2005, [2005] EWHC 2198 (Admin)

Reporting Judge: [2005] EWHC 2198 (Admin)

President: Buddington, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

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Extract

Buddington, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Court of Appeal - Administrative Court, October 14, 2005, [2005] EWHC 2198 (Admin)

Case No: CO/5076/05

Neutral Citation Number: [2005] EWHC 2198 (Admin)

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE

QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION

DIVISIONAL COURT

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

Friday, 14 October 2005

Before :

THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE SILBER

and

THE HONOURABLE MR JUSTICE LEVESON

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Between :

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(Transcript of the Handed Down Judgment of

Smith Bernal Wordwave Limited, 190 Fleet Street

London EC4A 2AG

Tel No: 020 7421 4040, Fax No: 020 7831 8838

Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)

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Hugh Southey (instructed by Irwin Mitchell of Sheffield ) for the Claimant

Kristina Stern (instructed by Treasury Solicitor ) for the Defendant

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Judgment

The Honourable Mr Justice Silber:

This is the judgment of the court to which both members of the court have made a contribution

I. Introduction

1. The important issue raised in this case is whether the Secretary of State for the Home Department ("the Secretary of State") had the power after 4 April 2005 to recall to prison for cause prisoners, who had been released on licence before 4 April 2005. Mr Hugh Southey for Benjamin Buddington ("the claimant") contends that the Secretary of State did not have the power to do this while Miss Kristina Stern for the Secretary of State contends that he did have the power. As will be explained the answer depends on the construction of a Statutory Instrument.

II. The Chronology

2. Prior to 4 April 2005, section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 1991 (``the 1991 Act'') obliged the Secretary of State to release on licence any prisoner such as the claimant, who was serving a sentence of imprisonment for a term of less than 4 years. Under certain circumstances (set out in section 39(1) of the 1991 Act), the Secretary of State could then revoke the licen...

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