Regina (B and Others) v. Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Abstract

Consular relations — Consuls — Duties — Duty to respect the law of the receiving State — Consular premises — Inviolability — Proper use — Asylum — Person applying for asylum in consulate — Whether right to grant asylum — Whether duty to return person to authorities of receiving State — Whether asylum-seeker within the jurisdiction of the sending State — Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963

Human rights — Scope and application of human rights treaties — European Convention on Human Rights, 1950 — Human Rights Act 1998 — Whether asylum-seeker in United Kingdom consulate within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom — Relationship between obligations under European Convention and obligations under general international law

Human rights — Torture — Liberty of person — Conditions of detention — Whether capable of amounting to torture — Refoulement — Scope of obligation of non-return

Jurisdiction — Concept of jurisdiction — Whether person within the jurisdiction of a State — Asylum-seeker in consulate — Whether within jurisdiction of sending State

Relationship of international law and municipal law — Treaties — Effect in municipal law — European Convention on Human Rights, 1950 — Effect in United Kingdom law — Human Rights Act 1998 — Whether scope of application of the Act the same as that of the Convention — Extraterritorial application — The law of England