Parratt v Secretary of State for Justice and another [2013] EWHC 17 (Admin)

The Administrative Court (Males J) rejected claims against the Secretary of State for Justice arising out of a four month delay in holding a Parole Board post-tariff review, and in connection with a decision by the Secretary of State to set a period of fifteen months between Parole Board review hearings.  The Parole Board having already conceded that the four month delay was in breach of Article 5(4) of the ECHR, the court accepted the Secretary of State’s submission that further pursuit of the same claim against the Secretary of State was a waste of public money such that the claim would not be entertained.  The court also concluded that the setting of the fifteen month period was lawful, notwithstanding the fact that the claimant was released from prison at the end of this period, and that the claimant was not entitled to damages in any event. Click here for the judgment. Stephen Whale appeared for the Secretary of State