GUIDELINE RULING: awards should achieve 'just satisfaction'

Damages for breach of the Human Rights Act 1998 will not be awarded as of right but when they are 'just and appropriate' and 'necessary', the Court of Appeal ruled last week in a major judgment.

The narrow approach was outlined in a guideline case on article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (the right to respect for family life and privacy).

The ruling consolidated three claims over the failure to provide asylum-seekers with benefits or other advantages, all of which failed.

It was heard by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, the Master of the Rolls, Lord Phillips, and Lord Justice Auld.

Lord Woolf said an action for damages should only be brought as a last resort, after all other avenues, such as the local government or parliamentary ombudsman, have been exhausted.

Any damages are awarded at the court's discretion and are not recoverable as of right, as they are in tort.

The level of any award should aim to achieve 'just satisfaction' rather than placing the claimant in the position he would have been in had the basis of the complaint not occurred.

Lord Woolf also said claims must draw a balance between the interests of the victim and those of the public as a whole.

Richard Clayton QC, who acted for the claimant in one of the cases, said: 'This case is intended to give crucial guidelines on damages.

But it is certainly no charter for damages under the convention.

The court has not taken a liberal view.'

Lord Woolf criticised the costs involved in the three cases as 'truly horrendous' and 'totally out of proportion' to any compensation which could have been achieved.

Rachel Rothwell