Legal action
Protecting a peaceful protester's right to privacy
Published: 24 January 2019
Last updated: 24 January 2019
What countries does this apply to?
Case details
| Protected Characteristic | Religion or belief |
|---|---|
| Types of equality claim | Other |
| Court or tribunal | European Court of Human Rights |
| Decision has to be followed in | England, Scotland, Wales |
| Law applies in | England, Scotland, Wales |
| Case state | Concluded |
| Our involvement | Intervention (section 30 of the Equality Act 2006) |
| Outcome | Judgment |
| Areas of life | Justice and personal security |
| Human Rights law | Article 8: Respect for your private and family life, home and correspondence |
| International framework | International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) |
Case name: Catt v UK
Mr Catt was 94 years old and of good character. He has no criminal record and is not suspected of any criminality. He challenged the retention of data by the Police on the National Domestic Extremism Database relating to his peaceful and lawful attendance at various political protests.
Legal issue
Is it lawful for the police to hold information on an extremism database about individuals who have done nothing wrong, and if so, whether the safeguards in the present scheme are adequate?
Why we were involved
This case came under our core priority aim of upholding the system of equality and human rights protections.
What we did
We intervened in the European Court of Human Rights.
What happened
Our intervention helped secure a ruling that holding Mr Catt's details was unlawful.
Who will benefit
The ruling means that the Police need to exercise caution when retaining the details of an individual
Date of hearing
Date concluded
Page updates
Published:
24 January 2019
Last updated:
24 January 2019
