''Chahal v United Kingdom'' (23 EHRR 413) was a 1996 judgment of the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
which applied Article 3 of the
European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by t ...
, prohibiting the deportation of Sikh separatist Mr Chahal to India because of the risk of violations of Article 3, in the form of torture or
inhuman or degrading treatment
Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 3 of the European Convention ...
or punishment.
Case
Living in the United Kingdom since the early 1970s, Chahal was detained pending deportation to India where it was claimed he would face torture. Although by the 1990s a well-established system of tribunals existed to provide scrutiny of the government over immigration concerns, issues concerning
national security
National security, or national defence, is the security and defence of a sovereign state, including its citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of government. Originally conceived as protection against military atta ...
, whereby the
British Home Secretary
The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...
issued a certificate stating that an individual was non-conductive to the public good, were exempt from this; these appeals were replaced by a paper review by three retired judges over lunch in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
Shami Chakrabarti
Sharmishta "Shami" Chakrabarti, Baroness Chakrabarti, (born 16 June 1969) is a British politician, barrister, and human rights activist. A member of the Labour Party, she served as the director of Liberty, a major advocacy group which promotes ...
, Chahal was detained for six years without adequate legal scrutiny.
Judgement
The Court emphasised the fundamental nature of Article 3 in holding that the prohibition is made in "absolute terms ... irrespective of the victim's conduct".''Chahal v. United Kingdom'' (1997) 23 EHRR 413. The judgement builds on the landmark ''
Soering v United Kingdom
''Soering v United Kingdom'' 161 Eur. Ct. H.R. (ser. A) (1989) is a landmark judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) which established that extradition of a German national to the United States to face charges of capital murder vio ...
'' (1989), and was considered an example of the
British government
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losing a seminal legal case in the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.European Court of Human Rights Chahal v. The United Kingdom , ''Int J Refugee Law'' (1997) 9(1): 86-121 doi:10.1093/ijrl/9.1.86