Search
The Court of Appeal has ruled against the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) in a case concerning disclosure of information to a complainant where there national security concerns arise.
The claim was brought by Mr Miah who was ‘stopped’ by the Metropolitan Police at Heathrow Airport under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows the police to stop travellers to question them about terrorism concerns, even where there are no grounds of suspicion.
The Appellant complained to the Metropolitan Police that he had been discriminated against on grounds of race and religion and appealed to the IPCC when his complaint was dismissed without being told the reason for the stop. The IPCC dismissed his appeal.
Overturning the judgment of Hickinbottom J, the Court of Appeal found that the Metropolitan Police investigation report was defective because if failed to sufficiently explain why the complaint had been dismissed. There was no evidence that the police had considered and applied the statutory ‘harm test’ for redaction and non-disclosure. The IPCC was therefore wrong not to uphold the Appellant’s appeal that the complaint required further consideration.
The judgment in R (Miah) v IPCC [2016] EWHC 3310 (Admin) can be found here.
Mr Miah was represented by Stephen Cragg QC and David Gregory.