R (on the application of Hurst) v Northern District of London Coroner [2007] UKHL 13, [2007] All ER (D) 470 (Mar)
House of Lords
Lord Bingham, Lord Rodger, Baroness Hale, Lord Brown and Lord Mance
28 March 2007
The words ‘the Convention rights’ should not be construed differently in ss 3 and 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998). Section 11(5)(b)(ii) of the Coroners Act 1988 (CA 1998) does not have to be reinterpreted to bring domestic law into conformity with the UK’s international obligations.
Kier Starmer QC and Danny Friedman (instructed by Bhatt Murphy) for the claimant.
Ian Burnett QC, Anne Studd and Beatrice Collier (instructed by Metropolitan Police Legal Services) for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner.
Lord Goldsmith QC, the Attorney General, and Philip Sales QC (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) for the Lord Chancellor as intervener.
The claimant’s son was stabbed to death by a neighbour on 25 May 2000. Following the killer’s conviction for manslaughter, the claimant urged the coroner to reopen the inquest into her son’s death, on the ground that the risk of a violent incident had long been apparent