Abuse of process of court
Mueen-Uddin v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] UKSC 21, [2024] All ER (D) 72 (Jun)
The Supreme Court allowed the appellant’s appeal against the striking out of his claim. The appellant had been tried, convicted and sentenced to death in his absence by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal for war crimes committed in a war of independence in Bangladesh. He had been described as having been convicted of such crimes in the footnotes of a report published by the Home Office. He commenced proceedings in libel against the respondent Home Secretary. His claim was struck out as an abuse of process, and he appealed against that holding. The court held that the principles in Hunter v Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police [1981] 3 All ER 727 and Jameel (Yousef) v Dow Jones & Co Inc [2005] All ER (D) 43 (Feb) protected different aspects of the public interest, and had different rationales. Where neither principle was satisfied, the considerations which were relevant to each principle could not simply be lumped together.
Costs
Holcroft
