How does Art 8 sit with a property owner’s right to possession when his land is occupied by trespassers, ask Adam Rosenthal & Joseph Ollech
If some of the rumblings emanating from elements within the Conservative Party this year are to be believed, a future Tory government could decide to curtail the ambit of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998), or even repeal it. The likelihood of such an upheaval is perhaps remote but, in the meantime, the rights to which the courts are to have regard under this legislation continue to extend their reach. In one such journey on the human rights bandwagon, the recently retired Sir Alan Ward gave a lengthy obiter judgment on the subject of Art 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights and its ambit in the context of possession proceedings against trespassers brought by private landlords.
Under the rubric “Right to respect for private and family life” Art 8 provides that: “Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. There shall be no interference by a
