Judgment Approved by the court for handing down.
Miranda v SSHD
examining officer to question Mr Miranda for the purpose of determining whether he
appeared to be a person falling within section 40(1)(b) of TACT. In my judgment,
there was nothing to suggest that, following the receipt of the PCS, the MPS decided
to execute the stop for any other purpose. It is, therefore, not necessary to go further
than the examining officers’ state of mind in executing the final PCS. But the purpose
of the exercise of the stop powers can also be judged by reference to the state of mind
of the examining officers’ superior officers: see R (Pearce) v Commissioners of Police
of the Metropolis [2013] EWCA Civ 866 at para 36. The superior officers were fully
alive to the difference between a stop for Schedule 7 purposes and a stop for the
Security Services’ purposes. As Det Supt Stokley said at para 20 of his first
statement, the objectives of the Security Service and the police were distinct: see para
9 above. He recognised that the stop power could not be exercised unless the
statutory conditions for its exercise were met: see para 10 above. That is why he
wanted to initiate further enquiries to see whether Mr Miranda or others were
concerned in CPI. But the national security and counter-terrorism considerations in
this case were linked and overlapped, as was reflected by the fact that this was a joint
operation which had been initiated by the Security Service. The fact that the exercise
of the Schedule 7 power also promoted the Security Service different (but
overlapping) purpose does not, however, mean that the power was not exercised for
the Schedule 7 purpose. The MPS exercised the power for its own purpose of
determining whether Mr Miranda appeared to be a person falling within section
40(1)(b) of TACT.
Was the purpose improper?
32.
Having decided what the purpose of the stop was in fact, Laws LJ considered whether
that purpose fell within the scope of Schedule 7. At para 32, he said that the Schedule
7 power was given:
“[I]n order to provide a reasonable but limited opportunity for
the ascertainment of a possibility: the possibility that a traveller
at a port may be involved (“concerned” – section 40(1)(b)),
directly or indirectly, in any of a range of activities enumerated
in section 1(2).”
33.
And at para 36, he effectively repeated what he had said at para 27:
“In all the circumstances, given the facts stated in the last PCS
and the National Security Justification, I conclude that the
purpose of the stop – to ascertain the nature of the material
which the claimant was carrying and if on examination it
proved to be as was feared, to neutralise the effects of its
release (or further release) or dissemination – fell properly
within Schedule 7 of the 2000 Act on the latter’s true
construction.”
34.
Mr Ryder submits that Laws LJ made three errors. First, the NSJ justification was the
dominant purpose and was not, in itself, a purpose falling within Schedule 7. I have
already dealt with this argument. The true and dominant purpose of the stop was not
to give effect to the NSJ. It was to give effect to the PCS.
Sélectionner le paragraphe cible3
Se connecter à un paragraphe
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Ajouter à la table des matières