High Court Finds Widespread Unlawfulness in Government’s Electronic Tagging Regime

In a significant legal victory, the High Court ruled in favour of Duncan Lewis clients in the case of ADL & Others v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 994 (Admin). 

Supported by witness evidence and advice from BID, Privacy International and the Helen Bamber Foundation, the High Court found widespread unlawfulness in the Government's electronic tagging regime. 

Notably that the Secretary of State failed to reasonably engage with individual circumstances, respond to representations or justify the imposition of GPS monitoring thereby breaching his responsibility to make a conscious decision in accordance with the statutory framework. Similar procedural failings were found in relation to the Secretary of State’s failure to conduct quarterly reviews as required by published policy.

These procedural breaches were found to amount to a violation of Article 8 ECHR, rendering electronic monitoring unlawful. Further breaches of Article 8 were found in relation to proportionality, the High Court concluded that electronic monitoring conditions actively worsened the Claimants' health as such from the moment the Secretary of State received medical reports as to the vulnerability of the Claimants and the active detriment caused by the GPS tags they were acting unlawfully. The High Court further concluded that the retention of data in the Claimants' case was disproportionate.

Aided by Duncan Lewis Solicitors, BID, Privacy International and the Helen Bamber Foundation, the Claimants were able to vindicate their rights and had their own tags removed, simultaneously demonstrating the unlawfulness of the tagging regime. 

This litigation represents a clear stance that the flagrant and disproportionate use of surveillance technology against some of society’s most vulnerable individuals will not be tolerated.

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