Osman v United Kingdom

Osman v United Kingdom [1998] EHRR 101 is a leading case before the European Court of Human Rights on human rights law in the United Kingdom.^[1] Judgment was given on 28 October 1998.

Facts

The applicants were British citizens resident in London. The first applicant, Mrs Mulkiye Osman, is the widow of Mr Ali Osman who was shot dead by Mr Paul Paget-Lewis on 7 March 1988. The second applicant, Ahmet Osman, is her son, born in 1972. He was a former pupil of Paget-Lewis at Homerton House School. Ahmet Osman was wounded in the shooting incident which led to the death of his father^[2].

The applicants complaints are directed at the failure of the authorities to appreciate and act on what they claim was a series of clear warning signs that Paget-Lewis represented a serious threat to the physical safety of Ahmet Osman and his family. The applicants argued that the police had been given information which should have made it clear that the individual posed a danger.

Judgment

Appeals

The English courts all agreed that the police owed no duty of care to the applicants, confirming the law in Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police where it was ruled that the police owed no duty of care to one of the victims of the Yorkshire Ripper.

European Court of Human Rights

The ruling of the European Court of Human Rights was that such blanket immunity would be a breach of article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights, but that there was no breach of articles 2 and 8^[3].

Notes

1. ^ http://www.christiankhan.co.uk/ViewCaseStudy.asp?CaseID=10
2. ^ European Court of Human Rights, CASE OF OSMAN v. THE UNITED KINGDOM, 28 October 1998, para 10
3. ^ European Court of Human Rights, CASE OF OSMAN v. THE UNITED KINGDOM, 28 October 1998

References

• CA Gearty, 'Unravelling Osman' (2001) 64(2) Modern Law Review 159

External links

• ECHR judgment