R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet

R (Pinochet Ugarte) v Bow St Magistrate
Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet
Court House of Lords
Full case name R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, Ex Parte Pinochet Ugarte
Decided 25 November 1998
Citation(s) [1998] UKHL 41, [2000] 1 AC 61
Case history
Prior action(s) Augusto Pinochet Ugarte, [1999] 38 ILM 68 (Q.B. Div'l Ct. 1998)
Subsequent action(s)

No 2 [2000] 1 AC 119.

No 3 [1999] UKHL 17, [2000] 1 AC 147.
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting Lord Slynn, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Steyn, Lord Nicholls, Lord Lloyd

R (Pinochet Ugarte) v Bow St Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate [2000] 1 AC 61, 119 and 147 is a set of three UK constitutional law judgments by the House of Lords, on whether former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet could claim state immunity from torture allegations made by a Spanish court and therefore evade extradition to Spain. It affected international criminal law and human rights law.[1]

The first judgment enabled Pinochet to be deported.[2] But this was controversially set aside in the second judgment, R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet Ugarte (No 2) (Pinochet II) because Lord Hoffmann, as a director of Amnesty International, was accepted to have had the possibility of bias.[3] This resulted in a third case R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, Ex Parte Pinochet Ugarte (No 3) (Pinochet III), which confirmed that Pinochet was not entitled to state immunity but that acts committed outside of British territories could only be prosecuted under national law if committed after the passing of section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988.[4]

Facts

Pinochet was accused by a Spanish judge of torture, a crime under international law which can be prosecuted in any country under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction. The Spanish judge faxed an INTERPOL arrest warrant to London and Pinochet was arrested later that evening. Pinochet's lawyers argued that as Pinochet was head of state at the time of the alleged crimes he was immune from the jurisdiction of British courts. The Divisional Court ruled Pinochet had state immunity.

Judgment

Pinochet (No 1)

By a 3–2 majority, Lord Nicholls, Lord Hoffmann and Lord Steyn the House of Lords ruled that Pinochet did not have state immunity.

A key passage of the judgment reads:

Lord Slynn and Lord Lloyd dissented.

Pinochet (No 2)

R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet Ugarte (No 2)[5] was an English legal case which involved the unprecedented setting aside of a House of Lords judgment based upon the possibility of bias. Lord Hoffmann's failure to declare links to Amnesty International meant that a previous House of Lords judgment on the immunity of former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet had to be set aside.[6]

Pinochet (No 3)

R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, Ex Parte Pinochet Ugarte (No 3) was a House of Lords judgment on the state immunity of Chilean President Augusto Pinochet. The judgment was necessary after the House of Lords ruling R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, Ex Parte Pinochet Ugarte was set aside when one of the judges in the case failed to disclose links to a human rights organization.[7]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Byers, Michael, The Law and Politics of the Pinochet Case, 10 Duke J. of Comp. & Int'l L. p 416
  2. ↑ [2000] 1 AC 61
  3. ↑ [2000] 1 AC 119. "UK Politics Pinochet judge under pressure". BBC News. 1999-01-15. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  4. ↑ [2000] 1 AC 147
  5. ↑ In re Pinochet, Oral Judgment: 17 December 1998, Oral Judgment: 17 December 1998 Archived 23 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine., [1999] UKHL 52
  6. ↑ "A look at Lord Hoffmann". BBC News. 1998-12-17. Retrieved 2010-05-10.
  7. ↑ "Regina -v- Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet Ugarte (No 2); HL 15 Jan 1999 - swarb.co.uk". swarb.co.uk. 2015-06-30. Retrieved 2016-05-19.

References

  • Byers, Michael, The Law and Politics of the Pinochet Case, 10 Duke J. of Comp. & Int'l L. 415
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