Tower Hamlets London Borough Council have successfully warded off legal moves that, if successful, could have forced local authorities throughout the country to review procedures for dealing with the homeless.
Five Law Lords have unanimously backed a Court of Appeal ruling that the council had done all that they were legally required to do for a woman who claimed to be homeless, and that they had not, in the circumstances, infringed upon her human rights.
The case centred on the council’s decision that Runa Begum had unreasonably refused their offer of accommodation at 19 Balfron Towers, St Leonards Road, London E14. In December 2001, Bow County Court found that the council had acted unlawfully in conducting the review in which they had asserted Begum’s unreasonable behaviour.
That ruling was overturned by the Court of Appeal in March 2002, and has now been upheld by the House of Lords, which found that Begum’s human rights had not been breached.
Lord Millett said that he did not see how the rehousing manager could be regarded as being independent of the council. However, he went on to find that the county court did have full jurisdiction to hear an appeal against the rehousing officer’s decision. In those circumstances, the Law Lords held that the requirements of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights had been complied with.
Begum v Tower Hamlets London Borough Council House of Lords (Lord Bingham of Cornhill, Lord Hoffmann, Lord Hope of Craighead, Lord Millett, and Lord Walker) 13 February 2003.
Click here to view the full text of the judgment.
References: PLS News 14/02/03
