Right to bail

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that UK legislation which denied bail to defendants charged with homicide or rape after a previous conviction for such offences was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The government has admitted that the provision in the Public Order Act 1994 did breach the Convention and said that in 1998 it amended the law so that bail can now be granted where there are "exceptional circumstances, which justify it". Clive Caballero, who brought the claim, was awarded £1,000 in damages and more than £15,000 in costs and expenses.