Lords reject gypsy family's human rights appeal

[Gerrard Winstanley]

Lords reject gypsy family's human rights appeal
http://www.24dash.com/content/news/viewNews.php?navID=7&newsID=3687

Publisher:  Jon Land
Published: 08/03/2006 - 11:44:48 AM  

Lords reject gypsy family's appeal

A family of gypsies today lost their House of Lords appeal that their
eviction from a public recreation ground near Leeds breached their
human rights.

In a landmark case the seven-strong House of Lords bench unanimously
dismissed the appeal from the Maloney family.

They claimed that Leeds city council breached their human rights under
article eight of the European Convention by evicting them from the
land at Spinkwell Lane, Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

Lord Hope of Craighead noted that they had been at the recreation
ground for only two days when proceedings against them began.

But he said: "They are, of course, gypsies who are in a vulnerable
position as a minority."

But they had not established the links with the place which they were
occupying that were needed for it to be considered their home within
the meaning of article 8 (1) of the European Convention.

He said that consideration of their different lifestyle and needs was
met by "requiring proof by the public authority of its entitlement as
the owner of the land to obtain an order for possession in the
exercise of its property rights".

The family, who have been evicted from 50 sites, have received legal
aid which is understood to have already cost about £300,000.

The Court of Appeal dismissed the case in March last year, but took
the unusual step of referring it for a hearing before the Law Lords
because of conflict between national and European rulings.

The Court of Appeal said then that the family's only defence against
possession proceedings by the council lay in the assertion that it
would infringe their rights under Article 8 of the European Convention.

This provides that everyone has a right to respect for his/her private
and family life and home.

Possession proceedings over the land began at Leeds County Court but
were transferred to the High Court where a deputy judge ruled that
human rights were not infringed.

Different groups of travellers moved on to the land from May 24 2004.

The Maloneys moved on to the site on June 13 2004 and two days later
the council began possession proceedings at Leeds County Court.

Lord Bingham ruled: "There is nothing to suggest they could show
continuous links with the land, as would be necessary if it were to be
regarded as their home.

"If, however, the land is their home, it is plain that their eviction
was in accordance with domestic property law, which had the legitimate
end of enabling public authorities to evict unlawful squatters from
public land and restore it to public (in this case recreational) use.

"I can see no ground on which such action could be stigmatised as
disproportionate, despite the personal afflictions to which these
appellants were unfortunately subject."

A Leeds City Council spokesman today called for local authorities to
be given stronger powers to move unauthorised encampments.

Les Carter, the council's executive board member responsible for
travellers' issues, said the problem cost the council around £250,000
every year.

He said: "Every year in Leeds we have to deal with around 60
unauthorised encampments which cost the council £250,000 in legal,
cleansing and other costs as well as creating significant problems in
the communities where they are located.

"Today's ruling is extremely good news since it upholds our right to
take swift and effective action to regain possession of our land.

"It remains the council's view that the problem of unauthorised
encampments will continue until stronger powers are given to local
authorities to allow unauthorised encampments to be moved more
effectively than exists at the moment.

"We urge those local authorities that do not have travellers sites to
make provision."

Press Association 2006.



City council wins travellers case
Wed Mar 8, 2006 12:55 PM GMT10
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-03-08T125457Z_01_L08678778_RTRUKOC_0_UK-RIGHTS-BRITAIN-TRAVELLERS.xml
 

LONDON (Reuters) - A city council won a landmark case in the Lords on
Wednesday over its eviction of a family of travellers who moved onto a
local recreation ground without consent in 2004.

Seven law lords ruled that Leeds City Council had been entitled to
evict the travellers, who had argued their human rights to private and
family life were infringed when they were forced to leave.

The case has been watched closely by local authorities and has wide
implications for the rights of councils to evict travellers.

The law lords, led by former chief justice Lord Bingham, backed
earlier rulings that the rights of local authorities to evict those
who are on their land without consent take precedence over the human
rights of such squatters.

The case centred on five members of the Maloney family who arrived in
June 2004 on the Spinkwell Lane recreation ground in Leeds, which was
already being occupied by other travellers.

Lawyers for the Maloneys had argued that moving them on was a breach
of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which is aimed
at protecting the right to a home, privacy and family life.

Dismissing the Maloney family's appeal, Lord Bingham said it could not
be argued that the recreation ground was ever their home within the
meaning of the Convention.

"On the agreed facts, they had been on the site for two days, without
any authority whatever, when the council issued proceedings for
possession," he said.

"There is nothing to suggest that they could show such continuous
links with the land as would be necessary if it were to be regarded as
their home."

Helen Jones, director of the Leeds Gypsy and Traveller Exchange, told
BBC television the Maloneys would take their case to the European
Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg.

The family had been moved at least 50 times before the case first came
to court, Jones said.

"They are a Leeds family, they are not going anywhere. They have
simply had enough. They felt they had to argue their case," Jones said.

"EFFECTIVE ACTION"

Leeds City councillor Les Carter told Sky News he was delighted by the
ruling, adding that the Maloneys were now living on a travellers' site
provided by the council.

"Today's ruling is extremely good news since it upholds our right to
take swift and effective action to regain possession of our land," he
said.

"Every year in Leeds we have to deal with around 60 unauthorised
encampments which cost the council 250,000 pounds in legal, cleansing
and other costs as well as creating significant problems in the
communities where they are located."