UK Supreme Court Judgment 16th July 2014 - Part 1

[2014] UKSC 44

UKSC 2013/0170

R (on the application of Sandiford) (Appellant) v The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Respondent)

On appeal from the Court of Appeal (Civil division) (England and Wales)

This appeal related to whether the government's policy not to provide funding for legal advice and representation to Britons facing capital charges in criminal proceedings abroad is unlawful. The appellant has been convicted of drug trafficking offences in Indonesia and sentenced to death. Her application to the respondent for assistance with funding for legal representation on her appeals from the death sentence was refused. The respondent operates a blanket policy never to provide such funding to British nationals facing criminal proceedings abroad and makes no exception for death penalty cases. The appellant applied for judicial review of this decision.
The Supreme Court unanimously dismisses Mrs Sandiford's appeal. However, in the light of new information (not available to the lower courts) as to the course of the proceedings in Indonesia and the steps now available to her there, the court calls on the Secretary of State urgently to review the application of the policy to Mrs Sandiford's case in the light of that information.