London Borough of Barnet v The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs
[2021] EWHC 1253 (Fam)
13 May 2021
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A Divisional Court, comprising the President of the Family Division and Sir Duncan Ousley, has handed down an important judgment concerning the interaction between the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (“VCDR”) and the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”).
The Local Authority sought a declaration of incompatibility under the Human Rights Act 1998, contending that that certain provisions of the VCDR (as given effect to in s.2(1) of the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964) were incompatible with Articles 3 and 6 of the ECHR, insofar as they prevented a court from hearing or deciding an application for protective measures to be taken in respect of children of members of a diplomatic mission. The application was dismissed by the Divisional Court.
Sir James Eadie QC and Jason Pobjoy acted for the Foreign Secretary. A copy of the judgment is available here.
