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Dijen Basu and Jeremy Johnson QC successfully represented the Defendant and the Interested Party, respectively, in the case of R (on the application of Minter) v. Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary (Defendant) & Secretary of State for the Home Department (Interested Party) [2011] EWHC 1610 (Admin), QBD Div Ct.
Mr. Minter pleaded guilty to a number of sexual offences and was given an extended sentence whose custodial term was stated to be 18 months’ imprisonment and whose extension period was three years. The Court and Prison Service told him that the applicable notification period under s. 82 (1) of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (colloquially, the period for which he had to ‘sign the sex offenders’ register’) was 10 years. However, the Chief Constable’s decision was that the period was indefinite. In challenging this decision by way of a claim for judicial review, Mr. Minter argued that, for purposes of determining whether his period of imprisonment was "for a term of 30 months or more", only the length of the custodial term was relevant.
In dismissing the claim, the Divisional Court held that the whole extended sentence counted as a term of imprisonment when calculating the notification period. If Parliament had intended to exclude the extended sentence from the notification period calculation, it would have done so expressly. This interpretation was consistent with the extended sentence’s purpose of preventing reoffending. The Divisional Court also rejected the contention that the Chief Constable’s interpretation was in breach of Articles 8 and/or 14 of the ECHR.
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Jeremy Johnson QC has extensive experience in public and police law. He is described by Chambers and Partners 2011 as "one to go to if you have a complicated public law challenge".
Dijen Basu is recognised by Chambers and Partners 2011 as an "... all round performer ... ". He acts for a number of police forces in relation to matters of civil and public law unique to policing.
R (on the application of Minter) v. Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary (Defendant) & Secretary of State for the Home Department (Interested Party) [2011] EWHC 1610 (Admin), QBD Div Ct.