Keyu and others v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and another

Keyu and others v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and another

The appeal is dismissed because the procedural obligation to investigate under Article 2 ECHR does not arise for deaths occurring more than ten years before the critical date (here, the grant of the right of individual petition in 1966), and the claim is time-barred. There is no duty under customary international law or the common law to investigate the 1948 killings, and the refusal to hold an inquiry was neither irrational nor disproportionate.

Parties
Appellants: Keyu and others; Respondents: Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and another
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
25 November 2015
Procedural Posture
Judgment (supreme Court, Uk) on Appeal From Court of Appeal / Final Appellate Decision
Outcome
Appeal dismissed
Legal Topics
Article 2 ECHR (right to Life), Judicial Review, Customary International Law, Proportionality, Wednesbury Unreasonableness, State Responsibility, Temporal Jurisdiction, Duty to Investigate Deaths
Public Law Human Rights Law International Law Administrative Law Article 2 ECHR (right to Life) Judicial Review Customary International Law Proportionality +4 more

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Parties

Keyu and others

Appellants

Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and another

Respondents

Procedural Posture

Judgment (supreme Court, Uk) on Appeal From Court of Appeal / Final Appellate Decision

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the UK government is required to hold a public inquiry into the 1948 Batang Kali killings under Article 2 ECHR, customary international law, or common law judicial review.
  2. 2 Whether the claim is time-barred or outside the temporal jurisdiction of the Convention and the Human Rights Act.
  3. 3 Whether there is a common law or customary international law duty to investigate historic deaths.

Ratio Decidendi

The appeal is dismissed because the procedural obligation to investigate under Article 2 ECHR does not arise for deaths occurring more than ten years before the critical date (here, the grant of the right of individual petition in 1966), and the claim is time-barred. There is no duty under customary international law or the common law to investigate the 1948 killings, and the refusal to hold an inquiry was neither irrational nor disproportionate.

Court Disposition

Appeal dismissed