Ethics and values - Kent Police

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Student NotesNOT PROTECTIVELY MARKEDbeen unjustifiably interfered with.PLAN your actionsIn regards to your actions think about:P - proportionalityL - legalityA - accountabilityN - necessityEquality of ArmsThis principle underpins Article 6, the right to a fair trial. In its simplestform, equality of arms means the defence must be afforded areasonable opportunity to prepare and present their case, includingtheir evidence, under conditions which do not place them at adisadvantage with the prosecution (i.e. a level playing field).CriminalProcedure andInvestigationsAct 1996Equality of arms is provided by the law, for example in the CriminalProcedure and Investigations Act 1996. This Act specifies how thepolice record and preserve material obtained in the course of a criminalinvestigation for the benefit of both the prosecution and the defence.Margin of AppreciationThis is an international doctrine, which allows the European Court ofHuman Rights to judge that domestic institutions (including domesticcourts) are better placed than an international court in assessingparticular national situations. In other words, it is the leeway that theCourt can give to states so that their own political and culturaltraditions are respected.Legal obligationSection 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 places a legal obligation onpublic authorities, by making it unlawful for them to act in a way whichis incompatible with certain Articles of the European Convention onIND01(AS)_EthicsandValues_SNVersion 1.01 NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED Page 58 of 82© College of Policing Limited 2013
Student NotesNOT PROTECTIVELY MARKEDHuman Rights. The term ‘legal obligation’ places on public authoritiesboth positive and negative obligations.A negative obligation requires a public authority to refrain frominterference with particular rights, for example, not to torture and notto make an unjustified interference with private and family life.A positive obligation requires a public authority to take action to securehuman rights. For example, it must protect the right to life in certainwell defined circumstances. Whether the obligation is positive ornegative will depend on which of the Articles of the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights applies. Two cases illustrate the point:Plattform Artzte Fur das Leben v Austria (1988) 13 EHRR 204.A group of anti-abortion protesters complained to the Court that theyhad been unable to exercise their right of peaceful assembly becauseevery time they organised a rally or march they were attacked bycounter demonstrators.Anti-abortionprotestersattacked bycounterdemonstratorsThe Austrian Government responded by claiming that since it had notinterfered with the applicants’ rights, it could not be responsible for thealleged breach. The Court disagreed and stated that Article 8 places apositive obligation to take reasonable and appropriate measures toenable lawful demonstrations to proceed peacefully. In this casehowever, the Austrian Government had taken reasonable measures sodid not violate the Convention.Osman v UK (1988) 29 EHRR 245.This case involved an argument that the police failed to take adequatesteps to prevent a teacher, who was infatuated with an individual,attacking him and killing his father. Although the Court found nobreach of Article 2 (right to life) it established some importantprinciples:• The State's obligation in this respect extends beyond its primaryduty to secure the right to life by putting in place effectivecriminal law provisions to deter the commission of offencesIND01(AS)_EthicsandValues_SNVersion 1.01 NOT PROTECTIVELY MARKED Page 59 of 82© College of Policing Limited 2013
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