OTHMAN (ABU QATADA) v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
73
the applicant’s claim. Nor is the Court persuaded that, by relying on closed
evidence, SIAC ran an unacceptable risk of an incorrect result: to the extent
that there was such a risk, it was mitigated by the presence of the special
advocates.
224. Finally, the Court accepts that one of the difficulties of the
non-disclosure of evidence is that one can never know for certain what
difference disclosure might have made. However, it considers that such a
difficulty did not arise in this case. Even assuming that closed evidence was
heard as to the United States’ interest in him, the GID’s commitment to
respecting the assurances and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s
negotiation of the MOU, the Court considers that these issues are of a very
general nature. There is no reason to suppose that, had the applicant seen
this closed evidence, he would have been able to challenge the evidence in a
manner that the special advocates could not.
225. For these reasons, the Court considers that, in respect of the
applicant’s Article 13 complaint, SIAC’s procedures satisfied the
requirements of Article 13 of the Convention. There has accordingly been
no violation of this provision.
IV. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 OF THE CONVENTION
226. Under Article 5 of the Convention, the applicant complained first,
that, if deported, he would be at real risk of a flagrant denial of his right to
liberty as guaranteed by that Article due to the possibility under Jordanian
law of incommunicado detention for up to 50 days. Second, also under
Article 5, he alleged that he would be denied legal assistance during any
such detention. Finally, he alleged that, if convicted at his re-trial, any
sentence of imprisonment would be a flagrant breach of Article 5 as it
would have been imposed as a result of a flagrant breach of Article 6.
Article 5, where relevant, provides as follows:
“1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be
deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure
prescribed by law:
...
(c) the lawful arrest or detention of a person effected for the purpose of bringing
him before the competent legal authority on reasonable suspicion of having
committed an offence or when it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his
committing an offence or fleeing after having done so;
...
3. Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the provisions of
paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be brought promptly before a judge or other
officer authorised by law to exercise judicial power and shall be entitled to trial within
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents