Possession and Proportionality - Rendering unto Strasbourg...

In a decision which will come as a great relief to local authorities across the land, on 8 March 2006 the House of Lords in an Appellate Committee of seven, ruled that it wasn't necessary for authorities on each occasion to plead or prove Article 8 compliance in possession cases. Courts should consequently proceed on the assumption that domestic law struck a fair balance and was compatible with Article 8(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to respect for private and family life). The Lords gave their decision in determining two conjoined appeals in Lambeth London Borough Council and another v Kay and others and Price and others v Leeds City

In the Lambeth case, the Council had (following previous other arrangements) leased properties to the London and Quadrant Housing Trust which had allowed the Appellants into occupation. When the Council terminated the leasehold interests the Appellants unsuccessfully argued that they had thereby become tenants of Lambeth and that