Jonathan Ashworth – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jonathan Ashworth on 2016-02-25.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many civil law suits have been brought against her Department based either wholly or partially on grounds provided by the Human Rights Act 1998; how many such suits were settled out of court before a court judgment was delivered; and how much such settlements have cost the public purse since 2010.

Karen Bradley

The Home Office deals with thousands of cases every year and litigants frequently rely on arguments based wholly or partly on the Human Rights Act 1998. In most cases, the 1998 Act is relied on in addition to other claims. The Government Legal Department’s records do not, historically, distinguish between cases where the 1998 Act is invoked and cases where it is not. Nor do they record how many suits were settled out of court before a judgment was delivered; or how much has been paid out in such settlements. Consequently, it is not possible to provide the information requested.