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England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions >> Commission for Equality & Human Rights v Griffin & Ors [2010] EWHC 3343 (Admin) (17 December 2010) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2010/3343.html Cite as: [2010] EWHC 3343 (Admin) |
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QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
and
MR. JUSTICE RAMSEY
____________________
THE COMMISSION FOR EQUALITY & HUMAN RIGHTS |
Claimant |
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- and - |
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(1) NICHOLAS JOHN GRIFFIN (2) TANYA JANE LUMBY (3) SIMON DARBY |
Defendants |
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Mr. David Reade Q.C. and Mr. Christopher Coney (instructed by Charles Henry & Co.) for the first defendant
Mr. Nigel Ley (instructed by Charles Henry & Co.) for the second defendant
Mr. David Reade Q.C. and Mr. Jonathan Trussler (instructed by Charles Henry & Co.) for the third defendant
Hearing dates: 8th & 9th November 2010
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Crown Copyright ©
Lord Justice Moore-Bick :
Background
"3.2.1 . . . We are pledged to the continued creation, fostering, maintenance and existence of a unity and of the integrity of the Indigenous British . . .
. . .
3.2.3 We are pledged to stemming and reversing the immigration and migration of peoples into our British Homeland that has, without the express consent of the Indigenous British, taken place since 1948, and to restoring and maintaining, by legal changes, negotiation and consent, the Indigenous British as the overwhelming majority in the make up of the population of and expression of culture in each part of our British Homeland."
Clause 4.17 also made continuing membership of the party conditional upon satisfying certain conditions of membership, one of which was bona fide agreement with the party's principles (clause 4.18.4).
"Not withstanding any other provision of our Constitution no Individual Member shall be entitled to attend any Official Meeting of our Party . . . unless and until that Individual Member permits the authorised representatives of the relevant Branch Organiser or the relevant Group Organiser applicable to the area in which the Individual Member's principal place of abode is situated . . . to interview the Individual Member at, unless impracticable, that Individual Member's principal place of abode for a reasonable duration but not more than two hours for the purpose of conducting market research and for the purpose of conducting member expectations and aspirations surveys, ("the Member Induction Condition")."
However, clause 4.39 provided that a person should be deemed to have satisfied that requirement if he or she did not receive a request for an interview within nine months of admission to membership. To that extent, therefore, the judge was justified in regarding it as a condition of admission to membership.
The Order
"1. Each of the Defendants, and all other members of the British National Party ("hereinafter "BNP"), are prohibited from (i) requiring, and forthwith shall not require, in any way at all as a condition of membership of the BNP, the agreement with, or support for, or non-opposition to, or non-disagreement with, each or both of those parts of the Principles set out in Clauses 3.2.1. and 3.2.3. of the 12th Constitution of the BNP, as are set out in the Appendix to this Order, and (ii) applying clause 4.38 of that constitution;
2. For the avoidance of doubt, each of the Defendants, and all other members of the British National Party, are also prohibited from requiring, and forthwith shall not require, as a condition of membership of the BNP, in any way at all, under any subsequent revision or amendment of the BNP's 12th Constitution, the agreement with, or support for, or non-opposition to, or non-disagreement with, the Principles set out in the Appendix;
3. Each of the Defendants, and all other members of the British National Party ("hereinafter "BNP"), shall forthwith amend and revise the 12th Constitution of the BNP, so as to remove the requirement imposed on a prospective member of the BNP under Clause 4 bona fide to agree with or support or not oppose or not disagree with the principles set out in Clauses 3.2.1. and 3.2.3. as a condition of membership, and to remove clause 4.38;
4. The members of the BNP shall keep their association closed to new members until the 12th Constitution is amended and revised in accordance with the previous paragraph of this Order;
5. The three named Defendants shall immediately, and no later than by 16.00 on Monday 15th March 2010, procure that the full terms of this Order and the Judgment of HHJ Collins dated the 12th March 2010, are brought to the attention of all members of the BNP, by
(a) publishing the entirety of the Order (including the Penal Notice and the Appendix) and Judgment in an easily accessible part of the BNP's website, and
(b) identifying exactly where each can be found by a notice set out in a prominent place on the front page of the BNP's website, and
(c) maintaining the publication (as set out in the previous two sub-paragraphs) until the 12th Constitution is amended and revised in accordance with this Order, so as to conform to the terms of this Order and the judgment of HHJ Collins C.B.E. dated the 12th March 2010;
6. The three named Defendants shall immediately, and no later than by 16.00 on Monday 15th March 2010, procure that the full terms of this Order, are sent by post to all current members of the BNP . . . ."
Subsequent events
The application
Version 12.2 of the constitution
" . . . for the purposes connected with initiating contact between our Party and each Individual Member and to welcome and induct an Individual Member into our Party; including without limitation for the purposes of protecting the health and safety of the Individual Members of our Party, the group integration and cohesion of our Party and the good reputation of our Party."
The Adherence Criteria require a member who wishes to attend any official meeting of the party or a leadership election to sign a statement that he or she bona fide agrees with and supports the principles of the party. The Annual Visit Criteria require a member to allow interviews similar to those required by the Contact Criteria to take place not more than once in any twelve month period for the purpose of conducting market research and member expectations, aspirations and satisfaction surveys.
The meaning of the order
" . . . a defendant cannot be committed for contempt on the ground that upon one of two possible constructions of an undertaking being given he has broken his undertaking. For the purposes of relief of this character I think the undertaking must be clear and the breach must be clear beyond all question."
"Mr. Allen accepted that if his argument were correct, the reason why the BNP's terms of membership are discriminatory is because the BNP's principles are themselves discriminatory. But it is not unlawful to hold discriminatory views; the BNP is a lawful registered political party. The crucial distinction is that if those discriminatory principles are employed as part of the mechanism for admission to membership of the party they run the risk of offending against s.25. For the reasons advanced on behalf of the commission . . . I hold that the BNP are likely to commit unlawful acts of discrimination within section 1(b) Race Relations Act 1976 in the terms on which they are prepared to admit persons to membership under the 12th edition of their constitution."