Doody

R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex p Doody [1994] 1 AC 531

BAILII judgment

Locate in the network

Parties and outcome

Claimant

Doody, Pegg, Pierson and Smart, four mandatory life prisoners (respondents and cross-appellants)

Defendant

Secretary of State for the Home Department (appellant)

Outcome

The prisoners succeeded in part: the Secretary of State’s appeal was dismissed and their cross-appeals were allowed in part, with declarations concerning representations and reasons.

Cited by

• Miller

  Paragraph 39

  39.What fairness requires in a particular situation depends upon the context. As Lord Mustill held in R v Home Secretary ex p Doody [1994] 1 AC 531 at 560: "The principles of fairness are not to be applied by rote identically in every situation. What fairness demands is dependent on the context of the decision, and this is to be taken into account in all its aspects. An essential factor of the context is the statute which creates the discretion, as regards both its language and the shape of the legal and administrative system within which the decision is taken."