UK censured by Europe over poll tax

Government may have to pay jailed debtors

The Government faces having to pay millions of pounds in compensation to the hundreds of people who have been illegally jailed by magistrates for poll-tax debts as a result of a ruling by the European Commission of Human Rights.

The ruling - which came in a test case brought by the civil rights pressure group Liberty - will also have serious implications for the Government's legal and court budget. It says the Lord Chancellor will have to make legal aid available to any poll taxor council tax debtor facing the threat of imprisonment.

Currently, debtors - many of whom are on benefit or suffering mental or physical disability - are worse off than criminals when they come to court because they are denied legal aid, an appeal and other safeguards.

The European ruling is a costly embarrassment to the Government, whose short-lived poll tax ended in fiasco. It will further heighten ministerial concerns about the impact of European institutions on domestic policy. On Thursday, a Cabinet committee decided to explore ways of clawing back power from the European Union, which does not control the Human Rights Commission.

Government lawyers will fiercely contest the Commission's finding when it goes for a final decision before the European Court of Human Rights. But civil rights lawyers suggest that the overwhelming majority decision by the 18 commissioners will be upheld.

The ruling came in a case involving Stephen Benham, 28, the first poll-tax debtor to have his jail sentence declared unlawful by the High Court.

Despite finding that Mr Benham had no income, Poole magistrates decided that his inability to find work amounted to "culpable neglect" and jailed him for 11 days. Since his case in 1990, magistrates have jailed more debtors facing severe financial hardship for longer periods - despite High Court orders that they should not.

Last year, the numbers jailed rose six-fold to 1,202. A study of 143 jailings, 100 of which have been declared illegal, found many defendants were on income support, some suffered disability, and some were single parents whose children had to go into care.

This week, judges have castigated magistrates in three cases, forcing the Magistrates' Association to give new guidelines.

Yesterday, however, Richard Wise, a lawyer who specialises in poll-tax cases, was forced to obtain High Court orders to free three more people, all single mothers with dependent children. He has taken about 200 such cases through the High Court, most of which were awaiting the European ruling.

Mr Wise said: "These are three of the worst cases I have had to deal with.The most important part of the European findings is that defaulters like these will be entitled to legal aid, which means, hopefully that they will get proper representation and fewer will end up in jail."

The lack of adequate legal protection and compensation are two of the main reasons put forward by lawyers for the continuing unlawful jailings. Magistrates were given immunity from claims for compensation for their decisions by an amendment to the Courtsand Legal Services Act, 1990.

But yesterday the Commission, by a majority of 17 to 1, said that clause was a breach of Article Five of the European Human Rights Convention, which says that a person unlawfully detained is entitled to compensation. By a majority of 15 to 3 it further ruled that the system for dealing with debtors was akin to criminal proceedings and debtors should therefore have the protection of legal aid.