Mc Cann - Case briefs for cases regarding this topic. PDF

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Case briefs for cases regarding this topic....

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McCann v. UK Judgement FACTS: 

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Gibraltar authorities were informed that the IRA was planning a terrorist attack on Gibraltar, likely using a car bomb – they were told that the terrorists if confronted with the authorities could detonate the bomb from anywhere The target of the attack was the band & guard of the First Battalion of the Royal Anglian Regiment Around the time of the planned attack, soldiers began to follow McCann & Farrell When McCann spotted Soldier A he immediately became frightened a reached for something across his chest (A believed it to be the button that would set off the bomb) A shot McCann – Farrell reached for her bag, A again believing she was going to set off the bomb shot at her o Soldier B, at a different location, also shot at both McCann & Farrell in fear that they would set off the bomb McCann & Farrell were shot several times (in the back/head) and they died Upon further investigation bombs were found Some witnesses said that the deceased were shot when they were on the floor but both soldier deny this Soldier argued that their intention was to kill McCann and to stop the threat of the bomb At lower court, the jury returned verdict of lawful killing – the families of the deceased appealed arguing that the killings were unlawful Arguments: o Applicants argued that the deprivation of life was unjustified and that the killings violated Article 2 of the Convention – they believed information about the bombings were just suspicions and were conveyed to the soldiers as facts which led soldiers to kill o Government argues that the killings were justified based on the facts & that the killings were necessary to protect the city and the citizens within the city

ISSUE: 

Whether the anti-terrorist operation as a whole was controlled & organized in a manner which respected the requirements of Article 2 (art. 2) & whether the information and instruction given to the soldiers took adequately into consideration the right to life of the three deceased

RULE:

REASON:  

The deceased should have, and could have, been arrested at the boarder – the arguments that the government gave were insufficient to argue otherwise The soldier shot to kill rather that to disarm or to stop the deceased, they should have been trained/prepared to disarm and stop the deceased rather than to just kill them

HOLDING: 

Court finds that there was a breach of Article 2 of the Convention

NOTES:...