Osman v United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
Osman v United Kingdom [1998] EHRR 101 is a leading case before the European Court of Human Rights
on human rights
law in the United Kingdom
. Judgment was given on 28 October 1998.
The applicants complaints are directed at the failure of the authorities to appreciate and act on what they claim was a series of clear warning signs that Paget-Lewis represented a serious threat to the physical safety of Ahmet Osman and his family. The applicants argued that the police had been given information which should have made it clear that the individual posed a danger.
to the applicants, confirming the law in Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police where it was ruled that the police owed no duty of care to one of the victims of the Yorkshire Ripper.
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg is a supra-national court established by the European Convention on Human Rights and hears complaints that a contracting state has violated the human rights enshrined in the Convention and its protocols. Complaints can be brought by individuals or...
on human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
law in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Judgment was given on 28 October 1998.
Facts
The applicants were British citizens resident in London. The first applicant, Mrs Mulkiye Osman, is the widow of Mr Ali Osman who was shot dead by Mr Paul Paget-Lewis on 7 March 1988. The second applicant, Ahmet Osman, is her son, born in 1972. He was a former pupil of Paget-Lewis at Homerton House School. Ahmet Osman was wounded in the shooting incident which led to the death of his father.The applicants complaints are directed at the failure of the authorities to appreciate and act on what they claim was a series of clear warning signs that Paget-Lewis represented a serious threat to the physical safety of Ahmet Osman and his family. The applicants argued that the police had been given information which should have made it clear that the individual posed a danger.
Appeals
The English courts all agreed that the police owed no duty of careDuty of care
In tort law, a duty of care is a legal obligation imposed on an individual requiring that they adhere to a standard of reasonable care while performing any acts that could foreseeably harm others. It is the first element that must be established to proceed with an action in negligence. The claimant...
to the applicants, confirming the law in Hill v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police where it was ruled that the police owed no duty of care to one of the victims of the Yorkshire Ripper.