“Life prisoners entitled to reasons for tariff decisions under natural justice principles.”
Four life sentence prisoners challenged the Home Secretary's refusal to disclose the reasons for setting their minimum tariff periods before parole consideration. The Home Secretary argued disclosure was not required.
Whether natural justice requires the Home Secretary to give reasons for decisions on minimum periods to be served by life sentence prisoners.
The House of Lords held that natural justice required the Home Secretary to give reasons for tariff decisions and to disclose the judge's recommendations.
This case significantly expanded the duty to give reasons in administrative law, particularly in cases affecting fundamental rights. It influenced the development of procedural fairness requirements across administrative decision-making.
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OSCOLA Citation
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex p Doody [1994] 1 AC 531 (HL)
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