R (on the application of G) v The Governors of X School | ELA London

An important decision was handed down by the Supreme Court yesterday when it overturned the decision of the Court of Appeal in R (on the application of G) v The Governors of X School. A teacher had been dismissed for an offence which was likely to lead him to be added to a list of people barred from working with children. Although the authority which maintained the list would make a decision independently of the school, an adverse finding by the school would inevitably have been given some weight and, therefore, the Court of Appeal had found that Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights was engaged and the teacher was entitled to legal representation at his disciplinary proceedings.

The Supreme Court held, by a majority of 4 to 1, that Article 6 was not engaged. It agreed with the Court of Appeal that the correct test is whether the disciplinary procedure would have a “substantial influence” on subsequent proceedings but disagreed that this test was met on the facts of the case. Instead, it considered that the barring investigation was sufficiently independent and that, in any event, there was a right of appeal through a fully judicial process to the Upper Tribunal.