R (Roberts) v Parole Board

The case of Roberts v Parole Board involved an appeal by Mr Harry Roberts, who had served a 30-year term for multiple counts of murder. The issue before the House of Lords was whether the Parole Board could withhold sensitive material from Mr Roberts and his legal representatives and instead disclose it to a specially appointed advocate (SAA) during a closed hearing. The appeal raised questions of statutory interpretation and compatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights, particularly article 5(4), which guarantees the right to challenge the lawfulness of detention. The House of Lords held that the Parole Board did not have the statutory power to adopt the SAA procedure without clear legislative authority and that the proposed procedure was incompatible with the principles of natural justice and article 5(4) of the Convention. The Lords concluded that the use of the SAA procedure could only be justified in exceptional circumstances where it was necessary to protect the safety of an informant or to ensure the effective functioning of the Parole Board. The appeal was allowed, and the decision of the Parole Board to use the SAA procedure was quashed.