SILVER AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUGDMENT
4
(art. 6-1), on account of the refusal of two petitions for permission to seek
legal advice.
I. FACTS PARTICULAR TO THE INDIVIDUAL APPLICANTS
A. Mr. Silver
10. The first applicant, Mr. Reuben Silver, was born in 1915 and was a
United Kingdom citizen. When he lodged his application with the
Commission (20 November 1972), he was detained in prison in England. He
was released from prison in February 1974 and died in March 1979.
11. In the period from January 1972 to March 1973, 7 of Mr. Silver’s
letters were stopped by the prison authorities for the reasons indicated in
paragraphs 59, 62, 63, 66, 68 and 69 below.
This applicant did not complain through the internal prison channels (see
paragraphs 51-53 below) of the stopping of his correspondence; he claimed
that the prison governor prevented him from raising each incident by way of
petition to the Home Secretary because he, Mr. Silver, already had petitions
outstanding at the material times.
12. On 20 November 1972, Mr. Silver petitioned the Home Secretary
for permission to seek legal advice concerning allegedly negligent treatment
in prison and also complained, inter alia, about his medical and dental
treatment. Permission was refused on 18 April 1973. On 30 July 1973, he
submitted another petition in which he referred to his earlier petition and
requested leave to seek legal advice about his dental treatment. The second
petition was apparently granted on 1 October 1973, but Mr. Silver claimed
that he was never so informed. At the time of both petitions, prisoners could
not seek legal advice about prospective civil proceedings without the Home
Secretary’s leave (see paragraph 32 below).
B. Mr. Noe
13. The second applicant, Mr. Clifford Dixon Noe, is a citizen of the
United States of America, born in 1930. When he lodged his application
with the Commission (1 February 1973), he was serving a sentence of
imprisonment in England after being convicted of fraud. He was released
from prison on 31 January 1977 and subsequently deported from the United
Kingdom.
14. In the period from May 1972 to April 1975 and for the reasons
indicated in paragraphs 6O, 61, 67 and 71 below, 4 of Mr. Noe’s letters
were stopped by the prison authorities and the posting of a further letter was
delayed for three weeks.