ABSTRACT
In R v Board of Visitors of Hull Prison ex parte St Germain (No 2) (1979), prisoners who had been involved in a prison riot were charged with breaches of the Prison Rules. In the course of the hearing, hearsay evidence was given to the court on behalf of a number of officers who were unable to attend the hearing. The decision of guilt on the charges was challenged by judicial review proceedings, on the basis that the Board of Visitors had breached the rules of natural justice. Lane LJ, while not ruling that hearsay evidence could never be admissible, nevertheless ruled that, in the particular circumstance of the case, the Board should have ruled the hearsay evidence inadmissible. The decision of the Board was quashed by order of certiorari. Similar issues were under scrutiny in R v Commissioner for Racial Equality ex parte Cottrell and Rothon (1980). The Commissioner had received a complaint of unlawful discrimination by Messrs Cottrell and Rothon, a firm of estate agents. The company had been given the opportunity to make representations – both written and oral – to the commissioners. No witnesses were available at the hearing. Nevertheless, the Commission issued a nondiscrimination notice.68 The company sought to have the decision quashed, relying in part on R v Board of Visitors of Hull Prison ex parte St Germain (No 2) (1979). Noting the absence of any statutory requirement to provide an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses in the course of a hearing, and distinguishing between the facts of St Germain, the Court of Appeal ruled that there was no breach in the rules relating to fairness.
