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On appeal from: [2013] EWCA Civ 199.

In December 2010, Lord Carlile of Berriew, together with two other members of the House of Lords, asked the Home Secretary for a meeting to discuss lifting the exclusion to enable Mrs Rajavi, a dissident Iranian politician who had been excluded from the UK in 1997, to address meetings in the Palace of Westminster. The Home Secretary sought the advice of the Foreign Office. She replied in February 2011 stating that she had concluded that Mrs Rajavi’s admission to the UK would not be conducive to the public good. It was common ground that ECHR, art 10 was engaged.

Held: dismissing the claimants’ appeal by a majority of 4-1. A predictive judgment of the executive about the likely reaction of a foreign country to a decision of the UK government is ordinarily entitled to a large measure of respect from the courts. In this case, the executive’s decision was rational, there were no grounds to challenge the good faith or the evidential base of the decision, and the Secretary of State had committed no error of principle, nor had she underrated the value of ECHR, art 10 rights or overstated the risk.

For judgment, please download: [2014] UKSC 60
For Court’s press summary, please download: Court’s Press Summary
For a non-PDF version of the judgment, please visit: BAILII