The UK Supreme Court has held in R (on the application of G) v. The Governors of X School that the right to legal representation under Article 6 (right to a fair hearing) does not apply to school disciplinary proceedings.
The Claimant had been refused legal representation at disciplinary proceedings which concerned an alleged inappropriate relationship between the Claimant (a teaching assistant) and a student. Domestic law required schools to report sexual misconduct dismissals to the Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) for further investigation - which would then determine whether the Claimant would be barred from working with children. The Claimant argued that the school's decision was a "determination of... civil rights and obligations" and therefore triggered Article 6, because it led to an ISA investigation.
However, the Court found that Article 6 did not govern the school's disciplinary proceedings. The Court said that the connection between the proceedings and the ISA investigation was too tenuous, because the ISA had to conduct an additional independent investigation before restricting claimant's job opportunities. Therefore, the school's disciplinary proceeding did not govern the outcome of the ISA's decision regarding the claimant's "civil rights and obligations". Lord Kerr was the lone dissent in the case, arguing that the school's determination of guilt could and should influence the ISA's investigation, and as such Article 6 should govern that determination of guilt.
Click here to read the Court's press release in this case.