R v RTA

13 November 2019

Practice Areas

Cases Citation

[2019] UKSC 55

Supreme Court decision concerning the interpretation of article 1 of the UN Convention Against Torture. The appeal arose out of a domestic prosecution, under universal jurisdiction provisions, for offences of torture carried out during the Liberian civil war.

In this internationally significant appeal the Court found that article 1 of the Convention (as transposed into UK law) applies to those acting on behalf of non-state armed groups where those groups exercise functions normally exercised by governments over their civilian populations.

Emilie Pottle and Kathryn Howard were led by David Perry QC, and instructed by the CPS.

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Case