Gibraltar 1988: McCann v United Kingdom
Verified: Documented in primary records or confirmed by reputable inquiry/reporting.
On 6 March 1988 SAS soldiers shot dead Mairead Farrell, Daniel McCann and Sean Savage, suspected members of an IRA active service unit, in Gibraltar. On 27 September 1995 the European Court of Human Rights held by ten votes to nine that there had been a violation of Article 2, the right to life. Security Service officers were part of the surveillance and operations group.
Documented
The judgment records the Commission’s findings that there was no evidence of a premeditated design to kill and no convincing support for claims the suspects were shot while surrendering. A secondary summary says the violation concerned the planning and control of the operation.
Claimed, disputed or not established
The applicants alleged a premeditated plan to kill; the judgment records no evidence for that. Other conspiracy claims about the operation are not established by the judgment.
Sources (opened in a new tab)
- ECtHR: McCann and Others v UK, judgment (PDF) ↗https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/app/conversion/pdf/?filename=001-57943.pdf&id=001-57943&library=ECHR
- ECHR Lawyer: McCann and Others v UK (secondary summary) ↗https://echrlawyer.org/echr-case-law/mccann-and-others-v-united-kingdom/
Connected
- Section: United Kingdom
- Agencies: MI5
- Vault documents: McCann and Others v United Kingdom (Gibraltar), Grand Chamber judgment ↗
- Case board · Timeline (1995) · Document vault