Sex offender rights are upheld by top judges

Two convicted sex offenders went to the High Court in 2008 where three judges ruled that their "indefinite" registration with no right of review was "incompatible" with their human rights.

This decision, won by a teenager referred to as JF, and 52-year-old Angus Thompson, was upheld by three judges at the Court of Appeal last year.

Now five Justices of the Supreme Court, the highest in the land, have unanimously dismissed the Home Office challenge and repeated the decision that the Sexual Offences Act was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights because it made no provision for individual review.

The President of the court, Lord Phillips, said: "The gravity of sex offences and the serious harm that is caused to those who suffer sexual abuse must weigh heavily in favour of a scheme designed to protect potential victims of such crimes."

But he said if someone could demonstrate that they no longer posed any significant risk there was no point in interfering with their rights and it was obvious that there must be some circumstances in which a tribunal could reliably conclude that the risk of an individual could be discounted.