Christopher Cunningham, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice

Facts

The claimant is serving a lengthy prison sentence for rape, having been convicted and sentenced in 2017, and has been held within the prison estate since 16 July 2016. On 22 February 2025 he was re-categorised from Category B to Category C, and on 27 June 2025 he was transferred from HMP Wakefield, a Category B Training–Dispersal prison, to HMP Berwyn, a large Category C training and resettlement prison. Before leaving Wakefield he was scanned twice by X-ray body scanner: the first scan was inconclusive, following which he was required to use the toilet under the constant supervision of reception staff, leaving him feeling "both degraded and humiliated"; the second scan was negative. He was scanned again on arrival at Berwyn. He objected to none of the three scans. He brought judicial review proceedings against the Secretary of State for Justice contending that the cohort scanning policies adopted at each prison were inconsistent with Part 7A of the Justification of Practices Involving Ionising Radiation Regulations 2004, inconsistent with the published national policy framework for such scanners, and in breach of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and that the individual scans were accordingly unlawful. His challenge to national cohort scanning guidance issued in December 2024 was dropped. The claim form was dated 23 June 2025 and issued on 3 July 2025; permission to proceed on all amended grounds was granted by Mrs Justice Hill by order dated 7 November 2025.