‘In a December 2023 decision, the UK Supreme Court sought to clarify how courts should use their remedial discretion to make mandatory orders against local authorities. In doing so, the Court arguably made the right to be provided with housing (in the form of suitable accommodation) a justiciable right for certain categories of homeless persons.’
Oxford Human Rights Hub, 23rd January 2024
Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk
‘When Ismael found himself sleeping rough at York station in the late October cold he struggled to understand how an opportunity to pick berries 7,000 miles from his home had so quickly ended there.’
The Guardian, 26th January 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Graham Phillips, the Claimant, is a British national and video blogger who posts content from the Donbass dressed in Russian military fatigues. He says he is a journalist who provides a “counterbalance” to widespread western misunderstanding of the true situation in Ukraine but the Administrative Court disagrees. On 12 January 2024, it handed down judgment in R (Phillips) v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs [2024] EWHC 32 (Admin), in which it upheld the Government’s view that the Claimant is a propagandist for Russia who is lawfully subject to a sanctions regime which allows the state to freeze his assets.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 25th January 2024
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill will receive its second reading in the House of Lords on 29 January 2024, having cleared the House of Commons unamended. There are a great many problems with the Rwanda Bill, any of which might weigh with the Lords, but this blog post focuses on just one: the likelihood that, if enacted, the Bill may well trigger a constitutional crisis between the courts and Parliament. It would be a crisis that is likely to endure beyond the life of the policy embodied in the Bill. I argue here that one of the roles of the House of Lords is to act as a constitutional safeguard, a steam-valve, and, in exercise of this function under the rare circumstances that attend this Bill, it would be legitimate for the Lords to not only make and insist upon far-reaching changes to the Bill, but even to refuse to pass it altogether. This post is not concerned with the realpolitik of whether peers would in fact vote the Bill down – though I come to the point in the conclusion. It rather seeks to refute the constitutional argument that it would be illegitimate to block or make potent amendments to it.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 26th January 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘As the dust settles on another year, it is (just about still) time to look back over the year gone to review some of the most dramatic, legally interesting or impactful cases of the year gone by. As ever, this is only a selection of the top cases of the year, but as a whole they reveal yet another year in which the courts have been drawn into the centre of the most important social and political debates of the society in which they find themselves.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 29th January 2024
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘The recently announced plan to increase the minimum income requirement (MIR) to £38,700 led to widespread criticism, with the government appearing to exclude all but the affluent from establishing family life in the UK. This has led to a partial policy shift, with it now announced that the threshold to sponsor a spouse will not rise to this amount until 2025, with an interim rise to £29,000 taking place in the Spring. Nonetheless, even this lower amount will be unaffordable to many families, raising questions about the compatibility of the rise with Convention rights. In R (MM) Lebanon v SSHD [2017] UKSC 10 the Supreme Court found that the initial MIR, set at £18,600, was lawful. In this post, I will highlight two key problems with the judgment, along with the failure of the MIR to restrict the social security entitlement of many affected families: the MIR’s primary justification.’
EIN Blog, 31st January 2024
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘The recently announced plan to increase the minimum income requirement (MIR) to £38,700 led to widespread criticism, with the government appearing to exclude all but the affluent from establishing family life in the UK. This has led to a partial policy shift, with it now announced that the threshold to sponsor a spouse will not rise to this amount until 2025, with an interim rise to £29,000 taking place in the Spring. Nonetheless, even this lower amount will be unaffordable to many families, raising questions about the compatibility of the rise with Convention rights. In R (MM) Lebanon v SSHD [2017] UKSC 10 the Supreme Court found that the initial MIR, set at £18,600, was lawful. In this post, I will highlight two key problems with the judgment, along with the failure of the MIR to restrict the social security entitlement of many affected families: the MIR’s primary justification.’
EIN Blog, 31st January 2024
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘The Divisional Court (Lady Justice Laing and Mrs Justice Heather Williams) confirmed in R (Castellucii) v The Gender Recognition Panel and the Minister for Women and Equalities [2024] EWHC 54 (Admin) that the Gender Recognition Panel has no power under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to issue a Gender Recognition Certificate that records an applicant’s gender as “non-binary”. It also held that this did not breach any of the Claimant’s rights under Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 5th February 2024
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘The risk businesses face from litigation is changing as artificial intelligence (AI) tools become more popular. Businesses need to recognise this and consider the different kinds of risks associated with AI technology and how they might give rise to liability.’
OUT-LAW.com, 5th February 2024
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘A teenager trapped in Gaza and separated from his parents has brought an urgent legal challenge against the UK Home Office and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) after the government refused entry clearance for him to join his family in the UK.’
The Guardian, 6th February 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The risk businesses face from litigation is changing as artificial intelligence (AI) tools become more popular. Businesses need to recognise this and consider the different kinds of risks associated with AI technology and how they might give rise to liability.’
OUT-LAW.com, 5th February 2024
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
‘Baroness Hale revealed her “true colours” by voting against the Rwanda Bill, according to former leader of the Commons Jacob-Rees-Mogg, who yesterday called for the “politicised” Supreme Court to be emasculated.’
Law Society's Gazette, 7th February 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The UK government’s proposals to send asylum seekers arriving to the UK onto Rwanda continue to spark intense opposition.’
EIN Blog, 6th February 2024
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘Europe’s leading anti-torture watchdog has called on the government to process asylum claims in the UK rather than sending people to Rwanda because of the risk they may be exposed to human rights abuses there.’
The Guardian, 8th February 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The home secretary, James Cleverly, has apologised and arranged for compensation to be paid to a human rights activist after officials unlawfully detained him at Gatwick airport on his return to the UK from a UN meeting in Switzerland.’
The Guardian, 8th February 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The UK government’s controversial Rwanda legislation that deems the African country as a safe place to deport people to is fundamentally incompatible with Britain’s human rights obligations and places it in breach of international law, according to a damning parliamentary report.’
The Guardian, 12th February 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A group of 260 Royal Marines have issued proceedings against the Ministry of Defence (MoD) amid claims they were “knowingly” exposed to asbestos.’
BBC News, 12th February 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘High Court judges have ruled that to keep a young offender convicted of murder detained indefinitely is incompatible with certain rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.’
Law Society's Gazette, 12th February 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘The Home Office has announced its intention to create new offences relating to actions taken by attendees at protests. The plans include making it an offence to possess flares or pyrotechnics at a protest, to wear a face covering at a protest, and to climb on war memorials. The changes will be added as amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill. The Home Office has emphasised that the new rules are not a blanket ban on face coverings, and only apply where the protester’s intention is to conceal their identity.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 12th February 2024
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Campaign organisation Good Law Project has sent a letter before action to the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, regarding his response to a report by the Electoral Commission on the impact of the voter ID requirements.’
Local Government Lawyer, 15th February 2024
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The UK’s chief inspector of borders and immigration has called it “scandalous” that his watchdog role could be left vacant while the Rwanda scheme is introduced.’
The Guardian, 19th February 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The high court has dismissed a case urging the suspension of UK arms sales to Israel.’
The Guardian, 20th February 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A UK government attempt to remove one of the last remaining defences for climate protesters would be a slippery slope to the erosion of the constitutional right to trial by jury, the court of appeal was told on Wednesday.’
The Guardian, 21st February 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Mental health, human rights and criminal justice experts have made a joint plea for parliament to end the “living nightmare” of indefinite jail terms, following a series of revelations by The Independent. Thousands of prisoners have been left languishing in jail for years longer than their minimum tariff, and with no hope of release, under imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences – which were scrapped more than a decade ago amid human rights concerns.’
The Independent, 26th February 2024
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘In light of the publication of the Westminster Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee’s (very good) report on assisted dying / assisted suicide on 29 February 2024 and as a modest contribution to informing debate about these issues, I have recorded an ‘informer,’ in which I give an overview of the current law in England & Wales and worldwide, set out some of the reasons why people might want change, and some reasons why people are concerned about it, and then look at what the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities might say of relevance. It is quite a lot for half an hour, and it goes without saying that it is a video which engages with difficult matters.’
Mental Capacity Law and Policy, 29th February 2024
‘Safe Third Country (STC) agreements involve the transfer of protection-seekers from one State to another. They take different forms, including bilateral treaties (the UK-Rwanda Treaty), political agreements (the Italy-Albania MoU) and regional mechanisms (Dublin III). They are usually justified as a means of sharing responsibility for protecting refugees and ‘managing’ access to asylum determination processes, as is the case for the Canada-US Safe Third Country Agreement. In other contexts their explicit purpose is to deter and to punish.
EIN Blog, 29th February 2024
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘The first IPP prisoner to have his parole bid held in public has revealed how each day is “torture” serving a sentence with no release date.’
The Independent, 10th March 2024
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Contax Partners inc BVI v Kuwait Finance House and others [2024] EWHC 436 (Comm). Legal news abounds these days with stories of fabricated decisions and authorities generated by ChatGPT and similar AI mechanisms. But there’s nothing like a bit of old-fashioned human plagiarism to tickle the palates, and the full force of a judge’s fury was unleashed on such an attempt recently in the High Court.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 9th March 2024
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Civil servants have threatened ministers with legal action over concerns that senior Home Office staff could be in breach of international law if they implement the government’s Rwanda deportation bill.’
The Guardian, 12th March 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Previously in the saga of benefits and pre-settled status (PSS – the status awarded to EU nationals and their family members covered by the Withdrawal Agreement if they have been in the UK less than 5 years), the UK government introduced regulations in 2019 stipulating that PSS awarded under the EU Settlement Scheme was not a sufficient right to reside for EU nationals to pass the habitual residence test when claiming many benefits. These regulations were challenged on the basis that they were discriminatory on the grounds of nationality, and while the Court of Appeal (COA) agreed in Fratila v SSWP [2020] EWCA Civ 1741, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found in CG that people with PSS were not protected from nationality discrimination (Case C-709/20 CG v The Department for Communities in Northern Ireland EU:C:2021:602).’
Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 8th March 2024
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘In November 2023, the Supreme Court of the UK dealt a critical blow to the government’s proposal to send certain asylum seekers to the Republic of Rwanda. In AAA and Others v the Home Secretary, the Court ruled that removal to Rwanda would be unlawful because that country was not, at the time, a ‘safe country’.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 14th March 2024
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘This article examines the challenges that immigration control-related political imperatives in the United Kingdom (UK) have posed for UK compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and evaluates the challenges that the UK’s moving away from ECHR compliance pose for its post-Brexit relationship with the European Union (EU) and its member states. The contribution begins with an examination of the constitutional parameters of UK (non-)compliance with the ECHR in the field of immigration control and the implications of this for the post-Brexit arrangements with the EU and its member states. The contribution then focuses on substantive immigration and refugee law and the impact of the current situation on asylum transfer co-operation within and outside of the EU. Through these areas, the article examines how EU law has infiltrated the interpretation of the ECHR with the result of raising standards of protection for asylum seekers and migrants and hampering the exercise of state sovereignty in the field.’
EIN Blog, 14th March 2024
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘This article explores how legal academics approach sensitive topics in human rights law, specifically how content is chosen, curated and discussed with students. It draws on data collected as part of a small pilot study which looked at how human rights academics approach “controversial” topics and how their views on controversy and sensitivity may be reflected in their curriculum. It focuses on the wider debate around trigger warnings in higher education and explores how academics use them. It concludes that, despite their negative reputation, “trigger warnings” can play a necessary and welcome role in navigating sensitive material.’
The Law Teacher, 1st March 2024
Source: www.tandfonline.com
‘Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill could be forced on to the statute books without fulfilling the government’s legal commitment to independent scrutiny, the former borders watchdog has told peers.’
The Guardian, 19th March 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘This article addresses work-related and gendered harms of the ‘hostile environment’, a set of measures implemented through the Immigration Acts of 2014 and 2016, which aims to make life in the UK impossible for irregular migrants. The hostile environment criminalises work without legal status, facilitates data sharing between public bodies and immigration enforcement, and restricts access services and benefits. The article examines factors that can make women susceptible to irregularity and exposure to hostile environment measures, and distinctive forms of gendered harm such as workplace sexual harassment. It argues that the detrimental impacts of the hostile environment contravene international and regional human rights obligations. Barring certain migrants from access to the labour market may violate the socio-economic right to work and/ or the right to private and family life, while a lack of access to legal remedy or labour inspection fuelled can violate migrants’ right to decent work and undermine protections against forced labour. The UK’s recent ratification of the Council of Europe’s ‘Istanbul Convention’ and ILO Convention 190 on violence and harassment at work signifies a renewed commitment to safeguarding women regardless of migration status, but the universalistic potential of these instruments is undermined by the hostile environment’s continued operation.’
Industrial Law Journal, March 2024
Source: academic.oup.com
‘The County Court has given judgment in Ali v Green Party of England and Wales [Central London County Court, 9 February 2024]. For the first time, the court had to consider the interaction between the Equality Act 2010 association provisions, the protected characteristic of belief, and the rights of political parties and their members under the European Convention on Human Rights. The decision will be of great interest to political parties and campaigners of all kinds.’
Cloisters, 9th February 2024
Source: www.cloisters.com
‘The House of Lords has inflicted fresh defeats on the government over its flagship Rwanda bill, meaning further delay to it becoming law.’
BBC News, 21st March 2024
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The former director of public prosecutions for England and Wales has warned against the risk of creating “thought crimes” amid the recent clampdown on protesters and demonisation of demonstrators by politicians.’
The Guardian, 24th March 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has decided not to investigate a gender-critical barrister who was accused of being transphobic by misgendering two trans lawyers.’
Legal Futures, 2nd April 2024
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘On 6 March 2024 the Supreme Court handed down two separate judgments in the cases of Bertino v Public Prosecutor’s Office, Italy [2024] UKSC 9 and Merticariu v Judecatoria Arad, Romania [2024] UKSC 10. The constitution of the Court for both cases was the same with the judgments written by Lord Stephens and Lord Burnett. Lords Hodge, Sales and Burrows completed the panel.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 4th April 2024
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘A cross-party group of MPs is proposing to make abortion access a human right in England and Wales, putting forward legislation that would decriminalise abortion up to 24 weeks and introduce protections against access being stripped back.’
The Guardian, 8th April 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The Private Life immigration route was introduced along with many other changes to the rules in July 2012 to implement the government’s view of its obligations under Article 8 ECHR. These rules have been amended several times since then, often in response to judicial findings and particularly in relation to children and young adults, by which we mean those under 18, and those aged between 18 and 24.’
EIN Blog, 9th April 2024
Source: www.ein.org.uk
‘The High Court has rejected a judicial review challenge to an assistant coroner’s decision not to hold an Article 2 inquest examining whether two public bodies had any responsibility for a woman’s death.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th April 2024
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Strasbourg Court fashions human rights out of climate change. David Hart KC discusses latest developments with Rosalind English.’
Law Pod UK, 10th April 2024
Source: audioboom.com
‘Prominent human rights lawyers Helena Kennnedy KC and Mark Stephens are among the legal signatories to a letter calling for a simpler test for a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) in legislation aimed at curbing abusive litigation.’
Law Society's Gazette, 11th April 2024
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Leading barrister warns that the kit – used to support gender-questioning children – is likely to be in breach of equality laws and could violate pupils’ rights.’
The Guardian, 13th April 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A high court decision to uphold a prayer ban at one of the highest performing state schools in England has been welcomed by Rishi Sunak and Kemi Badenoch, who described it as a “victory against activists trying to subvert our public institutions”.’
The Guardian, 16th April 2024
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The core function of public services ombuds is to investigate complaints from individuals about “maladministration” by public bodies which has caused injustice. But ombuds have developed several other important functions designed to improve people’s experiences of public services. For example, as seen in the Council of Europe’s 2019 Venice Principles, ombuds are developing a role ensuring that public bodies do not neglect human rights.’
Essex Constitutional and Administrative Justice Initiative, 15th April 2024
Source: essexcaji.org
‘In R (TTT, by her mother and litigation friend UUU) v Michaela Community Schools Trust & Anor [2024] EWHC 842 (Admin), the school’s governing body decided in 2023 to prohibit its pupils from performing prayer rituals on its premises after the Headteacher had banned them as an interim measure. That policy applied to all prayer rituals, regardless of religion, but there was no evidence that pupils of any religion other than Islam wished to perform prayer rituals during the school day. Muslims are required to pray five times a day. The claimant, a Muslim, accepted that the requirements of the school day meant that she would not always be able to fulfil that obligation during the appropriate period; however, she wished to be allowed to perform the midday prayer [Duhr], which during the autumn and winter months would be possible during the school lunch break – which, she argued, was “free time”.’
Law & Religion UK, 17th April 2024
Source: lawandreligionuk.com
‘UK legislation allowing employers to take disciplinary action against employees for their participation in lawful strike action is in breach of those employees’ human rights, according to a new Supreme Court ruling.’
OUT-LAW.com, 17th April 2024
Source: www.pinsentmasons.com
