Serial killer Joanne Dennehy demands compensation for solitary confinement – Daily Telegraph
‘Lawyers are using the European Convention on Human Rights in support of the triple murderer.’
Daily Telegraph, 13th March 2016
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Category: disability discrimination
Disabled people challenge bedroom tax at supreme court – The Guardian
‘The supreme court is to hear a legal challenge against the government’s bedroom tax from five people who argue it discriminates against the weak and vulnerable.’
The Guardian, 29th February 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Bedroom tax challenge success – UK Human Rights Blog
‘The Court of Appeal has given its judgment in a conjoined appeal of two of the latest challenges to the bedroom tax/removal of spare room subsidy (delete as you see fit), holding that it was unlawfully discriminatory in its application to 1.A female victim of serious domestic violence living in a home significantly adapted (including the provision of a “safe room”) to ensure her safety in the face of threats from her former partner; and 2. A severely disabled 15 year old boy cared for by his grandmother and her partner, who required a carer to stay in their home two nights per week.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 2nd February 2016
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Man sentenced to six weeks imprisonment for harassing victim because of disability – CPS News Brief
‘A 25 year old man who used social media to harass a man because of his disability has been sentenced to six weeks imprisonment.’
CPS News Brief, 27th January 2016
Source: http://blog.cps.gov.uk
Appeal court rules bedroom tax discriminatory in two cases – The Guardian
‘A victim of domestic violence and the grandparents of a severely disabled teenager have won court of appeal challenges over the lawfulness of the bedroom tax.’
The Guardian, 27th January 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Whistleblower judge: austerity policies have made courts dangerous – The Guardian
‘A district judge who is suing the Ministry of Justice after whistleblowing her complaints about courtroom dangers – death threats, violent claimants and hostage-taking – has spoken out for the first time about her experience of an under-resourced justice system.’
The Guardian, 23rd January 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Disabled workers can’t afford justice to deal with workplace harassment – The Guardian
‘Since the government introduced fees for employment tribunals, together with legal aid cuts, disabled people have increasingly been unable to have their cases heard.’
The Guardian, 6th January 2016
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Mortgage possession and disability discrimination – Nearly Legal
‘This is county court case, but a very interesting one on the issue of disability discrimination in mortgage possession proceedings.’
Nearly Legal, 3rd January 2016
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Austerity and Public Law: Alexander Latham: Defending Rights in the Face of Austerity: Is the Supreme Court Calling Time on Social Housing Managerialism? – UK Constitutional Law Association
‘In cases involving social housing, English courts have traditionally taken what we might call a “managerial” approach: their starting-point for analysis has not been the tenant or applicant for housing as a rights-holder, but the need of local authorities to distribute their scarce resources effectively. In Burrows v Brent LBC [1996] 1 WLR 1448, for example, where a tenant who was permitted to remain after a possession order was held not to have been impliedly granted a new tenancy, Lord Browne-Wilkinson said that “housing authorities try to conduct their housing functions as humane and reasonable landlords” (at 1455). The tenant might be forgiven for wondering why this should count against him, but clearly the implication is that as ‘humane and reasonable landlords’ local authorities should be left to manage their housing stock with as little interference from the courts as possible. More recently this attitude led to the courts’ extreme reluctance to enable a public sector tenant to rely on article 8 ECHR in possession proceedings. When the Supreme Court finally acceded to pressure from Strasbourg, it nevertheless drew the teeth from the human rights defence by agreeing with the Secretary of State’s submission that “a local authority’s aim in wanting possession should be a ‘given’ ” (Manchester CC v Pinnock [2011] UKSC 6, per Lord Neuberger at [53]), so that “there will be no need, in the overwhelming majority of cases, for the local authority to explain and justify its reasons for seeking a possession order” (Hounslow LBC v Powell [2011] UKSC 8, per Lord Hope at [37]). The local authority is simply assumed to be acting in a way which benefits the general welfare; this assumption is then taken to justify the effect of its actions on individuals in all but the most extreme of cases.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 9th December 2015
Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org
High Court finds council policy on disability living allowance and DHPs “unlawful” – Local Government Lawyer
‘ local authority’s policy of taking into account the care component of disability living allowance when assessing the amount of a discretionary house payment (DHPs) was unlawful, a High Court judge has ruled.’
Local Government Lawyer, 31st March 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Discretionary Housing Payments – the trouble with DLA – Nearly Legal
‘Oh, we have been waiting for this one. According to DWP survey evidence, some 75% of Councils take Disability Living Allowance into account as income when deciding on an award of Discretionary Housing Payments. This judicial review concerned Sandwell Council’s policy of doing just that. The implications are clearly of significance for other councils, and will potentially impact many disabled people faced with the bedroom tax.’
Nearly Legal, 30th March 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Disability discrimination goes to full trial – Nearly Legal
‘When the Court of Appeal held that a disability discrimination defence to possession under Equality Act 2010 had to face the same ‘seriously arguable’ summary test as an Article 8 defence, we were surprised, and very unimpressed. It seems the Supreme Court felt similarly (and unanimously), although sadly it did not help the tenant in this case.’
Nearly Legal, 29th March 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Aster Communities Ltd (formerly Flourish Homes Ltd) v Akerman-Livingstone (Equality and Human Rights Commission intervening) – WLR Daily
‘The approach to be taken to a defence to a claim for possession of residential premises which alleged unlawful discrimination against a disabled person, contrary to the Equality Act 2010, was different from that which applied to a defence which alleged a breach of an individual’s rights under article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. In particular, summary judgment would not normally be an appropriate procedure for dealing with a possession claim where a disability discrimination defence was raised.’
WLR Daily, 11th March 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
All proportionality defences are equal, but some are more equal than others – Zenith Chambers
‘The Supreme Court, in the case of Akerman-Livingstone v Aster Communities Ltd [2015] UKSC 15, have provided some much needed and helpful clarification of the practicalities of raising and potentially defeating a defence based on discrimination on a summary basis. In the event, events overtook the appeal, and Mr Akerman-Livingstone’s appeal was dismissed, but had it not been for a suitable offer of accommodation and the superior landlord serving notice to quit on the Housing Association and requiring vacant possession from them, the result would have been different.’
Full story (PDF)
Zenith Chambers, 12th March 2015
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
Supreme Court considers tests for justification under s15 Equality Act 2010 and Article 8 ECHR in a housing eviction case against a disabled tenant – Cloisters
‘The Supreme Court handed down its decision yesterday in Akerman-Livingstone v. Aster Communities Ltd (formerly Flourish Homes Ltd) [2015] UKSC 15 in which it considered the test of justification for discrimination under section 15 of the Equality Act 2010 (the EqA) as compared with justification for Article 8 of the Convention.’
Cloisters, 12th March 2015
Source: www.cloisters.com
Supreme Court sets out approach to disability discrimination defences in evictions – Local Government Lawyer
‘A judge hearing an eviction case misdirected himself in adopting the same approach to the defence of disability discrimination as to an alleged breach of Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights, the Supreme Court has ruled.’
Local Government Lawyer, 11th March 2015
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Discrimination – tendency to physical abuse – Education Law Blog
‘A three-judge Upper Tribunal panel X v GB of a school has considered the exclusion of a tendency to physical abuse from the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010.’
Education Law Blog, 25th January 2015
Source: www.education11kbw.com
Victims of contaminated NHS blood launch legal case – BBC News
‘Three men who contracted hepatitis C from contaminated imported blood have begun a legal case in the UK to challenge the compensation scheme.’
BBC News, 15th January 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Disabled tenants to challenge bedroom tax in supreme court – The Guardian
‘A legal case to be heard at the supreme court will decide whether the government’s housing benefit regulations – the bedroom tax – discriminates unfairly against disabled adults. The ruling could have consequences for hundreds of thousands of people.’
The Guardian, 10th January 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
First Bus wins wheelchair court judgement – BBC News
‘Bus companies are not required by law to force parents with buggies to make way for wheelchair users in designated bays on vehicles, senior judges ruled.’
Full story
BBC News, 8th December 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
