“Former lord chancellor admits reformed system does not allow talented women and ethnic minorities to be sought out.”
The Guardian, 4th December 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Judge for Yourself (PDF)
Speech by The Lord Chief Justice
Judge for Yourself event, 22nd November 2012
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
“The introduction of the Equality Act 2010 was a landmark in non-discrimination law, bringing together (and making some amendments to) a myriad of different statutory regimes covering various types of protected characteristics. However, such is the nature of litigation, that very little appellate case law has, as yet, had cause to consider the provisions of the Equality Act in any detail. As a result, the very substantial developments which have taken or are taking place recently in the equalities field have tended to arise out of the previous legal regimes, or related regimes such as the European Convention on Human Rights.”
Full story (PDF)
11 KBW, 20th November 2012
Source: www.11kbw.com
“If talking publicly about judicial diversity really is ‘the fastest way to make enemies’ then Lord Sumption’s decision to deliver some ‘home truths’ on the topic last week was a brave one. It was also welcome. As anyone who has looked hard at judicial diversity over the past few years knows, a representative bench is much further away than the received wisdom suggests.”
The Guardian, 20th November 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Home Truths about Judicial Diversity (PDF)
Speech by the Rt. Hon. Lord Sumption
Bar Council Law Reform Lecture, 15th Novemeber 2012
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
“Positive discrimination is the only thing likely to significantly accelerate the rate of progress towards a more diverse judiciary, a Supreme Court judge has suggested.”
Law Society’s Gazette, 17th November 2012
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
“A group of care homes has won a legal challenge against their local council, after accusing it of setting care fees too low and putting elderly and frail people at serious risk.”
Daily Telegraph, 8th November 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Scientologists have launched a landmark legal bid to overturn marriage laws in England and Wales. Followers of the controversial new religion believe it is unfair that Protestants, Catholics, Quakers, Jews and Non-Conformists are allowed to have state sanctioned marriages in their religious buildings whilst other faiths are not.”
The Independent, 24th October 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“A complaint to the European Commission that the supreme court’s decision in Jivraj v Hashwani breaches European laws against discrimination may have major implications for equality and religious freedom.”
The Guardian, 3rd October 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans to pilot Sunday magistrates’ courts have been hit by a technical hitch after prisons said they could not accept new prisoners on that day, writes Elizabeth Davidson. However, its pilot of full-day Saturday courts is still on schedule to begin in the Manchester area this weekend, despite vocal opposition from local criminal lawyers, some of whom claim taking part could leave them vulnerable to expensive employment tribunal claims.”
LegalVoice, 27th September 2012
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
“A councillor breached equality laws when he suggested putting a minefield around a travellers’ site in Cambridgeshire, a report has said.”
BBC News, 26th September 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Andrew Commins, barrister, associate member of St John’s Chambers in Bristol analyses the legal issues relating to the question of gay marriage.”
Family Law Week, 24th September 2012
Source: www.familylawweek.com
“The United Kingdom’s record of slowly improving judicial diversity has been dealt a severe blow by a comparative European report revealing that only Azerbaijan and Armenia employ fewer female professional judges. Despite what the study describes as a gradual ‘feminisation of the judiciary resulting in a near gender equality’ across the continent and its eastern borders, only 23% of judges in England and Wales and 21% of judges in Scotland are women.”
The Guardian, 20th September 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Legal aid in England and Wales is five times as generous as the average in Europe, figures show.”
Daily Telegraph, 20th September 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“The interaction between the law and religion or belief is rarely out of the headlines. Debate rages about whether Article 9, the human right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, receives sufficient – or too much – protection in the courts. There has been a considerable amount of litigation, much of it contentious.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 24th August 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Local Government Law Update: 18 July (PDF)
Local Government Law Update: 23 July (PDF)
Local Government Law Update: 25 July (PDF)
11 KBW, July 2012
Source: www.11kbw.com
“When trying to answer the question, is this claimant an employee under section 230 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (‘ERA’)?, we at least know what tests should be applied, even if applying them can be difficult in practice. What has been harder is deciding whether someone who is not an employee under the ERA is in ’employment under… a contract personally to do work’ under the Equality Act 2010 (EqA) or its predecessors. Chris Camp considers employment status in discrimination law, in light, in particular, of the recent Supreme Court decision in Jivraj v Hashwani [2011] UKSC 40.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 5th July 2012
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
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