ECHR cases won by UK government show flexibility of human rights system – The Guardian

‘Strasbourg human rights court is ready to admit it gets things wrong when presented with good arguments.’

Full story

The Guardian, 17th December 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Jehovah’s Witnesses, and judicial review being a last resort – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted December 18th, 2014 in charities, data protection, human rights, judicial review, news, proportionality by sally

‘Judicial review is an excellent and flexible remedy, filling the gaps when statutory and other appeals do not provide a remedy for unlawful administrative acts or omissions.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 17th December 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Al Sweady Inquiry expected to clear British soldiers – Daily Telegraph

Posted December 17th, 2014 in armed forces, homicide, human rights, inquiries, news, violence by sally

‘The five-year-long Al Sweady Inquiry is expected to say serious allegations were based on lies and speculation.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 16th December 2014

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Learning difficulties assessments – High Ct judgment – Education Law Blog

‘The introduction of EHC plans for some 16-25 year olds was one of the most important changes to SEN in the Children and Families Act 2014. Under the previous regime, a special educational needs statement could not provide for a young person to attend further education or higher education. Even if the child remained in a school setting post-16, the statement would lapse (if the local authority had not already ceased to maintain it) when the young person turned 19, although the local authority could choose to maintain it until the end of that academic year. Young people with learning difficulties and/or disabilities who were moving into further education, training or higher education received instead a learning difficulties assessment. This assessment would result in a written report of their educational and training needs and the provision required to meet them (“the LDA”). Any challenge to an LDA was by way of judicial review (as, in contrast to the position for challenges to the contents of SEN statements, there was no statutory right of appeal to the tribunal). That is all changing, with the introduction of EHC plans, which can continue until the young person reaches the age of 25, which can include further education provision (but still not higher education) and which can be appealed to the tribunal. Whilst EHC plans were introduced on 1 September 2014, there is a fairly lengthy transition period and so LDAs will be with us for a little longer yet.’

Full story

Education Law Blog, 16th December 2014

Source: www.education11kbw.com

Tony Nicklinson’s widow takes right-to-die case to Europe – BBC News

Posted December 17th, 2014 in assisted suicide, human rights, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘The widow of right-to-die campaigner Tony Nicklinson is taking his fight to the European Court of Human Rights.’

Full story

BBC News, 16th December 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Failed London 21/7 suicide bombers lose appeal – The Guardian

Posted December 16th, 2014 in appeals, explosives, human rights, news, suicide, terrorism, trials by sally

‘Three men who attempted to carry out suicide bombings on the London Underground in July 2005 have failed to overturn their convictions. The European court of human rights ruled that Muktar Said Ibrahim, Ramzi Mohammed and Yassin Omar received a fair trial. The men, who are Somali nationals, had complained that there had been a delay in allowing them access to a solicitor.’

Full story

The Guardian, 16th December 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Judge orders blood transfusion for Jehovah’s Witness child – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted December 16th, 2014 in blood products, children, human rights, medical treatment, news by sally

‘An NHS Trust v Child B and Mr and Mrs B [2014] EWHC 3486 (Fam) – I posted earlier this year a discussion of Ian McEwan’s pellucid and moving account of the difficulties encountered by judges when steering between the rock of parental faith and the hard place of children’s best interests (The Children Act, 2014). This judgment, although handed down four months ago, has just been published, and confirms that judges may be resolute, however politely, in the face of parents’ insistence that they know what is best for their children.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 15th December 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Conscious Re-coupling and Succession – Nearly Legal

‘In R (Turley) v LB Wandsworth , the Claimant was the partner of the late Mr Doyle, who was the secure tenant of a property at Battersea Park Rd, London, SW8 from 1995 until his death on 17/3/2012. Mr D and Ms T had 4 children together and they lived at the property throughout, apart from a critically important period of separation between December 2010 and January 2012.

Ms T applied to succeed to the secure tenancy but the council decided that because she had not resided at the property for the 12 months immediately preceding Mr D’s death, she did not qualify to succeed. Ms T brought judicial review proceedings against that decision.’

Full story

Nearly Legal, 14th December 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/

Solicitor General speech on business and human rights – Attorney General’s Office

Posted December 15th, 2014 in codes of practice, human rights, speeches, standards by sally

‘On Human Rights day Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP delivered a speech on business and human rights at the Law Society Conference.’

Full speech

Attorney General’s Office, 10th December 2014

Source: www.gov.uk/ago

Human rights – have they gone too far? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted December 12th, 2014 in human rights, news, rule of law by sally

‘Type the words “have human rights …” into Google and it automatically suggests “… gone too far[?]”.

This isn’t a surprise: for many people human rights, as set out in the Human Rights Act 1998, are a byword for reckless absurdity. It is a villains’ charter which cares not a jot for law-abiding citizens.’

Full story

Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 12th December 2014

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Supreme Court finds third way between Strasbourg and House of Lords – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted December 12th, 2014 in human rights, imprisonment, news, rehabilitation, sentencing, Supreme Court by sally

‘Indeterminate sentences and the inadequate funding of rehabilitation during them has posed problems since Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences hamstrung the system. The courts here and in Strasbourg have been in two minds what to do about cases where prisoners have not received the assistance they ought to have received – and hence are not, by domestic standards, ready for release.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 11th December 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Restrictions on books in prisons declared unlawful by the High Court – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted December 11th, 2014 in human rights, news, prisons, rehabilitation by sally

‘Contrary to what some media reports would have us believe, Prison Service Instruction (“PSI”) 30/2013 did not impose an absolute ban on books in prisons. It did, however, impose severe restrictions on the possession or acquisition of books which a prisoner can treat as his or her own. The High Court has found that those restrictions could not be justified by the limited provision of prison library services and are therefore unlawful.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 11th December 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

A stunning decision on litigation costs: Coventry v Lawrence – Legal Week

Posted December 11th, 2014 in appeals, costs, human rights, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘In a stunning decision, the Supreme Court has given an indication that the pre-Jackson costs regime may breach the rights of paying parties under the European Convention of Human Rights. The issue has the potential to affect all agreements signed under the pre-April 2013 costs regime.’

Full story

Legal Week, 11th December 2014

Source: www.legalweek.com

Cracking intercepts: the war on terror and difficulties with Human Rights – UK Human Rights Blog

‘This is a fascinating case, not just on the facts or merits but because it is generated by two of the major catalysts of public law litigation: the government’s duty to look after the security of its citizens, and the rapid outpacing of surveillance law by communications technology. Anyone who has seen The Imitation Game, a film loosely based on the biography of Alan Turing, will appreciate the conflicting currents at the core of this case: the rights of an individual to know, and foresee, what the limits of his freedom are, and the necessity to conceal from the enemy how much we know about their methods. Except the Turing film takes place in official wartime, whereas now the state of being at “war” has taken on a wholly different character.’

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 11th December 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

R (on applications of Haney, Kaiyam, Massey and Robinson) v The Secretary of State for Justice – Supreme Court

Posted December 11th, 2014 in appeals, damages, human rights, law reports, rehabilitation, sentencing, Supreme Court by sally

R (on the application of Faisal Kaiyam) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for Justice (Respondent)
On appeal from the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) (England and Wales) [2014] UKSC 66
(YouTube)

Supreme Court, 10th December 2014

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Dominic Grieve QC MP – Why It Matters that Conservatives Should Support the European Convention on Human Rights – UCL Constitution Unit

Posted December 11th, 2014 in attorney general, constitutional reform, human rights, news, speeches, treaties by sally

‘A British withdrawal from the European Convention of Human Rights would be “devastating for Britain and human rights throughout Europe, says Dominic Grieve, sacked as Attorney General by David Cameron in July.’

Video

UCL Constitution Unit, 10th December 2014

Source: www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit

Judicial reviews: a decision that’s best left to judges – The Guardian

‘The justice secretary wants to restrict access to judicial reviews, but judging the lawfulness of executive action should not be a matter for the executive.’

Full story

The Guardian, 10th December 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Above and below the waterline: IPT finds that Prism and Tempora are lawful – Panopticon

‘The now famous revelations by US whistleblower Edward Snowden focused on US government programmes under which vast amounts of data about individuals’ internet usage and communications were said to have been gathered. The allegations extended beyond the US: the UK government and security agencies, for example, were also said to be involved in such activity.’

Full story

Panopticon, 5th December 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

UK mass surveillance laws do not breach human rights, tribunal rules – The Guardian

‘Britain’s legal regime governing mass surveillance of the internet by intelligence agencies does not violate human rights, a tribunal has ruled.’

Full story

The Guardian, 5th December 2014

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

European court rejects Geoff Hoon’s human rights complaint – BBC News

Posted December 5th, 2014 in human rights, lobbying, news, parliamentary privilege by sally

‘A parliamentary investigation into the conduct of the former Labour MP Geoff Hoon was justified, according to the European Court of Human Rights.’

Full story

BBC News, 4th December 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk