Supreme Court gives new guidance on liability of local authorities – UK Human Rights Blog

‘Poole Borough Council v GN and another [2019] UKSC 25. The Supreme Court has found that Poole Borough Council did not owe a duty of care to two children, CN and GN, who it failed to re-house, despite the fact that they were suffering abuse from their neighbours. However, the court overruled previous authority and found that in some situations a duty of care might arise.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 7th June 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

LGBT relationships and the school curriculum: a human rights analysis – UK Human Rights Blog

‘What is the scope of a school’s duty to accommodate the religion of a parent whose children attend its schools? From September 2020, it will become mandatory for “relationship education” which includes lessons about LGBT relationships to be taught in English primary schools under the Children and Social Work Act 2017. According to a petition by Muslim parents in Birmingham, however, such teaching contradicts the Islamic faith, thereby violating their freedom of religion.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 4th June 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Panel urges regulation of algorithms used in criminal justice system – Legal Futures

‘A year-long study of the use of computer algorithms in the criminal justice system has recommended creating a national register to bring openness, expose built-in biases, and ensure public trust.’

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Legal Futures, 5th June 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Proselytising nurse’s dismissal upheld by the Court of Appeal – UK Human Rights Blog

‘Kuteh v Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust [2019] EWCA Civ 818. The Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that a nurse’s dismissal for improper proselytising was not unfair and that the hospital trust’s decision was not in contravention of the claimant’s rights as guaranteed by Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 30th May 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Facial recognition tech: watchdog calls for code to regulate police use – The Guardian

‘The information commissioner has expressed concern over the lack of a formal legal framework for the use of facial recognition cameras by the police. A barrister for the commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, told a court the current guidelines around automated facial recognition (AFR) technology were “ad hoc” and a clear code was needed.’

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The Guardian, 23rd May 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

High Court considers Article 2 inquests in medical cases – UK Human Rights Blog

‘R (Maguire) v HM’s Senior Coroner for Blackpool and Fylde [2019] EWHC 1232 (Admin). A three-judge panel of the Divisional Court has re-affirmed that, in general, medical inquests do not engage the State’s positive obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 21st May 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

UN highlights role of legal aid cuts in “immiseration” of millions – Legal Futures

‘The decimation of legal aid has contributed to “the systematic immiseration of millions across Great Britain”, the UN’s expert on poverty and human rights said yesterday.’

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Legal Futures, 23rd May 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Secret ‘Torture Loophole’ Raises Serious Questions For Government, MP David Davis And Barrister Say – Rights Info

‘The government must be asked “serious questions” on how a secret policy allowing ministers to approve actions that could lead to torture was signed off, a leading QC and Tory MP have said.’

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Rights Info, 20th May 2019

Source: rightsinfo.org

UK’s First Human Rights Ambassador Could Become A ‘Laughing Stock’, Barrister Warns – Rights Info

Posted May 22nd, 2019 in barristers, diplomats, human rights, news, standards by sally

‘The UK’s first ever international human rights ambassador will become a “laughing stock” if the government does not practice what it preaches, a former chairwoman of the Bar human rights committee has warned.’

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Rights Info, 20th May 2019

Source: rightsinfo.org

Police facial recognition surveillance court case starts – BBC News

‘The first major legal challenge to police use of automated facial recognition surveillance begins in Cardiff later.’

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BBC News, 21st May 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

High Court considers Article 2 inquests in medical cases – UK Human Rights Blog

‘A three-judge panel of the Divisional Court has re-affirmed that, in general, medical inquests do not engage the State’s positive obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 21st May 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

UK government security decisions can be challenged in court, judges rule – The Guardian

‘Government security decisions will in future be open to challenge in the courts after judges ruled that a secretive intelligence tribunal could not be exempt from legal action.’

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The Guardian, 15th May 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Wartime Opt Out Of Human Rights Convention Will Hurt Soldiers And Civilians, Campaigners Say – Rights Info

Posted May 16th, 2019 in armed forces, criminal justice, human rights, Iraq, news, Northern Ireland, war by sally

‘Campaign groups are warning that the new defence secretary’s pledge to opt out of the Human Rights Convention in future conflicts will hurt soldiers and civilians.’

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Rights Info, 15th May 2019

Source: rightsinfo.org

Anisminic 2.0 – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The Supreme Court has ruled in R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal [2019] UKSC 22 that the Investigatory Powers Tribunal’s decisions are nevertheless amenable to judicial review, despite the existence of a powerfully-drawn ‘ouster clause’ preventing its decisions from being questioned by a court.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 15th May 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Lone parents lose benefits cap challenge at supreme court – The Guardian

‘The UK’s highest court has rejected a legal challenge to the benefit cap made by campaigners who argued that it discriminated against single parents with young children.’

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The Guardian, 15th May 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

The socio-economic duty: A powerful idea hidden in plain sight in the Equality Act – Oxford Human Rights Hub

‘Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 asks public authorities to actively consider the way in which their policies and their most strategic decisions can increase or decrease inequalities. I am talking about the socio-economic duty. However, successive governments since 2010 have failed to commence it, to bring it to life in technical terms, which means that public authorities are not technically bound by Section 1.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 15th May 2019

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

Article 9 ECHR & promotion of religious views by employees: Kuteh – Law & Religion UK

‘ In Kuteh v Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust [2019] EWCA Civ 818, the Claimant was a nursing sister employed by the Trust. She was a “committed Christian”; and in March and April 2016, staff in her department told her superiors that patients had been complaining that when they were being assessed by Mrs Kuteh she had been raising matters of religion and faith with them. One patient complained that she had been asked “what she thought Easter was about”, another that he had been asked what he thought being a Christian meant and a third, about to undergo major surgery for bowel cancer, that she had told him that if he prayed to God he would have a better chance of survival. In the end, she was dismissed: she lost her claim in the Employment Tribunal and, in an unreported judgment, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that the grounds for an appeal to it were unarguable and dismissed her appeal from the ET’s decision[1]. [For the detailed background, see Mrs S Kuteh v Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust (England and Wales: Unfair Dismissal) [2017] UKET 2302764/2016.]’

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Law & Religion UK, 14th May 2019

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Facial recognition tech ‘should be dropped over race issues’ – BBC News

‘Black and minority ethnic people in the UK could be falsely identified and questioned as police have not tested facial recognition systems on enough non-white faces, say campaigners.’

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BBC News, 13th May 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Sight impaired voters and the secret of the ballot box – UK Human Rights Blog

‘How can someone who suffers from severely limited sight avail herself of the process for making a mark on a paper ballot under the Representation of the People Act 1983?’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 12th May 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Assisted suicide: Paul Lamb renews bid for right to die – BBC News

‘A man who lives with chronic and excruciating pain has begun a fresh legal challenge to the law that criminalises assisted suicide.’

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BBC News, 7th May 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk