Category: news

‘How should the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) respond when a person with anorexia, which has had a “severe and debilitating impact on her physical and mental health” for a long time, applies for legal aid to assist her with making an application to the Home Office for permission for her medical team to treat her with psilocybin (the main psychoactive component in various mushrooms commonly referred to as magic mushrooms)?’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 28th February 2026

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

‘This post responds to important issues raised by Dane Luo and Gabriel Tan with regard to one of the grounds upheld by the Divisional Court in the judicial review of Palestine Action’s proscription (R (Ammori) v Home Secretary [2026] EWHC 292 (Admin)). The ground was upheld on the basis that the Home Secretary’s proscription decision considered the operational advantages of Palestine Action’s proscription inconsistently with the government’s own proscription policy. The policy refers to factors for the Home Secretary to consider in deciding whether to proscribe an organisation concerned in terrorism and is referred to in this policy paper. A central premise on which the Court’s reasoning hangs is that the policy’s purpose is to impose a limitation on the government’s discretion to proscribe organisations meeting the statutory threshold for being concerned in terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 2nd March 2026

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

‘This was a final decision in a rent repayment order application brought by (some of) the tenants of 122 Widdenham Road against the landlord, Mr Semelo-Shaw, for a failure to licence an HMO that required a licence. In an earlier decision, the Tribunal had held that the offence of failure to licence was amde out, and that if an RRO was to be made, it would be a 40% of rent paid by the applicant tenants.’

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Nearly Legal, 1st March 2026

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

‘Our grateful thanks to Nicholas Nicol of One Pump Court for the following note of a complex ASB possession claim, with counterclaims for breach of the Equality Act 2010 and for disrepair.’

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Nearly Legal, 1st March 2026

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

‘The Supreme Court has held that the offence of expressing an opinion or belief in support of a proscribed organisation in s.12(1A) of the Terrorism Act 2000 does not disproportionately interfere with the Article 10 ECHR right to freedom of expression. However, in light of the importance to be attached to Article 10, the Court has created two “back door” pathways where some degree of proportionality might be exercised by judges in cases relating to s.12(1A). First, the Court has invited judges trying the s.12(1A) offence to be “robust” in exercising their powers to discontinue proceedings if a reasonable jury cannot be sure that all elements of the offence are met. Second, the Court has confirmed that sentences attaching to the s.12(1A) offence must themselves be proportionate, so as to not interfere with Article 10. We argue that although the Court rejected the need for a Ziegler-style separate proportionality assessment in this case, there remains ample room for the role of proportionality when it comes to section 12(1A) of the Terrorism Act 2000. The case is R v ABJ; R v BDN [2026] UKSC 8.’

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Administrative Court Blog, 28th February 2026

Source: administrativecourtblog.wordpress.com

‘AI to help better list cases and reduce the backlog has been described as “game changing” by courts minister Sarah Sackman as the lady chief justice reminded colleagues that listings decisions “will remain a judicial function”.’

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Law Society Gazette, 27th February 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘When justice secretary David Lammy announced his intention to curb jury trials, he faced an immediate backlash. Solicitors and barristers were alarmed that cases which would normally go before a jury of 12 ordinary citizens would be decided by a judge; and by the removal of an automatic right to appeal from the magistrates’ court to the Crown court, given that 40% of such appeals succeed. MPs demanded to see the modelling to justify the proposed curbs.’

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Law Society Gazette, 2nd March 2026

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

‘A barrister and mediator working in financial remedies asks whether the civil mediation model could be used more widely in financial remedies cases, and brought into the mainstream of ADR in this area of law, helping cases to settle sooner, or resolving them even before court proceedings are issued.’

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Fianancial Remedies Journal, 26th February 2026

Source: financialremediesjournal.com

‘A residents’ group has lost its high court challenge against a Home Office decision to use an army training camp to house asylum seekers.’

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The Guardian, 27th February 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘The court of appeal has rejected the latest challenge to the addition of VAT to private school fees, telling parents they have the option to home school their children if they object to sending them to state schools.’

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The Guardian, 27th February 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has lost a High Court bid to challenge the acquittal of a man who burned a Quran outside the Turkish consulate in London.’

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BBC News, 27th February 2026

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘In Ngole v Touchstone Leeds (RELIGION OR BELIEF DISCRIMINATION) [2026] EAT 29, the question before the Employment Appeal Tribunal was whether the Employment Tribunal had erred in law in its analysis of complaints by Mr Ngole of direct discrimination in employment because of his religious belief in a conservative view of sexuality [1].’

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Law & Religion UK, 26th February 2026

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

‘A machete-wielding man has been jailed after a person he chased was fatally hit by a car.’

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BBC News, 26th February 2026

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘In a judgment handed down on 6 February 2026, the Court of Appeal (CoA) dismissed appeals by both the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) to overturn the decision to suspend, rather than erase, a consultant surgeon from the medical register.’

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Kingsley Napley Regulatory Blog, 26th February 2026

Source: www.kingsleynapley.co.uk

‘Both the General Medical Council (“GMC”) and the Professional Standards Authority (“PSA”) appealed decisions of a Medical Practitioners Tribunal (“MPT”) and the High Court not to erase Mr Gilbert, a consultant surgeon, from the register following findings of serious misconduct.’

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1 QMLR, 26th February 2026

Source: 1corqmlr.com

‘Metropolitan police officers are to start scanning citizens’ faces using automated facial recognition technology to check their identities, in a move backed by the mayor of London but described as “alarming” by opponents.’

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The Guardian, 26th February 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘In paediatric brain injury litigation, the cases that appear straightforward at first glance are often the ones that demand the greatest caution.’

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Parklane Plowden Chambers, 24th February 2026

Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk

‘The decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (“EAT”) in Pal v Accenture (UK) Ltd [2026] EAT 12 provides a significant restatement of the correct approach to Polkey reductions, particularly in the context of progression-based performance models and overlapping disability claims. The judgment is a reminder that Polkey is a predictive, evidence-based exercise focused on what the employer would have done, not what the tribunal considers fair in hindsight.’

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No. 5 Barristers Chambers, 2nd February 2026

Source: www.no5.com

‘The Sentencing Guidelines for Organisations: Breach of duty of employer towards employees and non-employees / Breach of duty of self-employed to others / Breach of Health and Safety Regulations[1] were made effective from 1 February 2016. The guidelines follow the familiar pattern of assessing culpability and harm before looking at the financial information. This article looks at how the sentencing guidelines should be applied differently for public bodies.’

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Pump Court Chambers, 6th February 2026

Source: www.pumpcourtchambers.com

‘The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has published new guidance for its lawyers to help tackle “honour”-based abuse, with spiritual and immigration abuse included for the first time.’

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The Guardian, 26th February 2026

Source: www.theguardian.com