Targeting of Supt Robyn Williams ‘example of Met institutional racism’ – The Guardian

‘The pursuit of a senior officer under paedophile laws when she is not a sex offender is discriminatory and an example of institutional racism still poisoning the police force, the Black Police Association has claimed.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 26th November 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Boxer’s banker fails in negligence claim against lawyers – Legal Futures

‘A solicitor, his law firm and the barrister they instructed have been granted summary judgment on a negligence claim brought against them by a banker fired for his work with boxer David Haye.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 18th November 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Police may have used ‘dangerous’ facial recognition unlawfully in UK, watchdog says – The Independent

‘Facial recognition technology may have been used unlawfully by police, a watchdog has warned while calling for urgent government regulation.’

Full Story

The Independent, 1st November 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

AI system for granting UK visas is biased, rights groups claim – The Guardian

‘Immigrant rights campaigners have begun a ground-breaking legal case to establish how a Home Office algorithm that filters UK visa applications actually works.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 29th October 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Hate crimes double in five years in England and Wales – The Guardian

‘The number of hate crimes reported to police has more than doubled since 2013, according to government figures, which also showed a large increase last year in offences against people based on sexual orientation.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 15th October 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Firm advertises for black solicitor apprentices – Legal Futures

Posted September 23rd, 2019 in diversity, equality, law firms, news, race discrimination, solicitors, statistics by sally

‘Well-known law firm Leigh Day has hit back at criticism from “trolls” after it advertised solicitor apprenticeships for six black students of Afro-Caribbean or African heritage.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 20th September 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Facial Recognition Technology: High Court gives judgment – UK Human Rights Blog

‘R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police and Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 2341 (Admin). The High Court has dismissed an application for judicial review regarding the use of Automated Facial Recognition Technology (AFR) and its implications for privacy rights and data protection.’

Full Story

UK Human Rights Blog, 12th September 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Paratroopers win Colchester barracks racial harassment claim – BBC News

Posted September 17th, 2019 in armed forces, employment tribunals, equality, harassment, news, race discrimination, racism by tracey

‘Two former British army soldiers have won a racial discrimination claim against the Ministry of Defence (MoD).’

Full Story

BBC News, 16th September 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Peter Herbert becomes first judge to sue MoJ over race discrimination – The Guardian

‘A prominent judge has told an employment tribunal that race discrimination is a “significant problem” in the judiciary that it is causing “deep distress” to black and minority ethnic lawyers. Peter Herbert, the chair of the Society of Black Lawyers who sits as a crown court recorder and an immigration judge, is suing the Ministry of Justice for race discrimination after he was disciplined for a speech he gave in 2015.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 12th September 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Public sector to launch ‘mass legal battle’ over pension reforms – The Guardian

‘Mass legal claims on behalf of teachers and doctors alleging that changes to their pensions in 2015 were discriminatory are being launched against the government.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 27th August 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Complaints by female and BAME military staff a ‘serious concern’ – BBC News

‘A “disproportionate” number of female and ethnic minority personnel in the armed forces file internal complaints, MPs have said.’

Full Story

BBC News, 7th August 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Illegal workers retain employee rights, court confirms – OUT-LAW.com

‘Organisations can be held liable for breaching employment contracts even if their employees have been working in the country illegally, according to the Court of Appeal in London.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 2nd August 2019

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Neo-Nazi Daniel Ward who called for race war jailed – BBC News

A “fanatical” neo-Nazi who called for a race war has been jailed for three years for belonging to the banned far-right group National Action.

Full Story

BBC News, 19th July 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

‘White middle-aged men’ leading armed forces blamed for bullying culture in new report – The Independent

‘Servicemen and women are facing “unacceptable” levels of inappropriate behaviour in part due to the “pack mentality of white middle-aged men” commanding the armed forces, a report says. A “significant number” of military personnel have experienced “bullying, discrimination and harassment, including sexual”, according to the research commissioned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).’

Full Story

The Independent, 16th July 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Armed forces: Sexual offence claims ‘not properly recorded’ – BBC News

‘At least 60 sexual offence allegations investigated by military service police in two years were not reported in official figures, the BBC has found. Figures for 2017 and 2018 did not include alleged offences such as sexual communications with children and stalking involving fear of violence.’

Full Story

BBC news, 16th July 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Stop and search is discriminatory, so why is it on the rise? – The Guardian

‘The first stop and search Jamal ever experienced was when he was 11 years old. Now, at 24, he has been stopped numerous times. Most recently, a stop became aggressive and he was hit in the face with handcuffs, but was charged and convicted with assaulting an officer. There is little evidence stop and search works in combating violent crime, but critics say it disproportionately targets young black men.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 12th July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Costs award overturned after judge read ‘without prejudice’ letters – Litigation Futures

‘A judge was wrong to make a costs order after viewing ‘without prejudice’ material relating to settlement discussions that was not marked “save as to costs”, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled.’

Full Story

Litigation Futures, 9th July 2019

Source: www.litigationfutures.com

Robots Over Rationality? The Use of Algorithms to Assess Visa Applications – Drystone Chambers

‘Traffic light coding has been used to determine green ‘low risk’ applications with ‘positive attributes and evidence of compliance’, amber ‘medium risk’ ‘with limited evidence or equally balanced evidence of negative and positive attributes so potential for refusal’ and red ‘high risk applications, appearing to have a greater likelihood of refusal because of the individual’s circumstances’. The coding is based on responses to a set of yes or no questions.’

Full Story

Drystone Chambers, 24th June 2019

Source: drystone.com

Police face calls to end use of facial recognition software – The Guardian

‘Police are facing calls to halt the use of facial recognition software to search for suspected criminals in public after independent analysis found matches were only correct in a fifth of cases and the system was likely to break human rights laws.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 3rd July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Former paratroopers sue army over ‘years of racism from soldiers’ – The Guardian

Posted July 3rd, 2019 in armed forces, employment tribunals, news, race discrimination, racism by sally

‘A black former paratrooper has said he and a colleague had to endure years of racism in his army unit, with fellow soldiers decorating the barracks they shared with Nazi flags and pictures of Adolf Hitler.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 2nd July 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com