Tchenguiz & Ors v Imerman [2010] EWCA Civ 908 (29 July 2010) – Read judgment The Court of Appeal has ruled that secretly obtained documents can no longer copied and then used in divorce proceedings, overturning a rule dating back almost twenty years. The case will have a significant impact for divorcing couples, but has [...]
Archive for July, 2010
Stolen documents divorce ruling a blow to human rights of poorer partners? [updated]
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case summaries, Family, In the news, tagged divorce, human rights on July 29, 2010 |
UKIP can keep donation despite breach of party funding rules
Posted in Politics / Public Order, Protocol 1 Art. 1 | Peaceful enjoyment of property, Protocol 1 Art. 3 | Free elections, tagged party funding, UKIP on July 29, 2010 |
The Supreme Court has narrowly held that the UK Independence Party (UKIP) can keep nearly all of a £349,216 donation despite the donor not being a permissible donor at the time of receipt, contrary to party funding rules under the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. The Supreme Court upheld an order originally made [...]
Control orders quashed, compensation claims may follow
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case summaries, In the news, Police, Politics / Public Order, Terrorism, tagged Control orders, human rights on July 29, 2010 |
AN v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 869 (28 July 2010) – Read judgment The Court of Appeal has held that control orders of three men suspected of terrorism revoked by the Government should in fact be quashed altogether. The decision opens the door for the men to claim compensation, [...]
Minimum standards of dignity must be upheld for asylum seekers
Posted in Art. 11 | Freedom of Association, Art. 14 | Anti-Discrimination, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case comments, Immigration/Extradition, Margin of Appreciation, Protocol 2 Art. 1 | Right to education, tagged asylum, human rights on July 29, 2010 |
R (on the application of ZO (Somalia) and others) (Respondents) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant) [2010] UKSC 36 – Read judgment The Supreme Court has ruled that the UK must provide minimum standards to asylum seekers, including the right to work, whether or not their first asylum application has failed. Asylum [...]
Strong reaction to universal jurisdiction rule change
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, In the news, Judges and Juries, Politics / Public Order, tagged human rights, universal jurisdiction on July 29, 2010 |
The proposed change to the rules for bringing on who can apply for international war crimes arrest warrants has predictably generated some strong reactions The changes will make it necessary to get the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be granted. The Ministry of Justice say they are changing [...]
Watchdog calls for rule changes after barred voters fiasco
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, In the news, Politics / Public Order, Protocol 1 Art. 3 | Free elections, tagged General Election on July 27, 2010 |
The Electoral Commission has released its full report into the events surrounding the May 2010 election during which thousands of voters were barred from polling stations due to administrative problems. The Commission, whose report can be downloaded here, has used the fiasco as a chance to emphasise and bring forward its reform program. The watchdog reports that [...]
Fast track asylum removal system ruled unlawful
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case summaries, Immigration/Extradition, tagged fast-track removal, human rights on July 26, 2010 |
Medical Justice, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWHC 1925 (Admin) (26 July 2010) - Read judgment The High Court has ruled that a fast-track scheme for the removal of failed asylum seekers with little or no notice is unlawful as it does not provide sufficient access [...]
Lord Chief Justice bolsters right to trial by jury
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case summaries, Criminal, Judges and Juries, tagged human rights, jury trial on July 26, 2010 |
KS v R [2010] EWCA Crim 1756 (23 July 2010) – Read judgment J, S, M v R [2010] EWCA Crim 1755 – Read judgment The Lord Chief Justice has emphasised in two Court of Appeal judgments that the jury-less trials must be a last resort and take place only in truly extreme cases. His [...]
Human rights news and case-law roundup (23 July 2010)
Posted in Blog news on July 23, 2010 |
We recently started adding links to interesting new articles and case-law the sidebar under the heading “Selected news sources”. Below is a quick rundown of the most recent links. The full list of links can be found here. 23 July | Government delays Bribery Act – again: Siobhain Butterworth writes in the Guardian “This week the [...]
Human rights universal jurisdiction arrest law to change [updated]
Posted in Art. 3 | Torture / Inhumane Treatment, Art. 5 | Right to Liberty, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Immigration/Extradition, In the news, Politics / Public Order, tagged universal jurisdiction on July 23, 2010 |
The Ministry of Justice is proposing to change the rules on who can apply for international arrest warrants for suspected war crimes. The changes will make it necessary to get the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions before an arrest warrant can be granted. The present system means that the threshold for an arrest [...]
Courts entitled to ignore European Court decision on DNA and fingerprint retention
Posted in Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case summaries, Judges and Juries, Medical, Police, tagged biometric data, DNA retention on July 23, 2010 |
Updated, 1/9/10 | R (C) v Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis [2010] WLR (D) 193 – Read judgment When faced with conflicting authorities from the European Court of Human Rights and the House of Lords (now the Supreme Court) on the indefinite retention of DNA profiles and fingerprints by the police, the Divisional [...]
Deprivation of liberty best interests test compatible with human rights law [updated]
Posted in Art. 5 | Right to Liberty, Case summaries, Medical, Mental Health, tagged human rights, mental capacity on July 23, 2010 |
G v E and others [2010] EWCA Civ 822 – Read judgment This post was written with the kind help of Jaime Lindsey The Court of Appeal has held that a person who lacks mental capacity can be detained if the Court of Protection considers that it is in their best interests, without having to [...]
Opening of secret evidence rules not limited to terrorism cases
Posted in Art. 5 | Right to Liberty, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case comments, Case summaries, Children, Freedom of Information, In the news, Police, Public/Private, tagged human rights, secret evidence on July 22, 2010 |
A (A Child) v The Chief Constable of Dorset Police [2010] EWHC 1748 (Admin) (16 July 2010) – Read judgment The High Court has ruled that the gist of sensitive evidence in a case involving a child being picked up for being spotted with an “inappropriate adult” must be disclosed in order that the child [...]
Press freedom defeat continues to sting
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Case summaries, Defamation / Libel, In the news, tagged Flood v Times on July 22, 2010 |
The fall-out from last week’s Court of Appeal judgment in Flood v Times Newspapers Ltd continues as the Times’ long-standing in-house lawyer parts company with the newspaper, and commentators remain unsure as to whether the case marks a significant blow for press freedom. We posted last week on the Flood case, in which a police [...]





Expenses scandal four lose parliamentary privilege appeal
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case comments, Criminal, Politics / Public Order, tagged Bill of Rights, parliamentary expenses scandal on July 30, 2010 |
Morley & Ors v. R [2010] EWCA Crim 1910 – Read judgment Four former Members of Parliament have failed in their appeal of a Crown Court ruling preventing them from claiming parliamentary privilege in criminal proceedings arising from the parliamentary expenses scandal. The appeal was of Mr Justice Saunders’ ruling in the Southwark Crown Court [...]
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