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Archive for August, 2010

Do foreign policy and human rights mix?

Posted in CONVENTION RIGHTS, In the news, International, Politics / Public Order, tagged , on August 31, 2010 | 1 Comment »

The Foreign Secretary William Hague has sought in today’s Daily Telegraph to re-emphasise the “centrality of human rights in the core values” of UK foreign policy. On the face of it, this is a laudable aim. But does it really mean anything? And may it in fact amount to an unrealisable promise? The editorial evokes [...]

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Environmental judicial review is “prohibitively expensive”, uncertain and insufficient

Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case law, Costs and Procedure, Environment, European, In the news, tagged on August 31, 2010 | 1 Comment »

A Geneva-based international committee has just said (provisionally) that domestic judicial review law is in breach of international law in environmental cases. Why? And does it matter? In this post we will try and explain why, and suggest that it does matter. On 25 August 2010, the UN-ECE Aarhus Compliance Committee issued draft rulings in [...]

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Increasing prison numbers could save money, says report

Posted in Art. 5 | Right to Liberty, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, In the news, Politics / Public Order, Prisons, tagged , on August 31, 2010 |

A new report from the think-tank Civitas argues that increasing community sentences and cutting prison numbers will lead to more crime and add to costs too. This is contrary to the the view of the Justice Secretary Ken Clarke, who has argued recently that there is no link between the rising level of imprisonment and [...]

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Widow of 7/7 bomber refused legal aid for inquest

Posted in Art. 2 | Right to life, Case summaries, Inquests and Inquiries, tagged on August 27, 2010 |

Patel, R (on the application of) v Lord Chancellor [2010] EWHC 2220 (Admin) (27 August 2010) – Read judgment The wife of the purported ringleader of the ’7/7′ London bombings has failed in her judicial review of the Lord Chancellor’s decision to refuse her funding for legal representation at the inquest into the bombings. Ms [...]

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Human Rights news roundup

Posted in In the news on August 27, 2010 | 1 Comment »

We recently started adding links to interesting new articles and case-law on the right the sidebar under the heading “Selected news sources”. These articles now appear on our Twitter feed (@ukhumanrightsb) and Facebook fan page too. Below is a quick rundown of some of the most recent stories. The full list of links can be [...]

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High Court judge says legal aid tender was a “dreadful decision”

Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Children, Family, In the news, Judges and Juries, Spending cuts, tagged on August 26, 2010 |

Updated 27 Aug  (17:15)  | A High Court judge has branded the Legal Service Commission’s recent and highly controversial tender for legal aid work as a “dreadful” and potentially irrational decision. The comments of Mr Justice Collins came in a permission hearing (i.e., only the first stage of a two-part process) on the application by [...]

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Germany HIV popstar conviction: what would happen in the UK?

Posted in Art. 2 | Right to life, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case summaries, Criminal, In the news, Medical, tagged , , , on August 26, 2010 | 2 Comments »

Updated, 1 Sep | The high-profile criminal trial of a German popstar who caused her former partner to be infected with HIV has resulted in a 2-year suspended sentence. In other words, she has been convicted but escaped jail. What would happen in similar circumstances in the UK? The facts of Nadja Benaissa’s case were [...]

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Goodbye to the public sector equality duty?

Posted in Art. 14 | Anti-Discrimination, Employment, In the news, Politics / Public Order, Public/Private, tagged on August 26, 2010 | 2 Comments »

The government is moving away from the wide-ranging public sector equality duty which was due to come into force in April 2011. The Equalities Office has announced a consultation on the public sector equality duty imposed by the Equality Act 2010. Reading the consultation document, it is clear that the government intends to delegate the [...]

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The invention of human rights

Posted in CONVENTION RIGHTS, Features, In the news, International, Judges and Juries, tagged on August 25, 2010 | 1 Comment »

In a fascinating new essay, Samuel Moyn, a history professor at Columbia University, examines the history of human rights. He concentrates on the concept of international human rights from a U.S. perspective, but many of his observations are highly relevant to those with an interest in UK human rights. As is often the case, examining [...]

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Contraception, capacity and coercion: when does a woman lack capacity to decide whether to use contraceptive treatment?

Posted in Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case comments, Medical, Mental Health, tagged , on August 25, 2010 | 1 Comment »

A Local Authority v Mrs A, by her Litigation Friend, the Official Solicitor, and Mr A [2010] EWHC 1549 (Fam) – Read judgment In the first case of its kind, the court was asked to consider whether a young married woman lacks capacity to decide whether to use contraception, and whether it would be in [...]

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New ways of sharing on the UK Human Rights Blog

Posted in Blog news on August 25, 2010 |

You will notice that posts now have options underneath them which may it easier to email, print and share (on Facebook and Twitter) UK Human Rights Blog posts. Why not give it a try? Enjoy! Please feel free to use the comment option on this post to let us know if there are any other [...]

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Value to the community can be taken into account in immigration cases

Posted in Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Case law, Case summaries, Family, Immigration/Extradition, LEGAL TOPICS on August 24, 2010 |

UE (Nigeria) and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 975 The Court of Appeal has held that in deciding whether the removal of a person from the UK is compatible with their human rights, their value to the community can and in many cases should be taken into account. [...]

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The ripple effect from Guantanamo Bay to the English courts

Posted in Art. 3 | Torture / Inhumane Treatment, Art. 5 | Right to Liberty, BLOG POSTS, Immigration/Extradition, International, Terrorism, tagged , , on August 23, 2010 |

Review: The Ripple Effect: Guantanamo Bay in the United Kingdom Courts” by CRG Murray, International Law Review Online Companion, April 2010 – Read article A new academic article by C.R.G Murray at Newcastle University analyses the interesting and important line of case-law arising from claims by men detained in Guantanamo Bay. The case-law has involved [...]

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Catholic Care gay adoption rejection boosts equality protection

Posted in Art. 14 | Anti-Discrimination, Art. 8 | Right to Privacy/Family, Art. 9 | Thought/Conscience/Religion, Case comments, Children, Religion, tagged , on August 19, 2010 |

The Charity Commission has rejected a bid by a Catholic organisation to amend its charitable objects in order to restrict its adoption services to heterosexuals. The case highlights the significant protections which have been put in place by recent equality law, and the policing role which the Charity Commission is required to play from a [...]

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Terror law reviewers seeking consultation [updated]

Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 5 | Right to Liberty, In the news, Terrorism, tagged on August 19, 2010 | 3 Comments »

The new government is currently undertaking a review of anti-terrorism legislation, and Liberty, the human rights organisation, have been asked to contribute. Update: The full Liberty response, ‘From War to Law’ can be downloaded here. The response is predictable, which is unsurprising given how much time and effort the organisation has put into speaking out [...]

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