BSkyB and another, R(on the application of) v Chelmsford Crown Court [2012] EWHC 1295 (Admin) – read judgment The police failed to satisfy the court that their need for footage taken by TV organisations was likely to be of substantial value to criminal investigations and therefore would be a justified interference with the rights of [...]
Archive for the ‘Case comments’ Category
Police denied TV footage of Dale Farm evictions
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Case comments, Case summaries, In the news, Politics / Public Order, tagged Dale Farm evictions, Freedom of Expression, Police, police investigations on May 24, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
European Court of Human Rights retreats but doesn’t surrender on prisoner votes
Posted in Case comments, European, Politics / Public Order, Prisons, Protocol 1 Art. 3 | Free elections, tagged human rights on May 22, 2012 | 8 Comments »
CASE OF SCOPPOLA v. ITALY (No. 3)(Application no. 126/05) – Read judgment / press release / press release on UK implications The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that states must allow for at least some prisoners to vote, but that states have a wide discretion as to deciding which prisoners. [...]
Pssst… no secret hearings in naturalisation cases
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case comments, Case law, Case summaries, Costs and Procedure, In the news, Politics / Public Order, Secret justice, tagged closed material procedure, court procedure, secret justice, special advocates on May 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
AHK and Others v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWHC 1117 (Admin) – Read judgment Secrecy and secret justice are rarely out of the public eye. The Queen’s speech included plans to allow secret hearings in civil claims, at a time when their use is highly controversial. The government argues they [...]
Anemometers and wind farms once more: PINS now win the day
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Case comments, Case law, Environment, European, Freedom of Information, In the news on May 22, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
DCLG v. Information Commissioner & WR [2012] UKUT I have previously posted on the decision leading to this successful appeal by the Planning Inspectorate, against an order that they produce their legal advice concerning a planning appeal. The decision of the First-Tier Tribunal in favour of disclosure was reversed by a strong Upper Tribunal, chaired [...]
Peace campaigner evicted from Parliament Square using new law – Marina Wheeler
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 11 | Freedom of Association, Case comments, Housing, Politics / Public Order, tagged Maria Gallastegui, Parliament square, Protest, protest rights on May 17, 2012 | 2 Comments »
R (on the application of Maria Gallastegui) v Westminster City Council [2012] EWHC 1123 (Admin) - Read judgment On 27 April 2012, Maria Gallastegui, a peace campaigner and resident of the East pavement of Parliament Square since 2006, lost her legal battle to continue her 24 hour, tented vigil in protest against the folly of [...]
Libel on the internet: Christian author takes on Dawkins and Amazon
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Case comments, Case summaries, Costs and Procedure, Damages, Defamation / Libel, In the news, tagged abuse of process, blogs, comment thread, costs, human rights, internet, Libel on May 16, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Mcgrath v Dawkins, Amazon and others [2012] EWHC B3 (QB) -read judgment In an interesting ruling on a strike-out action against a libel claim, a High Court judge has delineated the scope for defamation in blog posts and discussion threads where the audience is small and the libel limited. Background The claimant, C, is the author [...]
Censure of councillor for “sarcastic, lampooning and disrespectful” blog breached his free speech rights
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, BLOG POSTS, Case comments, Case law, Case summaries, tagged blogging, blogs, human rights, Lewis Malcolm Calver, local government, Wales on May 7, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Calver, R (on the application of) v The Adjudication Panel for Wales [2012] EWHC 1172 (Admin) - Read judgment The decision to censure a Welsh councillor for comments on his blog was a disproportionate interference with his right to freedom of expression, the High Court has ruled. This right requires a broad interpretation of what counts [...]
Suing the corporate soul; parent company down for asbestosis
Posted in Case comments, Damages, Employment, Environment, In the news on May 4, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Chandler v. Cape Plc, Court of Appeal, 25 April 2012, read judgment. This may sound like a rather dreary topic, but the problem is vitally important for the proper reach of environmental and personal injury law. Some may have seen from my post on the Erika disaster the difficult issues which can arise when a [...]
When does an expert report constitute “independent evidence” of torture?
Posted in Art. 5 | Right to Liberty, Case comments, Immigration/Extradition, Medical, tagged asylum claim, evidence of torture, human rights, Torture on May 2, 2012 | 1 Comment »
R (on the application of AM) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 521 - Read judgment Whether expert evidence relied upon by an asylum seeker amounted to “independent evidence” of torture was the key issue before the Court of Appeal in this case . The issue arose in the context of AM’s [...]
Time, time, time, look what’s become of me
Posted in Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case comments, European, Immigration/Extradition, In the news, Terrorism, tagged abu qatada on May 2, 2012 | 7 Comments »
In law, time can be everything. Every lawyer will have experienced waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat at the realisation that a time limit has been missed. Courts often have the discretion to extend litigation time limits, such as under rule 3.1 of the Civil Procedure Rules, but simple [...]





The case for letting prisoners vote – Reuven Ziegler
Posted in Case comments, European, In the news, Politics / Public Order, Prisons, Protocol 1 Art. 3 | Free elections, tagged Hirst No. 2, human rights, prisoner votes, Scoppola on May 24, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Last Tuesday saw the latest episode in the prisoner voting legal saga with the European Court of Human Rights’ Grand Chamber’s judgment reversing the Chamber judgment which found Italy’s automatic ban on voting for prisoners serving over 3 years in prison (and a lifetime ban with the possibility of future relief for those sentenced to more than [...]
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