Vejdeland and Others v Sweden (Application no. 1813/07) – Read judgment “Will both teacher and pupils simply become the next victims of the tyranny of tolerance, heretics, whose dissent from state-imposed orthodoxy must be crushed at all costs?”, asked Cardinal O’Brien in his controversial Telegraph article on gay-marriage. He was suggesting that changing the law [...]
Archive for the ‘Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression’ Category
Strasbourg rules on anti-gay speech for the first time
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Case comments, Criminal, Margin of Appreciation, tagged human rights, queer in the 21st century on March 13, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Justice wide shut
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Damages, Freedom of Information, In the news, Judges and Juries, Secret justice, Terrorism, tagged Justice and Security Green Paper on March 1, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Yesterday I spoke at Justice Wide Open, an excellent conference organised by Judith Townend. I mounted my usual open justice hobby horses (to coin a topical phrase) on how to make the justice system more accessible to the public, including a moan about human rights reporting. Someone told me during the break that according to [...]
My witness statement to the Leveson Inquiry – Part 2/2
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, In the news, Media, Technology on March 1, 2012 | 3 Comments »
Last month I was asked to provide a witness statement to the Leveson Inquiry into Culture, Practice and Ethics of the Press. You can download the entire statement here, The questions in bold are those asked by the Inquiry in their request – read part 1 here. On similar topics, I also recommend the statements of Francis [...]
Analysis: Occupy London loses final eviction court challenge
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 11 | Freedom of Association, Case summaries, In the news, tagged Occupy London, protest camp on February 29, 2012 |
The Mayor Commonality and Citizens of London – v - Samede, Barda, Ashman, Randle-Jolliffe, Moore and Persons Unknown [2012] EWCA Civ 160 – Read judgment Members of the Occupy London Movement who have been occupying an area close to St Paul’s Cathedral have had their applications for permission to appeal the decision of the lower court to evict them refused [...]
My witness statement to the Leveson Inquiry – Part 1/2
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, In the news, Media on February 29, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Last month I was asked to provide a witness statement to the Leveson Inquiry into Culture, Practice and Ethics of the Press. Yesterday it was “read into evidence”, which means I can now publish it. You can download the entire statement here, and I have reproduced (what I think are) the interesting bits below and [...]
First they came for the journalists…
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, BLOG POSTS, CONVENTION RIGHTS, In the news, International, tagged Geneva Convention, international humanitarian law, journalism, Marie Colvin, Syria, war correspondents on February 23, 2012 | 3 Comments »
News of the deaths of Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik and the serious injuries of photographer Paul Conroy and Edith Bouvier, a freelance journalist reporting for Le Figaro, from a mortar shell that hit the building in Homs, Syria that they were using as makeshift media centre has saddened and shocked reporters and readers. So [...]
Michael Gove’s full letter on homophobic teaching materials in schools
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 14 | Anti-Discrimination, Discrimination, In the news, Poor reporting, Religion, tagged Equality Act, gay discrimination, michael gove, trade union congress on February 22, 2012 | 3 Comments »
The Trade Union Congress have sent me the full letter (download here) which Education Secretary Michael Gove sent to its leader Brendan Barber in relation to a complaint about seemingly homophobic booklets distributed to Roman Catholic schools in Lancashire. The letter which Mr Barber sent to Mr Gove is here. I complained in this post [...]
Is it legal to teach gay hate in schools?
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 14 | Anti-Discrimination, Art. 9 | Thought/Conscience/Religion, Children, Discrimination, Education, In the news, Religion, tagged Equality Act, michael gove, roman catholic schools on February 19, 2012 | 8 Comments »
Updated, 20 Feb 2012 | Following the news recently it would seem that the UK is convulsed by a raging battle between religious observers and, in the words of Baroness Warsi, militant secularists. On the same day, the High Court ruled that Christian prayers held before a council meeting were unlawful, and the Court of Appeal [...]
Former Top Judge hits back at current Top Judge
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, In the news, Judges and Juries, Lectures, tagged jonathan sumption, judicial oversight, stephen sedley on February 17, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Sir Stephen Sedley, until last year of the Court of Appeal, has launched a stinging rebuttal to the speech of Lord Sumption (Jonathan Sumption QC as was) in which the soon-to-be Supreme Court Justice rebuked the judiciary for failing to stay out of the political arena. This blog covered Lord Sumption’s speech here. Sir Stephen’s response [...]
Supreme Court rules BBC need not reveal internal Israel-Palestine coverage report
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Case summaries, Freedom of Information, Media, tagged Balen Report, Freedom of Information Act 2000, israeli palestinian conflict, Sugar v BBC on February 15, 2012 |
Sugar (Deceased) (Represented by Fiona Paveley) (Appellant) v British Broadcasting Corporation (Respondent) [2012] UKSC 4 – Read judgment / press summary The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that an internal BBC report into its coverage of the Israeli Palestinian conflict was “information held for the purposes of journalism, art or literature” and therefore need not be [...]
Sound of tumbleweed greets secret civil trials proposals
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 3 | Torture / Inhumane Treatment, Costs and Procedure, In the news, Inquests and Inquiries, Judges and Juries, Secret justice, Terrorism, tagged Justice and Security Green Paper, shoulder shrug on February 14, 2012 | 5 Comments »
65 responses to the Justice and Security Green Paper consultation, which proposes introducing “Closed Material Procedures” – secret trials – into civil courts, have been published on the official consultation website. According to the site there are potentially 25 more to come. Whilst it is a good thing that the responses have been published at [...]
Prayer in council meetings was unlawful, rules High Court
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 9 | Thought/Conscience/Religion, Case comments, Discrimination, In the news, Religion on February 10, 2012 | 6 Comments »
R on the application of the National Secular Society and Clive Bone v Bideford Town Council – read judgment The High Court today ruled that the Town Council of Bideford (in Devon) had overreached their powers under the Local Government Act 1972 by insisting on the practice of prayers as part of their formal meetings. The ruling will [...]
Times contempt challenge thrown out in Strasbourg
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, Case summaries, European, Media, tagged contempt of court, contempt of court act on February 8, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Michael Alexander SECKERSON and TIMES NEWSPAPERS LIMITED against the UK Applications nos. 32844/10 and 33510/10 – Read decision / press release The European Court of Human Rights has rejected as “inadmissible” Times Newspaper’s challenge to its 2009 conviction for contempt of court. The decision, which was made by seven judges, is a good example of [...]
UK Supreme Court is tweeting, but where are the other courts?
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Art. 6 | Right to Fair Trial, In the news, Judges and Juries, Technology, tagged open justice on February 7, 2012 | 4 Comments »
The UK Supreme Court began tweeting yesterday as @UKSupremeCourt to deserved international fanfare. Some even speculated that Wikileaks founder Julian Assange’s extradition fate could now be revealed on Twitter. The court is already being followed by almost 4,000 Twitter users (for the uninitiated, that is a lot) and has already beaten its own Twitter policy’s [...]
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Recommended- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012Supreme Court rules by 5-2 majority that Julian Assange must be extradited to Sweden. Definition of "judicial authority" is a wide one.
- Supreme Court judgment: Assange v Swedish Judicial Authority - Carl Gardner May 30, 2012
- Julian Assange's extradition stayed thanks to quick legal footwork | Joshua Rozenberg | Law | guardian.co.uk May 30, 2012
- New Judgment: Assange v The Swedish Judicial Authority [2012] UKSC 22 May 30, 2012
- What if Julian Assange loses in the Supreme Court? May 29, 2012
- Secret justice concessions won't silence its critics | The Spectator May 29, 2012
- ICLR's case summaries are now on Guardian Law | Daniel Hoadley | Law | guardian.co.uk May 29, 2012
- The High Court is unable to agree on Twitter Joke Trial appeal - David Allen Green May 28, 2012
- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012
- Case law
- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012Supreme Court rules by 5-2 majority that Julian Assange must be extradited to Sweden. Definition of "judicial authority" is a wide one.
- SCOPPOLA v. ITALY (No. 3) - 126/05 [2012] ECHR 868 (22 May 2012) May 23, 2012ECtHR Grand Chamber: automatic and indiscriminate disenfranchisement of prisoners unlawful but up to individual states how to implement changes were such a ban exist
- Dishonesty in entry clearance applications May 21, 2012An Upper Tribunal (UT) decision confirms that, where an application for entry clearance is “marred by dishonesty” – whether in the applicant’s knowledge or not and even where the applicant is presently eligible for entry – it is not a disproportionate response for the Home Secretary to refuse the application, even in light of Article 8
- MM and AO (A Child), R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 668 (18 May 2012) May 18, 2012Secretary of State acted lawfully in not ordering independent inquiry into 2009 protest at Immigration Detention Centre. Challenge by children separated from parents during protest and claiming pschiatric damage as result.
- British Sky Broadcasting Ltd & Ors, R (on the application of) v Chelmsford Crown Court [2012] EWHC 1295 (Admin) (17 May 2012) May 17, 2012Sky, BBC, ITN etc. succeed in JR of decision by court to order production of 100+ hours of video footage to Essex Police of Dale Farm protesters: "... there were no reasonable grounds for believing that the footage of over 100 hours included material likely to be of substantial value to the investigation"
- Humphreys v Revenue and Customs [2012] UKSC 18 (16 May 2012) May 16, 2012Supreme Court: paying child tax credit to "main" care giver not discriminatory under art.14 ECHR to father caring for child 3 days per week. The specific test for justifying discrimination in the context of state benefits is that with questions of social and economic strategy the Court will generally respect the legislature’s policy choice unless i […]
- Assange v The Swedish Prosecution Authority [2012] UKSC 22 (30 May 2012) May 30, 2012
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UKHRB on Twitter
- #Assange loses SC appeal 5 votes to 2. Like to be #ECtHR application to block #extradition 4 hours ago
- #Assange Supreme Court decision imminent bbc.co.uk/news/uk-182594… #extradition 5 hours ago
- Also fresh on the blog- The Erika: Cour de Cassation has its thinking cap on by David Hart QC ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/05/29/the… 5 hours ago
- Good morning all, @IsabelMcArdle here. Justive and Security Bill- the govt is not for turning by Angela Patrick ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/05/29/jus… 5 hours ago
Adam Wagner on Twitter
- RT @simonmckay: Catt v Metropolitan Police. Important case on #protest and #dataretention. Would be surprised if it was not appealed:htt ... 53 minutes ago
- For anyone who hasn't read it > Justice & Security Bill: Government is not for turning - Angela Patrick of @justicehq: wp.me/pJiO3-3Gc 1 hour ago
- RT @CrowtherSimon: Excellent piece by @justicehq's Angela Patrick on Just& Sec Bill on @ukhumanrightsb ukhumanrightsblog.com/2012/05/29/jus… #secretj ... 1 hour ago
- RT @I_am_peevee: @AdamWagner1 @gideonconn "and excellent artist"... 1 hour ago
- My friend and brilliant musician @GideonConn has a brand new video: youtube.com/watch?v=tX-ZrZ… 1 hour ago
- Excellent from @joshuarozenerg on the potentially embarrassing mess surrounding the #Assange ruling is.gd/4Qs0h3 1 hour ago
- Recent posts
- The Erika: Cour de Cassation has its thinking cap on May 29, 2012 David Hart QC
- Justice and Security Bill: The Government is not for turning – Angela Patrick May 29, 2012 1 Crown Office Row
- We need to think about Kevin May 29, 2012 Rosalind English
- Key Justice and Security Bill resources May 29, 2012 Adam Wagner
- Free Speech at Work: A 1COR Seminar and Mock Trial – Wed 27th June May 29, 2012 1 Crown Office Row
- Time and time again: Article 6 to the rescue May 27, 2012 David Hart QC
- Prisoner voting, Bratza’s replacement and peaceful protest – The Human Rights Roundup May 27, 2012 Wessen Jazrawi
- The case for letting prisoners vote – Reuven Ziegler May 24, 2012 1 Crown Office Row
Disclaimer
The right to receive information; journalists and inquiries
Posted in Art. 10 | Freedom of Expression, Case comments, Freedom of Information, In the news on March 21, 2012 | 2 Comments »
Kennedy v. Charity Commission et al, Court of Appeal, 20 March 2012, read judgment Tangled web, this one, but an important one. Many will remember George Galloway’s Mariam Appeal launched in response to sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1998, and the famous picture of GG with Saddam Hussein. Well, the Appeal was then inquired into [...]
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