The Government in a bind?

18 December 2018 by Martin Downs

Martin Downs is a barrister at One Crown Office Row.

Once again, the holding of a referendum is being discussed as the potential solution to a Party and Parliamentary impasse. 

Theresa May’s dilemma is that she has reached an agreement with the European Union about the terms of the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union but it is reported that even the Cabinet do not believe it will command a majority of the House of Commons. 

A number of politicians and commentators have argued that a potential way through this thicket is to call a further referendum. 

This leaves open the question – what type of referendum should there be?

Given the proximity of “exit day” on 29^th March 2019, any referendum is likely to involve the European Union having to extend Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. This would have to be agreed by the EU unanimously. It is understood that Member States are anxious to avoid an over-lengthy extension as that would raise questions about the elections to the European Parliamentwhich are to be held on 23 – 26^thMay 2019.
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Latest Law Pod UK: the 5 Most Significant Inquest Cases Of 2018

17 December 2018 by Emma-Louise Fenelon

2018 provided much food for thought for those practising in inquest law, with significant judgments on the burden on proof in suicide, on scope in relation to the Birmingham pub bombings, on causation in relation to medical negligence, on the relevance of non-causative findings to the record of inquest and on costs.   In the most recent episode of Law Pod UK I am joined by Jeremy Hyam QC, who provides a whistlestop tour of this year’s the most significant cases. 

Citations for cases mentioned on the podcast and links to related blog articles written by members of chambers are contained below, as is a brief analysis of R (Paul Worthington) v HM Senior Coroner for the County of Cumbria [2018] EWHC 3386 (Admin), a decision which was unfortunately handed down too late for consideration in the podcast episode. The episode is a available here.

On behalf of Rosalind English and myself, I would like to thank our producer Simon Jarvis at Whistledown Studios, everyone who contributed to the podcast so far this year and our audience for helping us reach over 100,000 listens.  In 2019 we have an exciting line up of  new episodes, including James Badenoch QC on Bolam, Guy Mansfield QC on limitation and the Mau Mau litigation, John Whitting QC on Montgomery and a special guest speaking about the soon-to-be-released Ruth Bader Ginsburg documentary ‘RBG’. We hope you keep listening. In the meantime, a very Merry Christmas.
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Are English marriage laws compliant with the EHCR? — David Burrows

17 December 2018 by Guest Contributor

David Burrows is a solicitor advocate, trainer and writer.

Human rights and English marriage

On 10 December 2018 responses were due to the government’s divorce reform proposals, Reducing family conflict Reform of the legal requirements for divorce (September 2018). A reply to responses is due from the Government, says the Ministry of Justice, by 8 March 2019.

My response to the proposals – as I saw things then – is on my blog here. Thoughts of divorce reform throw up two important human rights issues: one a direct Article 6 question; and the other – which it is surely time for law reformers and the government to confront? – is a discrimination point (Art 14).

But first a little history. The then Labour government, on Leo Abse MP’s private member’s bill, passed with (more or less) approval of the Church of England, the Divorce Reform Act 1969 (in force from 1 January 1971). It was consolidated into Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) which represents the modern law and the modern statutory underpinning for financial distribution on divorce or nullity. Mirror provisions apply for same gender couples: Civil Partnership Act 2004. Wholly different finance rules apply for unmarried cohabitants.

Matrimonial causes

The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA) section 1 is very simple. There is one ground for divorce: irretrievable breakdown of marriage (s 1(1)). To prove that ground a petitioner (P) must prove one or more of five facts: adultery; behaviour making it unreasonable for P to live with the other spouse/partner (R); desertion for two years; living apart for two (with consent); or five years.

Reformers – including from their inception, the group of family law solicitors, now Resolution – have objected to the blame inherent in the first two facts, and the tendency which this may produce to leave a nastier taste, than need be, in the mouth of divorcees.

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Round Up: Brexit and Barrymore both make appearances in a busy week…

17 December 2018 by Thomas Hayes

This week the eyes of the United Kingdom, and quite possibly the whole of Europe, were trained on Luxembourg for an eagerly awaited judgement from the Court of Justice of the European Communities. However, before we embark on a lengthy and forensic analysis of the German/Slovakian case of AlzChem v Commission (State aid – Chemical industry – Judgment) [2018] EUECJ T-284/15 (13 December 2018), we should pay some attention to the week’s legal Brexit developments…

The CJEU this week delivered judgement in the case of Wightman and Others – (Notification by a Member State of its intention to withdraw from the European Union – Judgment) [2018] EUECJ C-621/18 (10 December 2018). The case had been referred to the Luxembourg court by the Inner House of the Court of Session and addressed the feasibility of unilateral revocation of Article 50 TEU. The UK government sought to have the application ruled inadmissible on the grounds that the question posed was hypothetical, no such revocation of Article 50 having been attempted or even contemplated. The European Council and Commission meanwhile contended that although revocation was possible, the right was not unilateral. They appeared to fear abuse of Article 50 by member states who could unilaterally seek to terminate their membership of the European Union, revoke that termination and then repeat the exercise as necessary to circumvent the two-year time limit imposed by Article 50 on withdrawal negotiations.
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Expanding the moral circle to nonhuman animals – Joe Wills

12 December 2018 by Guest Contributor

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the UN. The UDHR represented a watershed moment in moral progress. Previously, individuals were widely regarded as mere ‘objects’ of states under international law with no rights of their own. 

The atrocities that took place in Europe during the Second World War were a major catalyst for moving away from this state-centred view of international relations. As Johannes Morsink notes in his meticulous historyof the drafting of the UDHR, the Holocaust was the single most important event that shaped its writing.

The UDHR recognises that ‘all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights’ regardless of their race, sex, national origin or other status. But did it go far enough? After all, the vast majority of the earth’s inhabitants are nonhuman. Just as individual humans are particularly vulnerable to the excesses of state and other forms of concentrated power, so too are animals particularly vulnerable to abuse at the hands of humans. 

The tyrannical exercise of human power over the other animals is ubiquitous, whether it’s subjecting them to painful biomedical experiments, destroying their natural habitats, forcing them to perform in circuses and aquariums, or industrially rearing and exterminating them for food. Are we systematically violating the rights of animals when we treat them like this? Ought we take steps to rectify this with a Universal Declaration of Animal Rights?

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Judgment leaves claimants ‘hacked off’

11 December 2018 by kayres1cl

Katie Ayres is a barrister at 1 Chancery Lane.

R (on the Application of Jefferies and Others) v (1) Secretary of State for the Home Department (2) Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport [2018] EWCH 3239 (Admin)

By Judgment handed down on 29 November 2018 Lord Justice Davis and Mr Justice Ouseley dismissed the Claimants claims for Judicial Review of the Government’s decision to not embark on ‘Part 2’ of the Leveson Inquiry.

The decision provides clarification of the ‘legitimate expectation’ ground for Judicial Review and gives a warning to not overlook the fundamental principles of public law.

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New podcast: starvation as a war weapon

10 December 2018 by Rosalind English

In the latest episode of Law Pod UK Rosalind English talks to Catriona Murdoch of 1 Crown Office Row about  Global Rights Compliance, an organisation offering a unique approach to atrocity crimes and other violations of international law.  The Hague-based GRC works in partnership with The World Peace Foundation (‘WPF’) to combine expertise on conflict and food insecurity. Together they are identifying how international law may be used to advance the prevention, prohibition and accountability for mass starvation.

Law Pod UK is available for free and without ads on Audioboom, iTunes, PodBean,The Podcast App or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Round Up: Should veganism be protected by the Equality Act?

10 December 2018 by Conor Monighan

Conor Monighan brings us the latest updates in human rights law

Credit: The Guardian

In the News:

This week saw a novel legal challenge which may have significant consequences for the Equality Act 2010. The case arose following the dismissal of Jordi Casamitjana by the League Against Cruel Sports on the grounds of gross misconduct. This was because he released information showing that the pension fund of employees was being invested in firms engaging in animal testing. However, Mr Casamitjana claims he was discriminated against by his former employer because he is vegan.

Mr Casamitjana alleges that he first raised his concerns about the pension investments internally. He says the charity responded by offering staff an alternative ‘ethical’ investment strategy with lower rates of return. Mr Casamitjana subsequently wrote to colleagues saying that their money was still being invested in non-ethical funds, and that there were other alternative investments available with good financial outcomes.

Mr Casamitjana argues that his sacking was due to the charity discriminating against his belief in ‘ethical veganism’. The League strongly deny the allegations and have stated Mr Casamitjana was dismissed purely because of gross misconduct.

The dispute means that an employment tribunal will have to decide whether veganism is a ‘belief’ which should be protected by the Equality Act 2010. It is thought to be the first time this issue has been raised. The ruling could have significant consequences for the provision of goods and services, as well as on employment rights more generally. However, others have warned that recognising too many views as protected characteristics would be excessively restrictive.
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New Episode from Law Pod UK: Psychiatric Harm Claims Arising Out Of Childbirth

3 December 2018 by Rosalind English

In Episode No 56, Suzanne Lambert and Emma-Louise Fenelon discuss the recent judgment of Whipple J in YAH v Medway NHS Foundation Trust [2018] EWHC 2964 (QB)

In her analysis of the decision Suzanne refers to:  the control mechanisms established by the House of Lords in Alcock v Chief Constable of South Yorkshire [1992] 1 AC 310, the House of Lords decision in Page v Smith [1996] 1 AC 155  and the decision of the Court of Appeal in A Liverpool Women’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust v Ronayne [2015] EWCA Civ 588. 
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The Round Up: Criminal Sentencing, Assisted Suicide and a warning to Facebook

3 December 2018 by Eleanor Leydon

In the Courts:

Conway, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice [2018] UKSC B1: The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from a sufferer of motor neurone disease, in the latest of a line of challenges to the UK’s ban on assisting suicide. The applicant was contesting the Divisional Court’s refusal to declare the statutory ban on assisting suicide to be incompatible with his article 8 rights.

The question for the court was whether his case raised “an arguable point of law of general public importance” which ought to be heard by the Supreme Court at this time. Whilst the points of law were undoubtedly arguable, and the public importance obvious, the court concluded “not without some reluctance” that the applicant’s prospects of success did not justify granting permission to appeal. Rosalind English has more detail here.

Stott, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice [2018] UKSC 59: The appellant was a prisoner who had been classed as ‘dangerous’ and accordingly given an Extended Determinate Sentence (EDS), under which he would become eligible for parole only after serving two-thirds of the appropriate custodial term. This was in various ways narrower than the ordinary parole eligibility of other categories of prisoner. The appellant claimed unlawful discrimination under Article 14 ECHR, combined with Article 5 (the right to liberty).

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Supreme Court will not hear assisted suicide appeal

30 November 2018 by Rosalind English

Conway, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for Justice [2018] – read judgment

A man suffering from motor neurone disease has been refused permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in his bid to be allowed to choose when and how to die. He is now wheelchair bound and finds it increasingly difficult to breathe without the assistance of non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV). His legal campaign to win such a declaration, on his own behalf and others in a similar position, has met with defeat in the courts (see our previous posts on Conway here,  here and here). As the Supreme Court noted in their short decision, Mr Conway

could bring about his own death in another way, by refusing consent to the continuation of his NIV. That is his absolute right at common law. Currently, he is not dependent on continuous NIV, so could survive for around at least one hour without it. But once he becomes dependent on continuous NIV, the evidence is that withdrawal would usually lead to his death within a few minutes, although it can take a few hours or in rare cases days.

But Mr Conway doesn’t  see this as a solution to his difficulties, since he cannot predict how he will feel should ventilation be withdrawn, and whether he will experience the drowning sensation of not being able to breathe. Taking lethal medicine, he argued,  would avoid all these problems.

In his view, which is shared by many, it is his life and he should have the right to choose to end it in the way which he considers most consistent with his human dignity.

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Law Pod UK on the Brexit Political Declaration

29 November 2018 by Rosalind English

As part of our continuing collaboration with Professor Catherine Barnard of Cambridge University, we now have her latest episode on the Political Declaration on the withdrawal deal: Episode 55 of Law Pod UK. Towards the end of her 15 minute interview with Boni Sones Catherine talks about the Wightman reference to the CJEU from the Scottish Court of Session asking whether Article 50 can be revoked, and if it can be revoked, can it be done unilaterally by the UK or only bilaterally with the EU’s agreement.  Exceptionally, the entire banc of the EU justices have just heard this case which indicates just how important this issue is; judgment awaited.
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The third inquest into the death of Pearse Jordan: when “don’t know” is the only available answer

28 November 2018 by Michael Spencer

In the latest in the protracted investigation into the death of Pearse Jordan, the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal has upheld the verdict of a Coroner who found himself unable to decide all the relevant facts – Re Theresa Jordan [2018] NICA 34.  The case raises issues around the appropriate burden and standard of proof in inquests, particularly after a significant passage of time.

The Inquests 

On 25 November 1992, Patrick Pearse Jordan was shot and killed at Falls Road, Belfast, by an officer of the Royal Ulster Constabulary, referred to in proceedings as “Sergeant A.”  Mr Jordan was unarmed and was shot in the back.  Three inquests have subsequently been held into his death.
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The limits of doctors’ liability for wrongful birth

27 November 2018 by Hannah Noyce

Khan v MNX [2017] EWHC 2990 (QB) – read judgment.

The Court of Appeal has held that a mother who consults a doctor in order to avoid the birth of a child with one disability may not recover damages for the costs associated with a different disability.

The Facts

The respondent, M, was concerned that she may be a carrier of haemophilia and consulted her GP, who arranged blood tests. Those tests, however, could only detect whether she herself had haemophilia, and not whether she was a carrier. She then saw the appellant, another GP, who told her that the results of the tests were normal. This led her to believe, incorrectly, that any child she had would not have haemophilia. The appellant admitted that she had been negligent.

M went on to have a son, FGN, who has haemophilia. Had she known that she was a carrier before she became pregnant, she would have undergone foetal testing, which would have revealed the condition, and she would have had a termination. Therefore, but for the negligence, FGN would never have been born.

FGN has also developed autism, which is unrelated to his haemophilia.

The claim sought the costs attributable to the haemophilia and to the autism.

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What is ‘substantial injustice’ for the purposes of a criminal case review?

27 November 2018 by Sapan Maini-Thompson

Sapan Maini-Thompson is an LLM Candidate at University College London.

On 14th November 2018 the Divisional Court gave judgment in a claim against the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) in Regina (Anthony Davies) v The Criminal Cases Review Commission . This case was brought on behalf of a prisoner who contended that his conviction had become unsafe following the decision of the Supreme Court in R v Jogee [2016] UKSC 8 which recast the mens rea requirements in joint enterprise cases. The court dismissed the claim in a judgment which involved analysis of how the principles in Jogee are applied, and the circumstances in which the CCRC should re-open an old conviction. Jim Duffy of 1 Crown Office Row was the Junior Counsel for the Claimant and instructed by David McCorkle of Duncan Lewis Solicitors.
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