Trouble at the EHRC, Modern Slavery, and Gay Rights in Romania: The Weekly Round-Up

29 May 2023 by Orry Moore

In the news

The head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Kishwer Faulkner, is facing an independent investigation into alleged misconduct. It is reported that around 40 complaints have been made by 12 members of staff against Faulkner, alleging harassment, bullying, and discrimination. It is also alleged that Faulkner described Emma Laslet, a trans contestant on ‘Brain of Britain’, as ‘a bloke in lipstick’  – leading to claims of discriminatory language. Her supporters claim that the investigation is a witch-hunt and coup d’etat, motivated by employees critical of Faulkner’s approach to trans rights after she proposed changes to the definition of sex in the Equality Act 2010. These changes would clarify that ‘sex’ means ‘biological sex’ – a move that would clarify the position of trans people in sport, and ensure that only ‘biological women’ can use single-sex spaces. Faulkner also wrote to the Scottish government early in 2022 urging them to pause their proposed reforms to gender recognition (which were ignored). The investigation has since been paused while the Commission seeks legal advice on the impact of leaked confidential information as a result of the original report on this investigation by Channel 4 News.

The Council of Europe has warned the UK that the Illegal Migration Bill risks placing the UK in breach of at least five different international conventions, including the ECHR. The report specifically warns of the potential effects of the Bill on stateless persons, children, and victims of modern slavery – which the UK has positive obligations to protect under Article 4 ECHR. It also highlights the risk of the UK’s current trajectory, which will lead to legal uncertainty, breach of the rule of law, and damage to the UK’s reputation as a model country when it comes to the implementation of human rights. The UK has also been accused of equating migration status with criminality, which may lead to “dehumanising some of the most vulnerable people in society” according to rapporteur Kamal Jafarov. Fears are also growing of the UK’s increased appetite for non-compliance with international law as a result of the government’s own acknowledgement that the Bill may be incompatible with the ECHR. The draft resolution, which is due to be debated by the full Parliamentary Assembly of the CoE, can be found here.

In other CoE news, an expert committee has found that there is “troublingly persistent” discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Travellers (GRT) in the UK. The report, which echoes sentiments expressed in Smith v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities [2022] EWCA Civ 1391, found that GRT suffer bullying in the education system, prejudiced reporting in the media, and threats to their legal status and rights. This comes as a result of legal changes, such as the those to the Planning Policy for Traveller Sites, which were held to be indirectly discriminatory in Smith. They also cite a systemic lack of sites for GRT in the UK, and criminalisation of trespass with a vehicle by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. The government is yet to respond to the report at the time of writing.

In other news

• The human rights organisation Walk Free has found that there are at least 122,000 people living as modern slaves across the UK, down from 136,000 in 2018, but warned that the increasingly hostile environment regarding migration is denying victims the help and assistance they need. It also estimated that the UK imports £21 billion worth of products at risk of being made using forced labour, with high-risk industries including garments, electronics, fish, textiles and timber. However, the report also found that the UK had the strongest government response to modern slavery, both in the region and globally.

• The NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR) has lambasted the “medieval” hanging of a 23-year-old man in public in Iran on 25^th May for the crime of “corruption on earth”. Rights groups say that the hanging is part of a recent wave of executions aimed at intimidating the public after protests recently rocked the fundamentalist nation following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody. 295 people have been executed in Iran this year alone. IHR has called for a robust international response and criticised the election of an Iranian representative as Chair of the UN Human Rights Council’s Social Forum.

• The Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest LGBTQ rights group, has issued a travel advisory for the state of Florida following the passage of several hostile new laws. The advisory warns that the new laws and policies “pose a significant risk to the health and safety of many considering relocation and/or temporary travel to the state”. Furthermore, the NAACP, the American civil rights movement founded in the 1960s, has also advised against travelling to Florida, claiming that the state has become hostile to Black Americans. Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, has described the advisories as “nothing more than a stunt” and cited record tourism levels in the state earlier this year.

In the courts

• In a major judgment delivered on Tuesday (Buhuceanu and Others v Romania), the European Court of Human Rights condemned the government in Bucharest for its failure to guarantee the rights of same-sex couples by providing for civil partnerships. President Klaus Lohannis in response called the topic “a complicated issue for Romania”, which the Parliament has to deal with.

• A High Court judge has directed that government work towards identifying a chair for a new investigation into the Omagh bombing must be provided in writing in one week. Government progress on the probe, which they are obliged to undertake under Article 2 ECHR, has been criticised for alleged delays and failures which have unnecessarily protracted the proceedings. The case was brought by the bereaved father of one of the victims of the 1998 attack.

• Judges blocking Rwanda flights may no longer be anonymous under an ECHR review prompted by Rishi Sunak after the so-called ‘pyjama injunctions’ blocked the maiden flight to Rwanda in the early hours of the morning in June last year. The move would make the names of the judges who make the orders public, contrary to longstanding practice.