Weekly Round-Up: Immigration, Assisted Dying, Ukraine, Gabon, and Two Tweet Appeals

19 May 2025 by Jennifer Zhou

In UK News:

The Prime Minister vowed to stop Britain from becoming an “island of strangers” as the government released its immigration White Paper. Key measures include: increasing the threshold for skilled worker visas; only allowing a narrow list of occupations onto the Temporary Shortage List; ending the social care visa route; restricting the ability to bring dependants to Britain; and increasing English language requirements for visa holders and dependants.

The Assisted Dying Bill has returned to Parliament; if approved, it would allow terminally ill adults with less than 6 months to live to commit medically assisted suicide. In the committee stage, over 500 amendments to the Bill were considered and about a third approved. The changes include removing the need for High Court approval and increasing the commencement period from 2 years to 4. A second debate is scheduled for 13 June. If you want to hear more about the AD bill, particularly its “six month” clause and what that will mean in practice, tune in to Law Pod UK Episode 218 and Episode 219.

In International News:

Ukraine and Russia met for the first time since March 2022 for peace talks in Istanbul. The talks lasted less than two hours and did not result in a ceasefire agreement; however, both sides pledged the return of a thousand prisoners of war.

Ali Bongo, the former president of Gabon, was freed from detention along with his family. Bongo was deposed in a 2023 coup after 14 years of rule; he was placed in house arrest, while his wife and son — who faced corruption charges — were imprisoned. François Zimeray, the family’s lawyer, said that his clients were ‘subjected to torture’ while detained.

In the Courts:

The High Court upheld a decision to strike off a solicitor for antisemitic tweets. Farrukh Husain was struck off for a series of tweets about Israel Palestine, including comparisons of Israel to Nazi Germany. In Farrukh Najeeb Husain v Solicitors Regulation Authority he advanced four grounds of appeal, that: the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal failed to account for his disability; the tweets were protected political speech and the Tribunal did not apply the correct test; the Tribunal relied on a flawed definition of antisemitism; and the sanction of striking off was manifestly excessive. Mr Justice Chamberlain upheld the strike-off, rejecting all four grounds and describing Mr Husain’s “unvarnished antisemitic racism”.

The Court of Appeal considered a jail sentence for tweets related to the Southport riots. Lucy Connolly, the wife of a conservative councillor, called for mass deportation and setting fire to migrant hotels; she received a sentence of 2 years 7 months for inciting racial hatred. The Court of Appeal is yet to release its judgment.