27 October 2025 by Catherine Berus
In the news
A private member’s bill to enshrine the rights of nature was introduced in the House of Lords on October 23, 2025. The bill is supported by former Green Party Leader Baroness Natalie Bennett, and drafting was led by the organization Nature’s Rights. The objective of the nature’s bill of rights is to change the legal status of nature to that of a recognized legal entity with inherent, enforceable rights. The bill would create a duty of care for the government to protect nature. The proposal includes a governance structure, monitoring, and the creation of a nature’s rights tribunal for enforcement and dispute resolution.
According to Nature’s Rights, the purpose of the bill is to establish a legal framework for a more regenerative and sustainable society while aligning with realities of climate change science. If the bill passes, the UK will join a number of other states which recognize some degree of rights for nature in their constitutions, laws or regulations, including Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, New Zealand, Uganda, Canada and the US.
In the courts
The Supreme Court heard arguments last week in relation to the 2014 decision known as Cheshire West. The 2014 ruling established the ‘acid test’ for determining whether an individual has been deprived of their liberty. According to the test, if a person (1) is subject to continuous supervision and control and (2) is not free to leave, then they are deprived of their liberty. The ruling had implications for persons with disabilities where it had been concluded that where a person with a disability cannot consent to their care arrangements that involve confinement, they are being deprived of their liberty. Where a person cannot consent to their care, an independent individual is required to determine that the confinement is justified, lawful and in the person’s best interests. The ruling has resulted in a significant increase in deprivation of liberty safeguards (“DoLS”) applications: for 2023-24, 332K applications were made (an increase of 300K over 10 years), with a backlog of 124K.
The Attorney-General of Northern Ireland (“AGNI”) is asking the seven-judge panel to reconsider Cheshire West in order to change the current DoLS established in response to the Cheshire judgement. The AGNI is seeking for consent for care arrangements to be obtained through an expression of a person’s feelings and wishes where they lack capacity to consent.
The Department of Health and Social Care (“DHSC”), an intervener, argued Cheshire West was “wrongly decided” and created an unsustainable system. DHSC argued that the focus of safeguards should be on identifying a person’s wishes and feelings and avoid intruding upon individuals’ lives. Three charities, Mencap, Mind and the National Autistic Society, intervened in the case. They jointly expressed a serious concerns about the arguments put before the Supreme Court and argued that the current test applies to “highly restrictive settings” and is there to ensure individuals have advocates in the care process; changes would jeopardize the safety, freedom and rights of disabled persons.
The judgment date is yet to be announced.
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25 August 2025 by Catherine Berus
In UK News
ECHR
Dr. Victoria McCloud, the UK’s first openly transgender judge, has filed an application with the European Court of Human Rights. The application is challenging the UK Supreme Court’s decision in For Women Scotland Ltd v the Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16. Dr. McCloud is seeking a re-hearing of the case, arguing that the initial trial infringed her Article 6 right to a fair trial under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Dr. McCloud sought leave to join the case before the courts in For Women Scotland in light of the impact the ruling could have on transgender individuals with gender recognition certificates (GRCs), but her application was rejected by the Supreme Court. Moreover, no evidence or representations from the estimated 8,500 individuals who hold GRCs was entered in the original hearing.
Dr. McCloud will be represented by a trans-led legal team in partnership with London’s Trans Legal Clinic.
Facial Recognition Technology and the London Metropolitan Police
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has been granted leave to intervene in a judicial review examining whether the use of live facial recognition technology (LFRT) by police complies with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The ECHR argued that the case of R (Thompson and Carlo) v the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis raises important questions of public interest and that the current policy related to the technology is incompatible with Articles 8 (right to privacy), 10 (freedom of expression) and 11 (freedom of assembly and association) of the Convention.
LFRT captures and analyses the faces of individuals walking in front of real-time close- circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Biometric data that is unique to those individuals is then compared to a ‘watchlist’ of persons the police are seeking. The EHRC is concerned with the expansion and development of LFRT in light of the lack of domestic legislation that regulates its use. The Commission will make submissions that the technology is intrusive and will highlight the development of international policy on LFRT and artificial intelligence (AI) regulation.
Parole Futures
A new anthology on the future of parole systems, Parole Futures: Rationalities, Institutions and Practices has been published by the Onati International Series in Law and Society, edited by Harry Annison, Nicola Carr and Thomas Guiney. The book includes insights from 27 world-leading experts on the pressing issues about parole systems around the world, including: Asia; Australia, North and South America, and Europe. The objectives of the anthology is to encourage a ‘systematic and critical reflection’ on parole systems, and to introduce ambitious ‘what if’ thinking ‘about the futures of parole and prison release’.
International News
A United Nations (UN) panel of 11 experts—including six Special Rapporteurs—released a statement expressing concerns over escalating intimidation and censorship of Iran International journalists globally. According to the UN statement, 45 Iran International journalists and staff and 315 of their family members have received credible threats to life or safety. Individuals are located across seven countries: the UK, USA, Canada, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, and Türkiye. The increase in threats to journalists over the last year coincided with the Iran-Israel conflict of June 2025, with Iranian officials alleging that journalists were acting as spies for Israel.
UK-based journalists have required police protection or re-location within the UK or abroad. Women have also faced additional threats of sexual violence; while family members have been interrogated, surveyed, and threatened with death or arrest.
The UN argues this is a campaign to ‘silence and censor critical reporting and courageous public interest journalism’, and that such intimidation violates the freedom of expression, media and ‘deprives the public of their right to information’.
The UN is urging Iran to immediately cease the threatening and intimidation of journalists and their families, and to investigate and prosecute perpetrators.
In the Courts
The High Court has granted the Epping Forest District Council an interim injunction which will prevent Somani Hotels Limited from continuing to accommodate asylum seeks at the Bell Hotel in Epping Forest District Council v Somani Hotels Limited ([2025] EWHC 2183 (KB)). The Council argued that the use of the Bell Hotel constituted a material change of use from its classification as a hotel, requiring planning permission, which the Somani Hotels Limited had not obtained.
The High Court acknowledged that the Home Secretary has a statutory duty to provide accommodation, and that this need is growing. However, the ‘balance of convenience’ and the strength of the Council’s case ultimately outweighed the considerations raised by Somani and an interim injunction was granted. Somani Hotels Limited has until September 12, 2025, to comply with the order. There are concerns that other councils may now seek interim injunctions for hotels utilized in their areas. As of March 2025, there were approximately 30K asylum seekers living in hotels.
Catherine Berus | LinkedIn
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4 August 2025 by Catherine Berus
In the News
Two prominent human rights organisations in Israel, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), released reports contending Israel is committing genocide in Gaza by targeting Palestinians because of their identity.
The organisations have been monitoring events in the region for years, preceding the current conflict; however, the reports specifically focus on human rights and international law violations over the last two years. The 88-page report from B’Tselem outlines crimes of killing (elderly, women, children), starvation, the prison system, forced displacement and the depravation of healthcare and education. PHR’s report outlines the assault on the Palestinian health care system over the last two years, as well as the impact that the lack of medical care, the destruction of health infrastructure and killing of medical personnel is having.
These reports were released at the same time that Doctors Without Borders, or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), are reporting critically low food supplies in Gaza as concerns of a famine mount.
In the Courts
This week, the High Court determined that Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, may proceed with an unprecedented legal challenge to the Home Secretary’s decision to ban the direct-action group under proscription laws. This is the first time a group or organisation has been permitted to challenge a proscription order at a trial. The three-day hearing will take place in November.
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