By: Jennifer Zhou
13 October 2025 by Jennifer Zhou
In UK News:
The number of hate crimes committed in England and Wales has risen since the previous year, according to statistics released by the Home Office. In the year ending March 2025, 115,990 hate crimes were recorded by the police: this marks a 2% increase overall, a 6% increase in race hate crimes, and a 3% increase in religious hate crimes. A 19% increase in religious hate crimes targeting Muslims coincided with the time of the Southport murders and the subsequent race riots across the country.
Kemi Badenoch has confirmed at the Conservative Party Conference that her party would withdraw the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights and repeal the Human Rights Act if they form the next Government. This follows a legal review by the Shadow Attorney General, Lord Wolfson, into the impact of remaining in the ECHR. The Wolfson Report concluded that ‘it is hard to overstate the impact the ECHR has had on government decisions’, placing ‘substantial’ limitations on government policies to do with immigration, veterans’ rights, benefits, and reforms to sentencing and protest laws. Read Rosalind English’s summary of the Report here: The UK can, and should leave the Human Rights Convention (7 October 2025).
In International News:
A ceasefire has been agreed for the war in Gaza. The deal, brokered by the US, provides for a cessation in the conflict between Israel and Hamas which has been ongoing since 2023. The full text of the deal — entitled ‘Implementation steps for President Trump’s proposal for a comprehensive end of Gaza War’ — has not been publicised, though parts have been published by Israeli media. Trump’s 20-point plan, announced last week, provided for Gaza to be a ‘deradicalised terror-free zone’ which will be ‘redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza’; all hostages will be released, and full aid will be sent to the Gaza Strip.
In the Courts:
An asylum seeker unsuccessfully challenged the housing and financial support given to him by Enfield Council. In R (on the application of BLV) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 2516 (Admin), the Claimant was a disabled man suffering from deafness, impaired eyesight, and major depressive and anxiety disorders. The Defendant was obliged, under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, to provide ‘adequate’ accommodation and other ‘essentially living needs’ to the Claimant; under the Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act 1998, it was also bound to adjust its general approach to providing support under the IAA 1999 to account for the Claimant’s specific disabilities. The Defendant contended that Enfield’s support was inadequate for two reasons:
- His accommodation was inadequate, because it was too far away from his support network and did not have a suitable disabled lift;
- His internet access was inadequate, because it was not sufficient for him to access mental health and other support services via video-call (his deafness made it impossible to rely on voice call alone).
The court applied the ‘twin-track’ test, namely: 1) whether the Secretary of State met an objective ‘minimum standard’ for ‘ensur[ing] full respect for human dignity and a dignified standard of living, maintain[ing] an adequate standard of health and meet[ing] the subsistence needs of the asylum seeker’; 2) even if the minimum standard has been met, whether the Secretary of State complied with public law standards including rationality. The court found that (stage 1) the Claimant’s accommodation did meet the minimum standard. Furthermore, (stage 2) the Defendant’s treatment of the Claimant did not violate its duties under the EA 2010, HRA 1998, or other public law principles.
An interesting aspect of this case was that internet video calling was deemed capable of being an ‘essential living need’ because of the Claimant’s disabilities. The court ruled that ‘the concept of ‘need’ is…affected by technological progress and consequent changes in societal expectations’, and that ‘internet-based communication… has become essential for interacting with other people and accessing public services.’
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8 September 2025 by Jennifer Zhou
In UK News
The Sentencing Bill 2025 was introduced by the government. The Bill follows a major review into sentencing by former Justice Secretary David Gauke, and accepts the majority of its recommendations. It aims to follow the prison overcrowding crisis through measures including:
- Creating a presumption that custodial sentences of less than 12 months will be suspended (subject to a number of exceptions);
- Empowering courts to give a greater range of community orders, including bans from certain venues and events and ‘restriction orders’ limiting movement;
- Extending suspended sentences to max. three years (up from two years);
- Allowing courts to defer sentencing for up to 12 months (up from six months), so that offenders can demonstrate good behaviour;
- Setting a minimum release point of 33% for standard determinate sentences (down from 40%);
- Allowing foreign prisoners to be removed from UK prisons without first serving a minimum period of custody.
Controversially, the Bill also imposes an obligation on the Sentencing Council to obtain permission from the Lord Chancellor and Lady Chief Justice before issuing sentencing guidelines. This follows a furore in early 2025 over draft guidelines which included wording about an offender’s ethnicity.
The refugee family reunion scheme has been temporarily suspended. Yvette Cooper (who was Home Secretary before a Cabinet reshuffle on Friday) announced that migrants granted asylum will be temporarily unable to bringing partners and children to the UK. The suspension will continue until the government has imposed further conditions on the scheme through legal changes.
Comedy writer Graham Linehan was arrested over tweets about transgenderism, including one which referenced punching trans women ‘in the balls’. The arrest has been criticised by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as well as members of the shadow cabinet. Mr Linehan is currently also being tried for harassment in relation to an altercation with a transgender activist.
In International News
France has issued arrest warrants for Syrian ex-president Bashar al-Assad, his brother, and five other officials regime officials. Al-Assad has been living in Russia since being deposed in December 2024. These warrants relate to the 2012 bombing of a press centre in Homs; French photographer Rémi Ochlik and American journalist Marie Colvin were killed. The bombing is being investigated by the French judiciary as a war crime and crime against humanity.
In the Courts
The Home Office has received permission to challenge a High Court ruling allowing Palestine Action to appeal its proscription under terror legislation. Palestine Action, a group founded by Ms Huda Ammori, was banned as a terrorist organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000. In a judgment dated 30 July 2025, Ms Ammori was granted permission by the High Court to appeal this proscription. Now, the Home Office has won the right to challenge the 30 July ruling. In an unpublished order seen by the press, the Court described the government’s appeal has having ‘a real prospect of success’; it is due to be heard on 25 September.
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11 August 2025 by Jennifer Zhou
In UK News:
The first migrants were detained under the new ‘one-in, one-out’ deal with France. The ‘Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys’ came into force on 6 August; detentions began at lunchtime that day. Under the scheme, anyone crossing the Channel in a small boat can be returned to France. An equal number of migrants will be eligible under a new legal route to come to the UK. The Agreement, which governs the pilot scheme, will remain in force until June 2026.
The government announced ‘restriction zones’ curbing freedom of movement for serious violent and sexual offenders. Under the new plans, offenders will be confined to agreed areas — a step beyond existing ‘exclusion zone’ measures which simply prevent them entering a location where the victim lives. Restriction zones will be technologically monitored, with prison time as a possible sanction.
The Home Secretary called for police to disclose the nationality and asylum status of criminal suspects. This follows the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in Warwickshire in July. Police refused to reveal the immigration status of the two men charged, prompting accusations of a ‘cover-up’ from Reform leader Nigel Farage. Current guidance by the College of Policing is silent on whether this information should be released. The College has said that this guidance is already under review.
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14 July 2025 by Jennifer Zhou
In UK News:
The Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, chaired by Sir Brian Leveson, published part 1 of its report. The Review was commissioned to address the backlog in criminal courts. The report makes a number of proposals to reduce the Crown Court caseload, most significantly:
- Reducing the number of cases sent up from the Magistrates Court (by removing right of election for offences punishable by under two years’ imprisonment, and reclassifying offences from triable either way to summary only);
- Introducing a new branch of the Crown Court, the ‘Crown Court (Bench Division)’, consisting of a judge and two magistrates. This court would handle offences punishable by imprisonment for up to 3 years;
- Allowing trial by judge alone in cases of exceptional length or complexity, such as serious and complex fraud;
- Allowing defendants in the Crown Court to request judge-only trial.
The report stated that, while juries trials were seen as the ‘gold standard’, there was no ‘right’ to a jury and it was not always the most proportionate mode of trial. Other proposals include: investing in rehabilitation programmes and Out of Court Resolutions to divert people from courts; requiring permission to appeal from the Magistrates’ Court; match-funding criminal pupillages; raising the cap on Crown Court sitting days.
A number of amendments to the Employment Rights Bill have been made. These include softening the fire-and-rehire ban; banning NDAs which prevent workers from talking about discrimination or harassment; and extending bereavement leave to include pregnancy loss before 24 weeks.
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16 June 2025 by Jennifer Zhou
In UK News
A modest rise in justice spending was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Spending Review. The courts system will receive up to £450m extra a year by 2028-29, helping to increase Crown Court sitting days and implement the recommendations of the forthcoming Leveson review. The probation service will receive up to £700m extra funding by 2028-9. Funding will also be awarded to prison building and the Law Officers’ departments. The average real terms increase in Ministry of Justice funding is of 3.1%.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill returned to the House of Commons for debate on Friday 13 June. Among the amendments discussed was a prohibition on registered medical practitioners or other health practitioners raising assisted dying with a person under 18. Despite opposition by Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, the Bill’s proposer, it was approved by a vote of 259 to 216. It was the first time Leadbeater had been defeated on the Bill in a Commons vote.
The government announced that rough sleeping will be decriminalised after more than 200 years. The Vagrancy Act 1824, introduced in response to increased homelessness after the Napoleonic Wars and Industrial Revolution, will be scrapped by spring 2026.
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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.
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25 April 2025 by Jennifer Zhou
In UK News:
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that ‘man,’ ‘woman,’ and ‘sex’ refer to biological sex in the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010). The appeal in For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025] UKSC 16 concerned revised statutory guidance to the Gender Representation on Public Boards (Scotland) Act 2018. The revised guidance defines ‘woman’ as including a person with a Gender Recognition Certificate. These Certificates are issued under the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA 2004) and change the recipient’s gender ‘for all purposes’ (section 9(1)); however, the GRA 2004 also provides that s9(1) can be disapplied by other legislation. This was termed a ‘carve out’ power in the Supreme Court’s judgment.
The Supreme Court held that the carve out applies to the EA 2010. In interpreting EA 2010, the Court looked to which definition of sex would make its provisions coherent and workable. A certificated-sex approach would create two sub-groups within the transgender community: those with a GRC would be entitled to greater rights than those without. The Court saw ‘no good reason’ why Parliament would intend this inequality of status. The Court also anticipated that parties seeking to fulfil their bifurcated duties under the EA 2010 would also face practical difficulties: there is no obvious outward difference between trans people with and without a GRC, and duty-bearers cannot ask whether a GRC has been obtained because it is confidential information.
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10 March 2025 by Jennifer Zhou
In UK News:
The Sentencing Council caused controversy with its new guidance on imposing community and custodial sentences. Previously, magistrates and judges were told they ‘should request’ a pre-sentence report (PSR) ‘whenever the court reaches the provisional view that a community order may be appropriate’ unless the court considers it unnecessary. The new guidance strengths the obligation so that courts ‘must request and consider’ a PSR ‘before forming an opinion of the sentence’ unless it considers this unnecessary. It also adds a list of offenders for whom a PSR ‘will normally be considered necessary,’ including female and transgender offenders and those from an ethnic, cultural, and/or faith minority. The guidelines’ stated aim is to give sentencers ‘the most comprehensive information available about the circumstances of the offender and the offence.’ They take effect from 1 April 2025.
The government’s Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme will be broadened to postmasters who have had their convictions overturned by the courts. From 3 June 2025, these postmasters—who are currently covered by the Post Office’s Overturned Convictions scheme—can apply for redress from the government. £1.8 billion has been pledged to compensate the victims of the Post Office scandal.
Convicted female minors will no longer be placed in Young Offender Institutions, the government has announced. This adopts a recommendation in an independent review of girls in custody, undertaken by Susannah Hancock and published earlier this month. Girls will instead be placed in settings such as Secure Children’s Homes and Secure Schools.
In International News:
A death row inmate in Louisana is challenging his method of execution in court. Jessie Hoffman Jr., who was to become the first man in the state executed by nitrogen gas, is arguing for a more ‘humane’ means of death before a Baton Rouge federal court. His legal team has argued that death by nitrogen hypoxia is a cruel and unusual punishment under the US Constitution. Additionally, they say that it infringes on his freedom to practice his religion, namely Buddhist breathing and meditation exercises.
In the Courts:
16 Just Stop Oil activists appealed against their sentences (R v Hallam and Others [2025] EWCA Crim 199). They had been variously convicted of: occupying roads leading to the Navigator oil terminal in Thurrock; throwing soup on Vincent van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’; climbing or attempting to climb gantries on the M25; and conspiracy in relation to the M25 protest. The Sunflowers offenders were convicted of criminal damage; the others were convicted of, or pled guilty to, public nuisance offences.
The court stated that the leading authority on sentencing-related issues in cases of nonviolent protests—such as conscientious motivation and deterrence—was R v Trowland [2023] EWCA Crim 919. They emphasised that conscientious motivation could be factored into the assessment of culpability, but does not prevent a finding of high culpability, and that a judge is not obliged to specify the amount by which they have reduced a custodial term to reflect conscientious motivation. They also discussed the relevance of Article 10 ECHR (freedom of expression) and Article 11 (peaceful assembly). It was held that the common law and the ECHR are in step, and the fact that the appellants’ actions constituted criminal conduct significantly weakened the protections afforded by the ECHR.
After considering the specific facts of each appellant’s case, the court quashed the sentences of 6 appellants and substituted lower ones. Roger Hallam, Just Stop Oil’s co-founder, had his 5-year sentence substituted for a 4-year one. Both ‘Sunflowers’ offenders had their appeals dismissed.
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24 February 2025 by Jennifer Zhou
In UK News
The Attorney General, Lord Hermer KC, has said that Axel Rudabakana’s sentence will not be referred to the Court of Appeal for undue lenience. Rudabakana was given a minimum 52-year sentence for murdering three girls in a dance class in July 2024. He would have received a full life order, said the trial judge, had he been an adult at the time of the crime (Rudabakana was 17). As it stands, his sentence is the “second longest…imposed by the courts in English history,” according to Lord Hermer.
The Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, criticised the Prime Minister for comments made about a ruling. Questioned about a legal loophole which allowed a Gazan family to use the Ukraine Scheme, Sir Keir Starmer called the decision “completely wrong.” Baroness Carr said she was “deeply troubled” by the comments. Emphasising the separation of powers, she pointed out that the right route for challenging judicial decisions was through the appellate process and that “it is for the government visibly to respect and protect the independence of the judiciary.”
The UK’s use of predictive policing is “automated racism,” according to a report from Amnesty International. Amnesty found that the use of predictive, profiling and risk assessment systems results in racial profiling and the disproportionate targeting of black people and those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. The charity said this was contrary to the UK’s obligations under human rights law including the Equality Act 2010, the European Convention on Human Rights.
In the Courts
The President of the Family Division has rebuked two women for an ‘astonishing’ surrogacy which risked leaving their children stateless. In Re Z (Unlawful Foreign Surrogacy: Adoption) [2025] EWHC 339 (Fam), Sir Andrew McFarlane heard that the parents had paid £120,000 to a clinic in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus for two children. The children were carried by Ukrainian surrogate mothers and born on the same day “at the direction of the clinic.” One of the adoptive mothers then signed a form wrongly registering her as the mother of both the children. Subsequently, it became clear that: the location of birth did not afford the children Cypriot citizenship; having Ukrainian mothers did not afford them Ukrainian citizenship; and they had no legal connection to either of the adoptive mothers that would be recognised in the UK (the birth certificates having been issued on an incorrect basis). The children were eventually allowed to enter the UK through an application under the European Convention of Human Rights, article 8. Sir Andrew subsequently granted adoption orders for the children.
The judgment, published several months after the adoption orders were granted, was handed down “in order to draw attention… to the circumstances of the case…and to offer some advice for those who may, in future, unwisely seek to follow the path taken by the two applicants.”
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