Law Pod UK

Prevent Duty Guidance withstands “clamorous” criticism

5 August 2017 by Marina Wheeler QC

R (Salman Butt) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 1930 – read judgment

In the wake of the London and Manchester attacks, the government’s counter-terrorism strategy is increasingly in the news and under scrutiny.  Radicalisation is  a difficult concept to map on to a system like ours, which separates the definition of criminal behaviour and punishment from civil sanctions. In this week’s podcast, Marina Wheeler discusses some of the ways the law is trying to cope (Law Pod UK Episode 8, available free on iTunes). She and others from 1 Crown Office Row will be discussing this and related issues at a seminar on Monday 11 September. 

At the end of July 2017, Mr Justice Ouseley upheld one element of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy – the Prevent Duty Guidance to universities (and other further and higher education bodies) which aims at “stopping extremists from radicalising students on campuses”.  He also rejected a complaint that the work of the Home Office’s Extremism Analysis Unit (EAU), breached the Article 8 privacy rights of the claimant, Dr Salman Butt.

We posted a summary of this ruling last week. 1 Crown Office Row’s Oliver Sanders and Amelia Walker represented the Secretary of State. Paul Bowen QC and Zahra Al-Rikabi represented Dr Butt.

In 2011 the Strategy was revised to cover the journey from extremism towards terrorist-related activity (including by the far-right). This attracted criticism, examples of which were collated and presented to support the claimant’s challenge to the lawfulness of the measures.  But Ouseley J dismissed all heads of claim, observing that he was

not concerned with whether some oppose the CTSA, or regard the Prevent Duty as counter-productive or have made it so, deliberately or through misunderstanding it.

What was decisive in this case was the absence of evidence that the Prevent Duty Guidance had had a chilling effect on free speech or academic freedom, as claimed.  The Prevent Duty Guidance, under section 26 of the CTSA, only came into force in 2015.  As those who apply it gain experience and confidence, they will make better judgments. But there will always be some mistakes. One way to avoid these is to have constructive discussion about the process, informed by evidence, not drowned out by “clamorous” criticism.
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1COR Launches New Podcast Series – Law Pod UK

6 July 2017 by Rosalind English

1 Crown Office Row have launched a new regular podcast, Law Pod UK, with presenter Rosalind English, to discuss developments across all aspects of civil and public law in the UK.

It comes from the creators of the UK Human Rights Blog and is produced by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. Post production by Whistledown Studios.

Episode 5: Further ruling on NI abortion rights, Charlie Gard, and transgender in Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community (6 July 2017).

 Sarah Jane Ewart and Rosalind English discuss the latest developments in access to abortion for Northern Irish women, the lessons to be learned from the Charlie Gard case, and the difficult decision that the courts had to reach when considering the best interests of children in an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish family, where the father had left the community as a transgender person.

 Episode 4: Supreme Court rules on NI abortion case (19 June 2017)

 Rosalind English discusses the recent Supreme Court judgement on the case of women from Northern Ireland who seek abortions on the NHS in England.

 Episode 3: Negligence Ruling in Meningitis case (28 May 2017)

 David Hart QC and Rosalind English discuss the implications of a recent negligence case involving a young doctor’s failure to diagnose a child with meningitis.

Episode 2: Female terror plot trial, legal aid for unaccompanied minors, Value For Justice & post-Brexit legal landscape (18 May 2017).

Sarah Jane Ewart and Rosalind English discuss the prospect of the first all female terror plot trial, legal aid for unaccompanied minors in immigration cases, the Bar Council’s manifesto “The Value of Justice”, the law post-Brexit, and shift sleeping and the minimum wage

Episode 1: Election pledges on human rights, citizenship for third country EU nationals, CAGE case latest (26 May 2017).

Poppy Rimington-Pounder and Rosalind English discuss party election pledges and the Human Rights Act, the Muslim advocacy group CAGE’s forthcoming legal battle, a freedom of conscience ruling for members of the armed forces in the Bahamas, and citizenship rights for the children of third country nationals in Europe.

You can subscribe to Law Pod UK via Audioboom here. They will shortly be available for subscription and download from iTunes.

Please get in touch if you would like to collaborate on any future episodes.

More on junior doctors’ liability: audio.

28 May 2017 by Rosalind English

FB v. Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust [2017] EWCA Civ 334, 12 May 2017, Court of Appeal – read judgment

The UK Human Rights Blog is not only for the reading eye. Here’s an audio version of David Hart’s post on the case of a junior doctor, a sick baby and the question of what we expect of senior house officers on busy Accident and Emergency admissions.

These audio files will soon be searchable in iTunes or wherever you like to find your podcasts for download onto your phone, to listen to on the train, in the gym, on your bike or gardening. We will let you know as soon as they become available.

The Round-Up audio version – who’s on the Rights-side this election?

26 May 2017 by Rosalind English

Here’s an audio version of Poppy Rimington-Pounder’s post this week where she expands on some of the developments and news items she covers in conversation with Rosalind English. We hope soon to have a podcast platform for these news roundups and other interviews with members of 1 Crown Office Row: watch this space.

The UKHRB launches new podcast stream

18 May 2017 by Rosalind English

In a few weeks’ time we hope to have regular podcasts of our roundups and other legal news available from iTunes for subscription or one off downloads. In the meantime here’s a link to my interview with Sarah-Jane Ewart, where we’re talking about the events and cases she has covered in her most recent roundup for the UK Human Rights Blog. I’ve converted this audiofile to MP3 format so it should be easy to download onto any device and does not take up much room. We will let you know as soon as the full UK Human Rights Podcast series is launched for download onto your smartphone or wherever you like listening to audio.

Brexit and Fundamental Rights – Podcast Available

7 February 2017 by Rebecca King

1 Crown Office Row recently collaborated with Leigh Day for a special event entitled:

‘Brexit and Fundamental Rights’

The discussion was chaired by Joshua Rozenberg QC.

Speaking from 1COR were Adam Wagner, Jeremy Hyam QC, Dominic Ruck Keene and Hannah Noyce.

Nigel Mackay, employment specialist at Leigh Day, also joined the panel and Sean Humber, partner and head of human rights, introduced the event.

You can download the podcast here.