Disability Discrimination and Housing Allowance: The Importance of Article 14 – Garden Court Chambers Blog

Posted May 16th, 2012 in appeals, benefits, disability discrimination, housing, human rights, news by tracey

“Desmond Rutledge explains a landmark Court of Appeal decision upholding the rights of the severely disabled.”

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Garden Court Chambers Blog, 15th May 2012

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

Treasury failed to test fairness of spending cuts, equality watchdog finds – The Guardian

“The Treasury failed to consider how crucial policies would affect women, disabled people and ethnic minorities before the 2010 spending review, according to a report by the equality watchdog.”

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The Guardian, 14th May 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Should we outlaw genetic discrimination? – UK Human Rights Blog

“Earlier this month the Association of British Insurers announced the latest extension on the moratorium on the use of genetic test results for insurance purposes. But is this ‘Concordat’ sufficient protection? Genetic technologies are becoming increasingly available and profound questions are arising in relation to life and health insurance and employability as genetic screening becomes cheaper and widespread.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 9th May 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Comparison websites ‘break the law’ over disabled users – Daily Telegraph

“They may spend millions of pounds on advertising campaigns featuring mustachioed opera singers and cheeky meerkats, but some of the nation’s most popular comparison websites have been accused of breaking the law by denying access to more than 12m consumers with disabilities.”

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Daily Telegraph, 7th May 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Police manhandled autistic boy at swimming pool – UK Human Rights Blog

“The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) was long awaited; it took nearly two decades for the Law Commission’s proposals for codification of the common law on mental capacity to make their way onto the statute books. The MCA is generally considered to be quite progressive and I often hear it described as ‘empowering’ and granting people ‘rights to autonomy’.”

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UK Human Rights Blog, 28th March 2012

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Legal ruling could see introduction of airline ‘fat tax’ – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 8th, 2012 in airlines, disability discrimination, news, obesity by sally

“A court ruling could pave the way for the introduction of a ‘fat tax’ for obese fliers, a leading barrister has claimed.”

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Daily Telegraph, 7th February 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

College of Law defeats discrimination claim in appeal court – The Lawyer

Posted February 6th, 2012 in disability discrimination, examinations, legal education, news by sally

“The Court of Appeal has thrown out a disability discrimination claim brought against the College of Law (CoL) over its examination provision.”

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The Lawyer, 3rd February 2012

Source: www.thelawyer.com

Disabled patients dying due to ‘institutional discrimination’ in NHS – Daily Telegraph

“More than 70 disabled patients have died because of mistakes by hospital staff in the past decade, it was claimed. Mencap, a disability charity, described the findings in its report as damning, adding that as a result of ‘institutional discrimination in the NHS’ people were needlessly dying.’ ”

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Daily Telegraph, 3rd January 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Regina (Maxwell) v Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education – WLR Daily

Regina (Maxwell) v Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education [2011] EWCA Civ 1236; [2011] WLR (D) 307

“Although a complaint of disability discrimination was an eligible complaint to be made to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (“OIA”) under the Higher Education Act 2004, the task and duty of the OIA on a complaint of disability discrimination against a higher education institution was confined to whether the conduct of the university was reasonable or not and what recommendation should be made in response to the complaint and the office was not obliged to rule whether there had been a disability discrimination.”

WLR Daily, 27th October 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Disabled lawyers still face discrimination – The Guardian

Posted September 2nd, 2011 in disability discrimination, legal profession, news by tracey

“The Equality Act gives protection to disabled would-be lawyers, but they still face a struggle getting into the profession.”

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The Guardian, 1st September 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The lawyers trying to give deaf people a hearing – The Guardian

Posted August 11th, 2011 in disability discrimination, law firms, legal representation, news by sally

“Ten million people have a hearing problem but legal aid cuts will make woeful provision of legal services worse.”

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The Guardian, 11th August 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council v Norton and others – WLR Daily

Posted July 22nd, 2011 in disability discrimination, housing, law reports, local government by sally

Barnsley Metroplitan Borough Councl v Norton and others [2011] EWCA Civ 834; [2011] WLR (D) 240

“The duty in section 49A(1) of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was intended to apply whenever an authority was taking decisions such as a decision to seek possession of a disabled person’s home.”

WLR Daily, 21st July 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

High Court challenge over Lancashire County Council cuts – BBC News

“Two disabled women are mounting a legal challenge over Lancashire County Council’s decision to cut care services.”

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BBC News, 20th July 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Police wheelchair attack on Jody McIntyre ‘lawful’ – The Independent

“Police officers were justified in pulling a protester from his wheelchair and ‘inadvertently’ hitting him with a baton at the student fees demonstrations, an inquiry has found.”

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The Independent, 27th May 2011

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Aitken v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis – WLR Daily

Aitken v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2011] EWCA Civ 582;  [2011] WLR (D)  165

“Parties and their lawyers using the tribunal system should not draw the appellate courts into unnecessary speculation as to what the law would be if an employment tribunal had found the facts differently. Users of the tribunal system needed to be reminded that they needed evidence to prove facts; they needed facts on which to base legal submissions; and they needed real, not imaginary, questions of law for any appeal.”

WLR Daily, 18th May 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed

High Court: Council must not axe care for elderly – Daily Telegraph

“Britain’s biggest council has been told its plans to cut care services for elderly and severely disabled people are ‘unlawful’ and must be scrapped, in a landmark High Court judgement with wide-ranging implications for social care.”

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Daily Telegraph, 19th May 2011

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Birmingham City Council care cuts ruling expected – BBC News

Posted May 19th, 2011 in disability discrimination, local government, news, social services by tracey

“High Court judges are to make a ruling on council care cuts that will have implications for all local authorities in England and Wales.”

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BBC News, 19th May 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Disabled people take anti-cuts protest to the courts – The Guardian

“Disabled people are using the courts to challenge multimillion-pound spending cuts which they say will hit them hardest.”

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The Guardian, 10th May 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Volunteer could not claim disability discrimination because he had no employment contract, judge rules

“A paid army volunteer could not claim he had been discriminated against due to disability when work for the army stopped because he did not have an employment contract, an employment appeal tribunal judge has ruled.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 4th May 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Equality Act disability guidance comes into force – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 4th, 2011 in disability discrimination, equality, news by sally

“Government guidance on factors which should be taken into account when deciding whether someone has a disability is now in force.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 3rd May 2011

Source: www.out-law.com