Hundreds of UK officers should never have been appointed, says police watchdog – The Guardian

‘Officers with prior convictions and close links with criminals are among hundreds who have joined the police in the last three years who should not have been allowed in, according to the head of the police watchdog.’

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The Guardian, 5th February 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Bill to extend maternity protections passes in House of Commons – The Guardian

Posted February 3rd, 2023 in bills, employment, equality, news, pregnancy, redundancy, sex discrimination, women by michael

‘A push to secure better protection from maternity discrimination has taken a step forward, after a bill extending maternity protections passed its final stage in the House of Commons.’

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The Guardian, 3rd February 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Law change needed to keep transgender women out of female sport – Daily Telegraph

Posted February 3rd, 2023 in equality, gender, news, sport, transgender persons by michael

‘The Government is under pressure to change the law so that UK sporting bodies can exclude transgender women from female competition.’

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Daily Telegraph, 3rd February 2022

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

BSB publishes its Report on Diversity at the Bar 2022 – Bar Standards Board

Posted January 30th, 2023 in barristers, diversity, equality, news, statistics by tracey

‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published a summary of the latest available diversity data for the Bar. Overall, the data shows the continuation in 2022 of several longer-term trends, including an increase in the proportion of practising barristers who are female; who are from a minority ethnic background; who have primary care of a child; who have a disability; and who are aged 55 or more. The most noticeable increase was a rise of 3.3 percentage points in the proportion of pupils who are female to 59.9 per cent.’

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Bar Standards Board, 27th January 2023

Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk

Fifth of LGBTQ+ people in UK subjected to conversion practices – The Guardian

‘More than 400,000 people who are gay, transgender or non-binary have been subjected to someone trying to change, “cure” or suppress their sexual orientation or gender identity, according to new research that suggests a proposed ban on conversion practices will have a wider impact than previously thought.’

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The Guardian, 25th January 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Is discernment for ordination training an offer of employment? McCalla – Law & Religion UK

Posted January 25th, 2023 in Church of England, employment, employment tribunals, equality, news by sally

‘In Professor Doreen McCalla v Lichfield Diocesan Board of Finance Inc & Anor [2022] UKET 1303655/2021, the claimant felt a call to ordination in the Church of England and went through its Discernment of Vocations Process between February 2016 and June 2021 but was rejected for training. She claimed discrimination in her treatment by the respondents and by others for whom she alleged the respondents were vicariously liable, both during the discernment process and in respect of its termination. She sued the Diocesan Board of Finance and the Bishop in his corporate capacity, initially claiming discrimination on grounds of sex, age and race [1-4], but by the time the claim came to trial it had been whittled down to a claim that either or both of the respondents had discriminated against her in the discernment process and its termination, in breach of s.55 (2) Equality Act 2010.’

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Law & Religion UK, 24th January 2023

Source: lawandreligionuk.com

Gender row legal challenge likely to fail – judge – BBC News

Posted January 19th, 2023 in bills, birth certificates, devolution, equality, gender, news, Scotland, transgender persons by tracey

‘The Scottish government’s chances of winning a legal challenge over the gender reform row are “very low”, a former Supreme Court judge has said.’

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BBC News, 18th January 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Church of England bishops refuse to back gay marriage – BBC News

‘Church of England bishops have refused to back a change in teaching to allow priests to marry same-sex couples, sources have told BBC News. The Church of England’s bishops met on Tuesday to finalise their recommendations after five years of consultation and debate on the Church’s position on sexuality.
Their proposal will be debated at the Church’s equivalent of a parliament – the General Synod – next month.’

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BBC News, 18th January 2023

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

External research on equality and diversity in the work of the Sentencing Council published – Sentencing Council

Posted January 16th, 2023 in diversity, equality, news, sentencing by tracey

‘New research that examines the potential and perceived impact of sentencing guidelines on specific groups of offenders has been published by the Sentencing Council.’

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Sentencing Council, 10th January 2023

Source: www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk

UK review of gender recognition list risks ‘trans travel ban’ – The Guardian

Posted January 11th, 2023 in bills, equality, gender, government departments, news, Scotland, transgender persons by sally

‘Rishi Sunak has been told he risks “re-toxifying” his government’s record on LGBTQ+ rights and introducing “an effective trans travel ban” after the equalities minister announced a review of countries whose process for changing gender on legal documents is recognised by the UK.’

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The Guardian, 10th January 2023

Source: www.theguardian.com

Top Discrimination Decisions of 2022: five cases education lawyers should know – 3PB

‘Discrimination law is a complex and constantly evolving area of practice. Cases this year have provided clarification, enforcement and development of the legal principles underpinning claims under the Equality Act 2010 (“EqA”).’

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3PB, 13th December 2022

Source: www.3pb.co.uk

Breach of trust, directors and corporate trustees: multiple derivative claims following McGaughey v USS – Wilberforce Chambers

‘It is commonplace now for the trustee of almost any sort of trust to be a company, and for the individuals who may colloquially be referred to as “the trustees” to in fact not be trustees at all, but to be the directors of the trustee company. Occupational pension schemes have been particularly keen adopters of this structure. In some respects it makes little difference to the beneficiaries: the trustee is the trustee, whether an individual or a company. But when the individuals involved are alleged to have acted in breach of their duties, the corporate structure allows for more complex claims than the ordinary breach of trust claim that would be brought against individual trustees.’

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Wilberforce Chambers, 20th December 2022

Source: www.wilberforce.co.uk

Judge quashes decision letter over discriminatory impact of housing allocations policy on domestic abuse survivor – Local Government Lawyer

Posted January 6th, 2023 in domestic violence, equality, housing, judicial review, local government, news by tracey

“A High Court judge has ruled that a local authority’s housing allocations policy and its application to a domestic abuse survivor amounted to indirect discrimination.”

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Local Government Lawyer, 5th January 2023

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Disability discrimination – House of Commons Library

Posted January 5th, 2023 in disability discrimination, equality, news by sally

‘This briefing provides an overview of disability discrimination law and explains legal duties to consider the needs of disabled people.’

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House of Commons Library, 4th January 2023

Source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk

No jab no job: 5 care home workers dismissed for not taking the vaccine – Lamb Chambers

‘In Dimitrova et Ors v Barchester Healthcare Ltd ET 1803315/2021, 5 care home workers brought claims against Barchester Healthcare Ltd, the second largest provider of care home services in the UK. These 5 Claimants were heard in the first tranche of several other claims. They all brought claims of unfair dismissal and two brought claims of direct/indirect religion/belief discrimination. Another Claimant brought a belief related harassment claim.’

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Lamb Chambers, December 2022

Source: www.lambchambers.co.uk

The planning definition of ‘Gypsies and Travellers’ – Local Government Lawyer

‘Aileen McColgan KC examines a Court of Appeal ruling that the Government’s planning definition of “gypsies and travellers” was unlawfully discriminatory.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 16th December 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Council told to pay over £7k after failing to provide alternative education for autistic boy – Local Government Lawyer

‘An investigation by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found that Oxfordshire County Council failed to provide alternative education for a boy with autism for a year.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 15th December 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Half of black British police suffer racial incidents from colleagues, survey finds – The Guardian

Posted December 16th, 2022 in bullying, diversity, equality, harassment, news, police, race discrimination, racism, statistics by tracey

‘More than half of Britain’s black police officers and staff suffered racial incidents from colleagues in the past year, a survey has found.’

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The Guardian,15th December 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Inns under fire for sluggish approach to disability access – Legal Futures

‘The inns of court are slow to act on behalf of disabled barristers and the Bar Standards Board (BSB) is to set push them to improve access in listed buildings, an event to mark the launch of the Bar’s Disability Taskforce heard last week.’

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Legal Futures, 12th December 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

In conversation with District Judge (MC) Briony Clarke – Courts & Tribunals Judiciary

Posted December 2nd, 2022 in diversity, equality, judges, magistrates, news, women by tracey

‘Find out about District Judge (MC) Briony Clarke’s career journey and her experiences of being a woman in the legal profession.’

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Courts & Tribunals Judiciary, 1st December 2022

Source: www.judiciary.uk