Category: equality

The socio-economic duty: A powerful idea hidden in plain sight in the Equality Act – Oxford Human Rights Hub

Posted May 15th, 2019 in benefits, equality, human rights, international law, local government, news, standards, taxation by sally

‘Section 1 of the Equality Act 2010 asks public authorities to actively consider the way in which their policies and their most strategic decisions can increase or decrease inequalities. I am talking about the socio-economic duty. However, successive governments since 2010 have failed to commence it, to bring it to life in technical terms, which means that public authorities are not technically bound by Section 1.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 15th May 2019

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

Council makes a mess of Portage – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted May 14th, 2019 in children, education, equality, families, judicial review, local government, news by sally

‘The biblical Esau rashly sold his birthright for ‘a mess of pottage’ (a bowl of lentil stew). But in a rather different context, Worcestershire Council could be said to have made a mess of Portage. For Portage (named after a US town in Wisconsin where the concept originally developed) is a pre-school educational support service (from birth to five-years-old) provided through regular home visits from a trained home visitor. However, on 22 August 2016 the council (through councillor Bayliss, cabinet member with responsibility for children and families) decided to close the Portage scheme from 1 October 2018. This prompted judicial review proceedings in R (RD and others) v Worcestershire County Council [2019] EWHC 449 (Admin), judgment in which was given by Nicklin J on 28 February 2019.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 13th May 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Facial recognition tech ‘should be dropped over race issues’ – BBC News

Posted May 13th, 2019 in artificial intelligence, data protection, equality, facial mapping, human rights, news, police, privacy, race discrimination by sally

‘Black and minority ethnic people in the UK could be falsely identified and questioned as police have not tested facial recognition systems on enough non-white faces, say campaigners.’

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BBC News, 13th May 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Sight impaired voters and the secret of the ballot box – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted May 13th, 2019 in ballots, disabled persons, elections, enfranchisement, equality, human rights, news by sally

‘How can someone who suffers from severely limited sight avail herself of the process for making a mark on a paper ballot under the Representation of the People Act 1983?’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 12th May 2019

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

PM vows to end postcode lottery for domestic abuse victims

Posted May 13th, 2019 in bills, coercive & controlling behaviour, consultations, domestic violence, equality, housing, local government, news, statutory duty, victims, women by sally

‘The prime minister has vowed to end the postcode lottery for those escaping domestic abuse.’

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The Guardian, 13th May 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Written pupillage agreements to reduce “inappropriate behaviour” – Legal Futures

Posted May 9th, 2019 in advertising, barristers, codes of practice, consultations, equality, harassment, news, pupillage, standards, statistics, women by tracey

‘Making written pupillage agreements compulsory could reduce the risk of pupil barristers being subjected to “inappropriate behaviour”, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has said.
It signalled the move in an informal consultation that also proposes to make it compulsory for chambers and other training providers to bring their pupillage recruitment timetables into line with the Pupillage Gateway.’

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Legal Futures, 9th May 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Falklands veteran ‘forced out over sexuality’ plans to sue MoD – BBC News

Posted May 8th, 2019 in armed forces, equality, homosexuality, human rights, news, sexual orientation discrimination by tracey

‘A Falklands veteran forced out of the Royal Navy over his sexuality plans to sue for the return of military honours.’

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BBC News, 8th May 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Tribunal rejects law firm’s bid to strike out disability claim – Legal Futures

Posted May 2nd, 2019 in accidents, disability discrimination, disabled persons, disclosure, employment tribunals, equality, law firms, mental health, news, personal injuries, road traffic, striking out by tracey

‘An employment tribunal has said it would be “wholly inappropriate” to strike out a disability discrimination claim against a law firm from a legal secretary suffering from depression.’

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Legal Futures, 2nd May 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Caster Semenya testosterone verdict ignites debate about fairness, women’s sport and human rights – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 2nd, 2019 in equality, gender, human rights, medicines, news, sex discrimination, sport, women by tracey

‘Caster Semenya’s enforced use of testosterone-limiting drugs is a potential human rights breach, legal experts claimed on Wednesday as they drew comparisons with the innate physical advantages of other world-dominating athletes.’

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Daily Telegraph, 1st May 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Home Office faces investigation over Windrush scandal from equalities watchdog – The Independent

Posted May 1st, 2019 in citizenship, colonies, deportation, documents, equality, Equality and Human Rights Commission, government departments, immigration, news, passports, race discrimination by tracey

‘The Home Office has been referred to the equalities watchdog over the Windrush scandal and the wider “hostile environment”. More than 80 MPs from six political parties have called on the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to investigate whether the department unlawfully discriminated against the Windrush generation and continues to discriminate against ethnic minority Britons as a “direct result” of its immigration policies.’

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The Independent, 1st May 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Court of Appeal agrees to hear case on housing allocation policy and religion – Local Government Lawyer

Posted April 30th, 2019 in appeals, equality, housing, Judaism, landlord & tenant, local government, news, proportionality, religious discrimination by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has granted permission to appeal a Divisional Court ruling that a housing association letting homes on the basis of religion was lawful.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 29th April 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Workplace stress drives up disability discrimination claims by more than a third, employment law experts say – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 29th, 2019 in disability discrimination, disabled persons, employment, equality, mental health, news, standards, statistics by sally

‘Workplace stress drives up disability discrimination claims by more than a third, employment law experts suggest.’

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Daily Telegraph, 28th April 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Allocation Policy – Local Government Law

Posted April 25th, 2019 in equality, housing, local government, news, race discrimination, refugees, travellers by tracey

‘In conjoined appeals, (2019) EWCA Civ 692, R (Gullu) v Hillingdon LBC and R (Ward) v Hillingdon LBC, the Court of Appeal considered the lawfulness of Hillingdon’s housing allocation policy. The policy prioritised people who had been resident in the local area for 10 years. That was found to discriminate indirectly against protected groups.’

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Local Government Law, 23rd April 2019

Source: local-government-law.11kbw.com

But, it’s a long, long while … – Nearly Legal

Posted April 23rd, 2019 in equality, judicial review, local government, news, travellers by sally

‘The Court of Appeal reviewed Hillingdon’s Equality Impact Assessments, both when introducing the policy in 2013, and when amending it in 2016 (this latter being after Mr Gullu had begun his judicial review). On neither occasion was there any consideration of Travellers or refugees (or indeed Non UK nationals).’

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Nearly Legal, 22nd April 2019

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Equal marriage in the Church of England – Law & Religion UK

Posted April 12th, 2019 in Church of England, equality, gender, homosexuality, marriage, news by sally

‘On Friday 12 April, a new campaign was launched with aim of changing the teaching and practice of the Church of England to allow all couples to marry in church, regardless of their gender, sex or sexuality.’

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Law & Religion UK, 12th April 2019

Source: www.lawandreligionuk.com

Instances of judges bullying female barristers exaggerated, says LCJ – Legal Futures

Posted April 10th, 2019 in barristers, brexit, bullying, equality, judges, judicial appointments commission, judiciary, news, select committees, women by sally

‘The problem of male judges bullying female barristers in court has been exaggerated, the Lord Chief Justice suggested yesterday.’

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Legal Futures, 4th April 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Transgender man accuses NHS of discrimination after doctors refused to freeze his eggs – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 9th, 2019 in assisted reproduction, equality, news, transgender persons by sally

‘A transgender man has accused the NHS of discrimination after doctors refused to freeze his eggs for future fertility treatment.’

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Daily Telegraph, 8th April 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

New laws on payslip information come into force this week – The Guardian

Posted April 8th, 2019 in agency, documents, employment, equality, holiday pay, holidays, news, remuneration by sally

‘New laws on payslips come into force from this week, requiring employers to set out variable rates of pay and hours worked so that workers can more easily check that they are receiving the minimum wage.’

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The Guardian, 8th April 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Gypsy community ‘failed by government’ says report – The Guardian

Posted April 5th, 2019 in education, equality, health, minorities, news, select committees, travellers by tracey

‘The Commons women and equalities committee said Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities had the worst outcomes of any ethnic group across a huge range of areas, including education, health, employment, criminal justice and hate crime, but little was being done to tackle longstanding inequalities.’

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The Guardian, 5th April 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Discriminatory instruction barrister: Fault is system’s not solicitor’s – Legal Futures

Posted April 4th, 2019 in barristers, codes of practice, diversity, equality, judiciary, news, race discrimination, sex discrimination, solicitors, women by sally

‘The Asian woman barrister who was disinstructed after her client wanted a white man to represent her has said she does not blame the solicitor involved.’

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Legal Futures, 2nd April 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk