Category: human rights
Nottingham riots: Perry Atherton prepares human rights case – BBC News
“A man who was jailed following rioting in Nottingham last year is planning to challenge his conviction in the European Court of Human Rights.”
BBC News, 6th August 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Judge: Government broke benefits law – The Independent
“The Government broke the law when it stripped an unemployed man of his benefits for six months after he refused to participate in an unpaid back-to-work scheme, the High Court has ruled.”
The Independent, 7th August 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Unpaid work schemes ruled lawful as high court rejects Poundland case – The Guardian
“Government back-to-work schemes criticised as ‘forced labour’ were ruled lawful by the high court on Monday.”
The Guardian, 6th August
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Northern Rock compensation claim rejected – The Guardian
“Investors who held in shares in Northern Rock before it was nationalised by Labour in February 2008 have reacted angrily to a long awaited decision by the European court of human rights to dismiss their argument that they should be granted compensation by the UK government.”
The Guardian, 1st August 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Pay-out for ex-postal worker over race discrimination – The Independent
“A former postal worker has been awarded undisclosed compensation after an employment tribunal ruled he had faced discrimination.”
The Independent, 31st July 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Abu Qatada bid for release fails – The Guardian
“Two high court judges have dismissed a fresh attempt by the radical Islamist preacher Abu Qatada to be released from a maximum-security prison on bail pending his deportation back to Jordan.”
The Guardian, 31st July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Human Rights When Seeking Possession and Sale of a Bankrupt’s Home: Anything to Fear? – Hardwicke Chambers
“For many insolvency practitioners (in the wider sense), the European Convention on Human Rights (‘ECHR’) and the Human Rights Act 1998 (‘HRA’) are pieces of legislation having little impact upon day to day insolvency practice.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 27th July 2012
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
Lawcast 218: John Cooper QC on the #Twitterjoketrial judgment – Charon QC
“The judgment in the #twitterJoketrial is an important one for Paul Chambers who has been acquitted and can now get on with his life without the stain of criminal conviction hanging over his head.”
Charon QC, 28th July 2012
Source: www.charonqc.wordpress.com
“Charon QC” is the blogging pseudonym of Mike Semple Piggot, editor of insitelaw newswire.
Twitter users “free to speak not what they ought to say, but what they feel” – UK Human Rights Blog
“The famous ‘Twitter joke’ conviction of Paul Chambers has been overturned on appeal, bringing welcome clarity to what is and what is not an offence of this type. On discovering a week before he was due to take a flight that the airport was closed due to adverse weather conditions, he tweeted that ‘I am blowing the airport sky high!!’ unless the situation was resolved by the time of his flight. He was convicted of sending a message of a ‘menacing character’, but has had the conviction quashed on appeal, on the basis that, as it was a joke, it was not of a menacing character.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 27th July 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Killers and rapists could be released earlier as High Court waters down parole terms – Daily Telegraph
“Killers and rapists serving long jail terms could be released earlier following a High Court ruling that their strict parole terms may breach their human rights.”
Daily Telegraph, 27th July 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Outlawing God? The limits of religious freedom – UK Human Rights Blog
“Monday night’s fascinating seminar on Article 9, ‘Outlawing God’, saw Dinah Rose QC, John Bowers QC, Dr Evan Harris (Liberal Democrat former MP) and Rabbi Michael Laitner (solicitor and Orthodox rabbi) square off over the relationship of the courts to religious belief and believers, refereed (and sometimes stoked) by Joshua Rozenberg in the chair.“
UK Human Rights Blog, 25th July 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
When human rights hit the private law of damages for death – UK Human Rights Blog
“Swift v. Secretary of State for Justice [2012] EWHC 2000 (QB) Eady J, read judgment. This decision involves the intersection of Articles 8 (family) and 14 (discrimination) of the ECHR with the law governing who can recover damages for the death of a relative. This law is the Fatal Accidents Act 1976 (for the text see [10] of the judgment – embarrassingly, the one freely available on the internet is out of date). One does not to think for very long before realising that the FAA is underpinned by an idea that one ought to respect the rights of the family, and to pay the family when one has negligently caused the death of a family member. But like all such laws, there is the problem of where to stop – where does the family stop for these purposes?”
UK Human Rights Blog, 24th July 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Father’s rights breached by mother ‘too upset’ to let him see children – Daily Telegraph
“A father who was denied access to his children for three years because it upset their mother suffered a breach of his parental rights, the Court of Appeal ruled yesterday.”
Daily Telegraph, 25th July 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Police protest tactics ‘give officers excessive and disproportionate control’ – The Guardian
“Pre-emptive arrests, confinement by kettling and the gathering of personal data give police officers ‘excessive and disproportionate’ control over public protests, a report by a coalition of police monitoring groups has warned.”
The Guardian, 24th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Women sue the Met over handling of sexual assault cases – The Guardian
“Women who say they were let down by the Metropolitan police when they reported rape and sexual assault, including two who were attacked by the taxi driver John Worboys, are suing the force. The women are attempting to establish that police who fail to investigate such crimes properly are violating victims’ human rights.”
The Guardian, 20th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Bamber granted appeal in European court – Daily Telegraph
“Jeremy Bamber, who murdered five members of his family, have been granted an appeal by the Grand Chamber of Europe’s human rights court.”
Daily Telegraph, 19th July 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Supreme court strikes down Home Office’s back-door changes to immigration rules – The Guardian
“Just over a week since far-reaching new immigration rules took effect – which will permanently separate many British citizens or settled residents from their non-European spouses, children and ageing relatives – the home secretary has suffered a severe defeat in the supreme court. In the case of Alvi [2012] UKSC 33, handed down today, the court struck down a previous attempt by the Home Office to introduce substantive immigration requirements through the back door of policy, guidance or instructions, rather than in the body of the immigration rules themselves.”
The Guardian, 18th July 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Don’t believe everything you read: there is a case for socio-economic rights – UK Human Rights Blog
“Last week, a number of media commentators, politicians and others sought to subvert the second consultation of the Bill of Rights Commission. This consultation invites views on a number of key issues that form part of the Commission’s mandate. In the Daily Mail’s correspondent’s view, the Commission has committed an appalling transgression by asking potential respondents whether the UK Bill of Rights should include additional rights, referring amongst other things to socio-economic rights. This is echoed by the Sun which argues that the Commission has ‘suggested’ (which it clearly has not) that ‘all Brits be given handouts as a birth right’, and the Daily Express which suggests ‘Spongers can Sue to Claim Benefits’.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 17th July 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
