Challenge to Government policy of discharging hospital patients to care homes at start of pandemic partly upheld – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The High Court (Bean LJ and Garnham J) held in R (Gardner) v Secretary of State for Health [2022] EWHC 967 (Admin) that the Government’s March 2020 Discharge Policy and the April 2020 Admissions Guidance were unlawful to the extent that the policy set out in each document was irrational in failing to advise that where an asymptomatic patient (other than one who had tested negative) was admitted to a care home, he or she should, so far as practicable, be kept apart from other residents for 14 days.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 3rd May 2022

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Supreme Court grants permission to appeal over gang injunction secured by council – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal over whether a gang injunction obtained by Birmingham City Council breached human rights law.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 3rd May 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Unequal Protection for LGBT+ Victims of Domestic Abuse – Oxford Human Rights Hub

‘Almost a decade ago, on 16 July 2012, Mr C was killed by his boyfriend, Mr Y. Pursuant to the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Act 2004, local authorities conducted a review into the circumstances of C’s death. According to the Review, Mr C had been assaulted over a period of months and probably years. He had seen multiple health professionals in the last years of his life, none of whom had picked up on the signs of abuse or asked about it.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 27th April 2022

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

The “unduly harsh” test considered further by Court of Appeal – EIN Blog

‘The question of how to determine whether or not the deportation of a foreign national convicted of criminal offending is a disproportionate interference in the family life that they may share with their partner or child has been explored in a series of cases, including the leading decisions of KO (Nigeria) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 53 and HA (Iraq) [2020] EWCA Civ 1176 and has been discussed in detail on the UK Human Rights blog here, here and here.’

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EIN Blog, 26th April 2022

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Trial of Extinction Rebellion co-founder delayed pending High Court judgment – The Independent

‘The criminal damage trial of the co-founder of Extinction Rebellion has been delayed pending a High Court judgment over the toppling of Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol.’

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The Independent, 19th April 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Tetyana Krupiy: The Modern Bill of Rights creates barriers to challenging algorithmic decisions – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted April 19th, 2022 in artificial intelligence, benefits, electronic filing, fraud, human rights, news by sally

‘Challenging inaccurate decisions of public authorities which fundamentally impact the life of the British public, could soon be harder. The UK government plans to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with a Modern Bill of Rights. Its package of law reform proposals will make it very hard, and in some cases impossible, for individuals to challenge decisions produced by the operation of artificial intelligence decision-making processes in court. While individuals who experience discrimination in their daily lives will be particularly affected, all individuals will face barriers to accessing justice. This development is important in light of the fact that the UK government formulated a strategic priority in 2017 to create conditions for the growth of the artificial intelligence industry in the United Kingdom. As a follow up the UK government set up the Government Digital Service and the Office for Artificial Intelligence in 2019 in order to inform public authorities about how they can embed artificial intelligence technology into the provision of public services. This suggests that public authorities will make increasing reliance on the employment of artificial intelligence decision-making processes. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is already using artificial intelligence technology to detect which individuals are fraudulently claiming benefits.’

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UK Constitutional Law Association, 19th April 2022

Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org

Outsourcing asylum seekers: the case of Rwanda and the UK – EIN Blog

Posted April 19th, 2022 in asylum, human rights, news, refugees by sally

‘UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on April 14 2022 that Britain would relocate some asylum seekers arriving in the UK to Rwanda. The plan was condemned by the opposition as well as human rights groups such as Amnesty International. The UK has settled on Rwanda after earlier reports that it had been considering Albania and Ghana. In the light of the latest developments, Cristiano d’Orsi, an expert on the law and asylum seekers, provides insights into why Rwanda.’

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EIN Blog, 14th April 2022

Source: www.ein.org.uk

Rochdale grooming: Abused women receive police damages – BBC News

‘Three women who were groomed, raped and abused by gangs of men in Rochdale have received “substantial” damages and an apology from Greater Manchester Police.’

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BBC News, 12th April 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Edward Colston statue case sent to Court of Appeal – BBC News

‘The acquittal of four people on trial for toppling Bristol’s Edward Colston statue has prompted the attorney general to contact the Court of Appeal.’

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BBC News, 13th April 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

High court denies Met permission to challenge ruling on Sarah Everard vigil – The Guardian

‘The Metropolitan police has been refused permission for a “hopeless” appeal against a high court ruling that found the force breached the rights of organisers of a vigil for Sarah Everard in south London last year.’

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The Guardian, 11th April 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘Cruel’ move to deport charity worker from UK overruled – The Guardian

‘An immigration tribunal has overturned a “cruel and morally wrong” decision by the Home Office to deport a well-respected black charity volunteer who grew up in the UK.’

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The Guardian, 9th April 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

BBC blocked from naming alleged MI5 informant accused of abusing women – The Guardian

‘The BBC has been banned from identifying a “dangerous extremist and misogynist” who is allegedly an MI5 informant, after a high court judge granted an injunction.’

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The Guardian, 7th April 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

HS2 protestor’s conviction proportionate with human rights, High Court rules – OUT-LAW.com

‘The English and Welsh Divisional Court has found that it is proportionate to convict a protestor of trespass, providing potential reassurance to companies whose business is disrupted through protests.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 5th April 2022

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Liberty threatens to sue government over ‘racist’ joint enterprise law – The Guardian

‘The human rights group Liberty is threatening to sue the government and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) over the bitterly contested law of joint enterprise, arguing that it is discredited and racist in the way the authorities pursue it.’

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The Guardian, 7th April 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Profit making private providers of children’s care & breaches of Article 5 – Garden Court Chambers

‘For anyone concerned with the human rights of children AB (A Child: human rights) 2021 EWFC B100 is an essential read. The case concerned a 12-year-old boy, AB, who was placed under interim public law orders in foster care and then care homes run by Horizons Care Ltd. For several months, whilst awaiting a final hearing, AB had had his liberty restricted in a residential unit called Mill Cottage, in breach of his Article 5 rights.’

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Garden Court Chambers, 4th April 2022

Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk

Case Comment: R (on the application of Z) v Hackney LBC [2020] UKSC 40 – UKSC Blog

‘The narrow result of this appeal is that, on the facts, it was proportionate and lawful for a charity to restrict the allocation of its housing stock to Orthodox Jewish families. However, in reaching that conclusion, Lord Sales, giving the leading judgment, made a number of points of wider importance.’

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UKSC Blog, 4th April 2022

Source: ukscblog.com

‘Conversion therapy’: Ban to go-ahead but not cover trans people – BBC News

‘The government insists it will ban so-called conversion therapy for gay or bisexual people in England and Wales – but not for transgender people.’

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BBC News, 1st April 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

UK’s draft refugee and police laws are ‘human rights vandalism’, says Amnesty – The Guardian

Posted March 29th, 2022 in bills, human rights, news, police, refugees by sally

‘The government’s attack on fundamental rights and protections enshrined in UK law is an “act of human rights vandalism” that would curtail the ability of people to hold the state to account, Amnesty International has claimed.’

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The Guardian, 29th March 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

UK High Court rules blanket seizure of asylum seekers’ phones breached Article 8 ECHR – EIN Blog

‘On 25 March 2022, the UK High Court ruled that the Home Office acted unlawfully and breached human rights and data protection laws by operating a secret, blanket policy of seizing, retaining and extracting data from the mobile phones of asylum seekers arriving by small boat to UK shores between April and November 2020.’

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EIN Blog, 25th March 2022

Source: www.ein.org.uk

The Court of Protection and transparency – Local Government Lawyer

‘Lauren Gardner analyses a Court of Protection ruling on whether proceedings in relation to a 21-year-old woman should be open to the public and whether the judgment should be published.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 25th March 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk