Research lays bare Bar’s gender and ethnicity pay gap – Legal Futures

‘Female barristers and those from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are likely to earn less than male and White counterparts by every measure, new research has found.’

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Legal Futures, 6th November 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Bar Council: Positive action like ‘preferential briefing’ can aid diversity – Legal Futures

Posted October 7th, 2020 in barristers, diversity, equality, news, pupillage, sex discrimination, women by tracey

‘Positive action – such as giving female barristers preferential access to briefs after returning to chambers from career breaks – can bring about real change in addressing under-representation at the Bar, the Bar Council has said.’

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Legal Futures, 7th October 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Misogyny ‘should become a hate crime in England and Wales’ – The Guardian

‘Misogyny should be made a hate crime in England and Wales, according to the independent body that recommends legal changes, as part of an overhaul of legislation.’

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The Guardian, 23rd September 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Gender-fluid engineer wins landmark UK discrimination case – The Guardian

‘Judge decides that there is protection for non-binary people under the Equality Act.’

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The Guardian, 17th September 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Women lose court of appeal challenge against UK pension change – The Guardian

Posted September 15th, 2020 in age discrimination, appeals, news, pensions, sex discrimination, women by tracey

‘Increasing the age at which women born in the UK in the 1950s are entitled to receive their state pension to 66 is lawful, the court of appeal has ruled. The unanimous judgment is a major setback for campaigners who have argued that the government’s changes will be a “disaster” for those on lower incomes.’

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The Guardian, 15th September 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Women hit by state pension age rise are ‘sick with anxiety’ ahead of Court of Appeal judgment – The Independent

Posted September 15th, 2020 in age discrimination, appeals, coronavirus, news, pensions, sex discrimination, women by tracey

‘Women hit by the state pension age rise are “sick with anxiety” as they wait for their Court of Appeal judgment to be handed down on Tuesday.’

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The Independent, 14th September 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Garrick Club faces legal battle over ‘gentleman-only policy’ – BBC News

Posted September 10th, 2020 in clubs, news, sex discrimination by sally

‘An entrepreneur is challenging a London private member’s club over its “gentlemen-only” membership policy.’

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BBC News, 9th September 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Ensuring the lawfulness of automated facial recognition surveillance in the UK – Oxford Human Rights Hub

‘In R(Bridges) v South Wales Police, the England and Wales Court of Appeal reviewed the lawfulness of the use of live automated facial recognition technology (‘AFR’) by the South Wales Police Force. CCTV camera­­s capture images of the public, which are then compared with digital images of persons on a watchlist.’

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Oxford Human Rights Hub, 3rd September 2020

Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk

GMB union institutionally sexist, inquiry finds – The Guardian

‘One of Britain’s biggest trade unions has been described as “institutionally sexist” in a highly critical independent report.

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The Guardian, 3rd September 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Benefit claimants face landlord discrimination despite ruling – BBC News

‘Thousands of landlords are trying to avoid renting their properties to benefit claimants, despite a judge ruling a blanket ban was unlawful.’

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BBC News, 28th August 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Mayor defeats Court of Appeal challenge to removal of congestion charge exemption from minicab drivers – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Court of Appeal has found for the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in a case brought by minicab drivers, despite judges being troubled by aspects of his actions.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 13th August 2020

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Facial Recognition Technology not “In Accordance with Law” – UK Human Rights Blog

‘The Court of Appeal, overturning a Divisional Court decision, has found the use of a facial recognition surveillance tool used by South Wales Police to be in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The case was brought by Liberty on behalf of privacy and civil liberties campaigner Ed Bridges. The appeal was upheld on the basis that the interference with Article 8 of the ECHR, which guarantees a right to privacy and family life, was not “in accordance with law” due to an insufficient legal framework. However, the court found that, had it been in accordance with law, the interference caused by the use of facial recognition technology would not have been disproportionate to the goal of preventing crime. The court also found that Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) was deficient, and that the South Wales Police (SWP), who operated the technology, had not fulfilled their Public Sector Equality Duty.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 13th August 2020

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Police’s Automated Facial Recognition Deployments Ruled Unlawful by the Court of Appeal – Doughty Street Chambers

‘R. (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales [2020] EWCA Civ 1058 [2020] 8 WLUK 64 is thought to be the first case in the world to consider the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement agencies. In this short article, we explore the judgment and its implications for the deployment of these and similar technologies in future.’

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Doughty Street Chambers, 12th August 2020

Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk

Let’s face it: use of automated facial recognition technology by the police – UK Police Law Blog

‘The case of R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of South Wales Police & Information Commissioner [2020] EWCA Civ 1058 (handed down on 11 August 2020) was an appeal from what is said to have been the first claim brought before a court anywhere on planet earth concerning the use by police of automated facial recognition (“AFR”) technology. There could be nothing wrong with posting scores of police officers with eidetic memories to look out for up to a 800 wanted persons at public gatherings. So why not use a powerful computer, capable of matching 50 faces a second with a database of (under) 800 suspects, to do this job much more cheaply and instantaneously, flagging any matches to a human operator for final assessment? According to the Court of Appeal in Bridges, this system constitutes an interference with Article 8 rights which is not such as is in accordance with the law, but which (critically) would be proportionate if a sufficiently narrow local policy were framed.’

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UK Police Law Blog, 11th August 2020

Source: ukpolicelawblog.com

South Wales police lose landmark facial recognition case – The Guardian

‘Campaigners are calling for South Wales police and other forces to stop using facial recognition technology after the court of appeal ruled that its use breached privacy rights and broke equalities law.’

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The Guardian, 11th August 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Discrimination and ‘No DSS’ – Nearly Legal

‘As we have seen before, Shelter have been supporting discrimination claims under the Equality Act 2010 against letting agents who operate a ‘No DSS’ policy (meaning a refusal to even consider people claiming housing related benefits – who are often employed – as applicants for tenancies. The DSS ceased to exist in 2001, which suggests how longstanding this issue is). These claims all settled out of court. Now a claim has gone to judgment.’

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Nearly Legal, 14th July 2020

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

‘No DSS’ letting bans ‘ruled unlawful’ by court – BBC News

‘A judge has ruled that blanket bans on renting properties to people on housing benefit are unlawful and discriminatory. The “momentous” court ruling found a single mother-of-two had experienced indirect discrimination when a letting agent refused to rent to her.’

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BBC News, 14th July 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Denial of women’s concerns contributed to decades of medical scandals, says inquiry – The Guardian

Posted July 8th, 2020 in equality, inquiries, medical treatment, news, sex discrimination, women by sally

‘An arrogant culture in which serious medical complications were dismissed as “women’s problems” contributed to a string of healthcare scandals over several decades, an inquiry ordered by the government has found.’

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The Guardian, 8th July 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Top female lawyers’ careers squeezed by bias and harassment – Legal Futures

‘The role of discrimination on the part of both general counsel and clients in disadvantaging female lawyers was revealed yesterday by a survey on improving diversity at partner level in law firms.’

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Legal Futures, 1st July 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Solicitor claimant backtracks on request for male judge – Legal Futures

‘An employment tribunal has rejected claims of bias by a solicitor claimant who asked and then retracted a request to replace a female judge with a male one.’

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Legal Futures, 23rd June 2020

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk