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Louis Tran Van Lieu - 20th October 2017
This week the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in Reyes v Al-Malki, allowing the appeal, and in doing so, drawing on a report Oxford Pro Bono Publico (OPBP) prepared for the benefit of Kalayaan, an organization working to protect the rights of migrant domestic workers in the UK, which intervened in the proceeding. Ms […]
Abigail Adams and Jeremias Prassl - 26th July 2017
‘We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.’ (Magna Carta, cl XXXIX) Access to justice lies at the very core of the Rule of Law, as the Supreme Court’s decision in Unison v Lord Chancellor reminded the UK government this morning. The Justices were […]
Godfrey Mwango - 19th July 2017
For a long time, the law on contempt of court in Kenya was outdated and quite unsatisfactory. However, Kenya recently enacted the Contempt of Court Act, Act No 46 of 2016 (‘the Act’) to reflect and conform to Article 50 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, which contains the right to a fair hearing. The […]
George G. Chen - 6th March 2017
China’s new system of circuit tribunals makes access to the justice system more convenient for ordinary citizens. But the new tribunals also make sure that the Communist Party retains firm control over the judiciary. Chinese citizens no longer need to travel far to bring a lawsuit to the Supreme People’s Court. On 21 January 2017, […]
Liz Curran - 28th November 2016
If human rights are to meaningfully alleviate poverty, we must factor in the day to day need for legal advice services. Even where there is no court or tribunal case involved, access to legal advice can be critical. It can save mistakes being made, help people understand their rights and responsibilities, and lead to early […]
Avani Bansal - 10th November 2016
‘The Law’ is not a mystical animal, rather it is a living reality that every human being has to engage with. It only makes sense if the law is simple enough for a lay-person to understand, comprehend, and engage with ease. But the lack of legal awareness, the legalese in which most laws are couched, […]
Lewis Graham - 25th October 2016
The European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) recently handed down its long-awaited admissibility decision in Ahmed v United Kingdom. It unanimously declared that the defendant’s claim, that at least one juror participating in his trial had unlawfully disclosed confidential information to far-right media sources, was ill-founded, and consequently, neither his right to a fair trial […]
Marianne Hrdlicka - 15th August 2016
By starting off with a made up case of forced disappearance that led our made up victim to flee to another country away from his captors, Judge Donoghue demonstrated the single most difficult thing in cases involving human rights violations: access to evidence. Just like a local trial judge, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) […]
Thabang Pooe - 14th June 2016
In a landmark ruling handed down on 13 May 2016, the full bench of the South Gauteng High Court in South Africa granted approval for a class action brought by former and current mineworkers and their dependents against 32 gold mining companies comprising the entire South African gold mining industry to proceed. The class action […]
Peris Jones - 13th May 2016
On 26 April 2016, the end of the longest jury case in British legal history saw the families and supporters of the Hillsborough Family Support Group (HFSG) and Hillsborough Justice Campaign emerge finally triumphant in their determined fight to establish the truth about what happened during a football disaster in 1989. 96 fans of Liverpool […]
Sakshi Aravind - 17th September 2015
Last week, the Assisted Dying (No.2) Bill (‘the Bill’) was rejected by 330 to 118 in a historic vote in the House of Commons. The Bill was the first ever serious attempt to reform the law related to assisted suicide in the UK. While it is not an offence to commit or attempt to commit […]
Michael Ford - 8th September 2015
As discussed previously on the Blog, fees in the employment tribunal were introduced across England, Wales and Scotland in July 2013, requiring a claimant to pay fees when presenting a claim and before a hearing. The figures accepted by the Court of Appeal in its recent judgment on the judicial review brought by UNISON, which […]