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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 […]
Meghan Campbell - 19th August 2015
In its last session, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW Committee) released its thirty-third General Recommendation on women’s access to justice. This blog has detailed the developments around the world that have significantly impeded the individual’s right to access justice. Given that both men and women are disadvantaged by cuts to […]
Mohammad Nayyeri - 14th July 2015
Under Iran’s new Criminal Procedure Code only lawyers pre-approved by the Head of the Judiciary may intervene during the investigation stage in security related cases. This is a huge blow to the already embattled right to counsel in Iran and violates the right of accused persons to instruct independent legal counsel of their own choosing. […]
Catherine Briddick - 18th June 2015
The case concerns a challenge, brought by Detention Action in the High Court of England and Wales (and the latest in a series of challenges), to the legality of the detained appeal process created by the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Rules 2014 SI 2014 No. 2604 (the FTT Rules). In most […]
Helen Taylor - 11th June 2015
Success for Oxford Pro Bono Publico and the Legal Resources Centre as the South African Supreme Court of Appeal affirms the principle of open justice in City of Cape Town v South African National Roads Authority Limited & others (20786/14) [2015] ZASCA 58. The public administration of justice is a long-established principle of the common […]
Julia Salasky - 9th June 2015
What is the future of human rights and public interest litigation? At the moment we are confronting existential threats to the Human Rights Act, judicial review and legal aid. These changes to law and policy, ranging from the overt to the subtle, impinge fundamentally on normal people’s ability to access justice, to challenge government decisions […]
Mathias Cheung - 19th March 2015
On 9th March 2015, the Civil Proceedings and Family Proceedings Fees (Amendment) Order 2015 came into force in England and Wales and introduced ‘enhanced’ court fees – enhanced in the quantitative but not the qualitative sense. The Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling, has added yet another crowning jewel to his arsenal of justice-axing statutory instruments. Mr […]
Bob Hepple - 9th March 2015
In the second instalment of Professor Sir Bob Hepple’s ‘Equality Agenda in 2015’ series, the focus turns to the impact of the recent introduction of employment tribunal fees. What might be done to reduce the cost of tribunals to the taxpayer while still ensuring access to justice? This year is the 800th anniversary of Magna […]
Liz Curran - 16th January 2015
In the past decade or more in Australia, creeping managerialism and efforts to reduce funding of services under the guise of ‘fiscal belt tightening’ and efficiency have threatened and sometimes jeopardised the effectiveness of the legal system in being able to respond to community need. The Australian Productivity Commission’s Final Report on ‘Access to Justice […]