Xinjiang Cotton and Corporate Criminal Liability under Hong Kong’s National Security Law
In recent months, rights experts have voiced increasing concern over reports of widespread human rights abuses and forced labour in Xinjiang. In turn, foreign governments have imposed economic sanctions on...
Mencap and Uber in the Supreme Court: Working Time Regulation in an Era of Casualisation
In recent weeks, two long-awaited UK Supreme Court judgments have offered strikingly divergent reflections on the meaning and parameters of working time. In Uber, the Court held a group of...
Saudi Arabia must protect financial rights of migrant workers
On 14 March, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, long known for the oppressive treatment of foreign workers, enacted a law awarding more rights to foreign workers. However, more than half...
For Whom the Bell Tolls: “Contract” in the Gig Economy
Are Uber drivers ‘limb (b) workers’ and so entitled to fundamental statutory rights such as the minimum wage and working time protections? In a decision of fundamental significance, six Justices...
Which workers and which unions can claim protection under freedom of association? The EU-Korea FTA Panel Decision Part II
This blog continues analysis of the EU-Korea FTA Expert Panel Report, focussing on the significance of the findings regarding ‘Freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to...
Asserting Jurisdiction to Assess Compliance with ‘Multilateral labour standards and agreements’ – The EU-Korea FTA Panel Decision
On 25 January 2021, the European Union (EU) and the Republic of Korea (Korea) released the Report by a Panel of Experts (the Panel Report) on matters raised under the...
South African Constitutional Court declares exclusion of domestic workers from occupational injury legislation to be unconstitutional
On 20 November 2020, the South African Constitutional Court delivered judgment in Mahlangu v Minister of Labour (“Mahlangu”). This case concerned the constitutionality of barring private domestic workers (or their...
A historical precedent: IACtHR recognizes breach of the right to equality and non-discrimination in the enjoyment of a socioeconomic right on intersectional grounds of gender, poverty and race in Fireworks Factory case
In July 2019, I wrote a blog post introducing the main arguments presented to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) through an amicus curiae brief. The case concerned Brazil’s...
Uber v Heller and the Prospects for a Transnational Judicial Dialogue on the Gig Economy – II
In the coming days, labour lawyers from around the world will be tuning in to watch the arguments in Uber v Aslam. In terms of the wider ramifications of the...
Uber v Heller and the Prospects for a Transnational Judicial Dialogue on the Gig Economy – I
Across the world, Gig employers are now facing a legal reckoning in the highest courts. On 21st July, the issue of whether Uber drivers are ‘workers’ will be considered by...
Problems with prevailing defences for the repurposing of apartheid-legacy laws to discriminate against non-citizens
In 1964, the apartheid regime in South Africa introduced a new requirement for non-citizens seeking entry into the legal profession. To practice law, non-citizens had to acquire a permanent residence...
Suspension of Labour Laws in Uttar Pradesh Amidst COVID-19: A Fundamental Rights Emergency?
On May 6, 2020, the Uttar Pradesh government, suspended 35 out of 38 labour laws in the state for three years by enabling the Uttar Pradesh (Temporary Exemptions from Certain...
