In the Grand Chamber judgment in the case of S.A.S. v. France, the European Court of Human Rights held, by a majority, that Law no. 2010-1192 of 11 October 2010...
SAS v France in Context: the margin of appreciation doctrine and protection of minorities
In SAS v France the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that a French law prohibiting the concealment of the face in public places did...
Conform or be confined: S.A.S. v France
The European Court of Human Rights ruled on 1st July that France’s ban on face coverings, known as the burqa-ban, does not breach the European Convention on Human Rights. The...
European Legal Aid in a Domestic Framework – Part Two
As hinted in yesterday’s post, under section 4 of LASPO, The Lord Chancellor provided guidance on how to decide exceptional case funding applications made to the Legal Aid Agency. The...
A European Right to Legal Aid? Part One
A key aspect of the Government’s reform agenda regarding civil legal aid is the restriction, set out in Schedule 1 to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act...
McDonald v UK: The ECtHR on Social Care Provision
So did Ms McDonald OBE, former ballerina, win her case in the European Court of Human Rights (McDonald v UK) or not? The Guardian on 20 May 2014 said: “European...
Cyprus v Turkey: Arming the European Court against States’ Complacency?
The European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) recently handed down judgment in Cyprus v Turkey. This case, the first to award damages to an applicant government in an inter-State case,...
RMT v United Kingdom: Sympathy Strikes and the European Court of Human Rights
In RMT v United Kingdom the European Court of Human Rights held that the ban on secondary action in the United Kingdom was a justified interference with the right to...
Inspiring Change Through Law for International Women’s Day
March 8th is International Women’s Day, formally observed by the United Nations in recognition of the fact that ‘securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights...
Migrant ‘Push Backs’ at Sea are Prohibited ‘Collective Expulsions’
In the early hours of 20 January 2014, a boat coming from Turkey carrying twenty-seven Afghan and Syrian migrants was intercepted by the Greek coast guard near the isle...
Judicial Review of Migrant Detention in Europe: In Search of Effectiveness and Speediness
Detention has been highlighted in recent years by a number of international and non-governmental organisations as an ineffective and inefficient tool of migration control employed by a large number...
Jones and Others v UK: Immunity or Impunity?
The recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Jones and Others v UK represents a missed opportunity to take a lead in developments in international law concerning...