United Kingdom

New UK Ministry of Defence proposals risk impunity

In July 2019, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) made a series of proposals on Legal Protections for Armed Forces Personnel and Veterans serving in operations outside the United Kingdom,...

From contract to role: using human rights to widen the personal scope of employment protections

The UK Supreme Court’s judgment in Gilham demonstrates how human rights can be used to widen the class of individuals who benefit from employment rights (the “personal scope” of the...

The UK Supreme Court’s “One Off” Judgment

It was a “one off”. A conclusive determination on a series of seismic constitutional clashes: representative democracy versus direct democracy, the executive versus Parliament, and the role of the Court...

The Four Categories of Risk to Rights in the Brexit Process

Writing only weeks before the (re)scheduled date of UK withdrawal from the EU, there seems little of which to be certain: it is still uncertain whether the UK will withdraw...

Organ Donation: New Law, New Horizons

The Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Act 2019 became law on 15th March 2019 and introduces a new system of organ donation for England. The new law in England will be...

Police Use of Automated Facial Recognition Technology: an Emerging Challenge for Human Rights

Earlier this week, the High Court at Cardiff held that police use of automated facial recognition technology (AFR) is lawful. This is the first time that any court in the...

Prorogation: Three Assumptions

Litigation is often predicated on certain assumptions. These may be the result of argumentation of the parties, the reasoning of the courts or an admixture of the two. The assumptions...

Prorogation: Constitutional Principle and Law, Fact and Causation

The Prime Minister’s recent announcement that Parliament would be prorogued, thereby severely curtailing the opportunity for parliamentary debate, raises important issues of constitutional principle and law, and also issues concerning...

Playing Hardball with the Queen

The idea of constitutional hardball was introduced to the world by Mark Tushnet. The sport is played when political actors decide the stakes are so high that any lawful action...

NDAs in Discrimination Cases: UK Women and Equalities Select Committee Report & Collective/Individual Justice Dilemmas

In June 2019 the UK Parliament’s Women and Equalities Select Committee (‘WESC’) published a report on the use of non-disclosure agreements (‘NDAs’) in discrimination cases, focussing on settlement. This built...

Updates on the Modern Slavery Act 2015: government showing signs of long-awaited leadership

In the past year, the UK government has made unprecedented efforts to increase its engagement with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA). Commentators have long criticised the Act for not...

Poverty in the UK is violating human rights. What’s next?

Last week, we presented the findings of our investigation into poverty in the United Kingdom to the UN Human Rights Council. Some have asked why the UN Special Rapporteur on...