Griffiths v Department of Work and Pensions: Adjusting Reasonable Adjustments
What is it that UK courts don’t get about positive treatment in discrimination law? A book could be written on the historical wrong turns they’ve been persuaded to take over...
Advocating Legal Reform: The UK Transgender Equality Inquiry
In the United Kingdom (UK), the House of Commons Select Committee on Women and Equalities is currently undertaking an inquiry into the equality status of transgender (trans) persons. Among the...
A judicial ‘Plan B’? Dinah Rose QC on the Common Law in a post-UK Human Rights Act world
In recent weeks the Blog has covered the latest events at which proponents of the UK’s Human Rights Act 1998 (including Dominic Grieve QC MP and Sir Keir Starmer QC)...
Sir Keir Starmer’s Blackstone Lecture: “Human Rights: Can Britain go it Alone? And Should We?”
On 21st November, the annual Blackstone Lecture at Pembroke College was delivered by Sir Keir Starmer, the well known human rights barrister and former Director of Public Prosecutions turned Labour...
Will There be Any Women in Fifty Years Time, Lord Sumption?
In September of this year, Lord Sumption, a Justice of the United Kingdom Supreme Court caused consternation by issuing a dire warning that a rush to equality could have “appalling...
The Draft Investigatory Powers Bill: A (Somewhat) Different Balance Between Privacy and Security
Recently it seems as though you can hardly get away from government mass surveillance programs (no pun intended). They even make an appearance in the latest James Bond film (as...
Dominic Grieve on the Human Rights Act: St Hugh’s College, Oxford—13 November 2015
The Human Rights Act (HRA) is one of the most significant pieces of constitutional reform in Britain. Certain sections of the Conservative Party, though, enthusiastically encouraged by parts of the...
The Mau Mau Litigation – Justice at Last
It is rare for the British Government to apologise for state sponsored human rights abuses, particularly if they took place over 50 years ago. But in September 2015 the British...
UK and the Assisted Dying Bill: Autonomy in Death Continues to Wait Its Turn
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...
UNISON v Lord Chancellor: The Statistics of Tribunal Fees in the Court of Appeal
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...
In Memory of Bob Hepple
It is with a heavy heart that I write to say farewell to Bob Hepple, who died in the early hours of Friday 21st August. There will be time for...
Zero-Tolerance for Severe Forms of Labour Exploitation in the UK
In June 2015, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published the results of research conducted in 21 European Member States that considers the nature of, and responses to, severe...