From Torment to Tolerance and Acceptance to the Everyday: The Course of LGBT Equality in the UK
Colonisation is a dodgy business. Laws are mainstreamed across the Empire. So what did the Romans, keen to distance themselves from their pre-Christian roots, ever do for gay men? They...
Throwing Away The Key – Whole Life Sentences in the Court of Appeal
Flouting the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Vinter v UK, the UK Court of Appeal has held that whole life sentences do not violate Article...
The worrisome casual approach to (dis)enfranchisement
Lord Phillips’ recent lecture at Oxford (entitled ‘The Elastic Jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights’) critiqued, inter alia, the application by the Strasbourg court of its long-standing ‘living...
No Compromise on the Right to Adequate Housing: UN Condemnation of UK Austerity Measures
Statements made by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on adequate housing, following her visit to the UK in September, clearly indicated that her ultimate report on the housing situation would...
Court of Appeal Affirms Ability to Pass Whole Life Tariffs for Murder
A specially constituted five-member Court of Appeal has ruled unanimously in R v McLoughlin that the imposition of a ‘whole life order’ for murder not does violate Article 3 ECHR....
Managing Secrecy: R (Miranda) v SSHD
Much has already been written about the implications of R (Miranda) v Secretary of State for the Home Department for Schedule 7 Terrorism Act 2007. However, leaving that to one...
Scotland's Gay Rights Journey
On 4 February 2014, MSPs passed the SNP government’s Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill into law, 105 votes to 18. Exemplifying the disunities of contemporary UK politics, the Scottish...
New employment tribunal fees and discrimination: UNISON v Lord Chancellor; Equality and Human Rights Commission
The High Court (Moses LJ, Irwin J) today delivered judgment in the important judicial review proceedings brought by UNISON to challenge the fees regime introduced in the employment tribunal and...
Not reaping the benefits: the United Kingdom’s continuing violation of Article 12§1 of the European Social Charter
On 29 January 2014, the European Committee of Social Rights found, yet again, that the United Kingdom is in violation of Article 12§1 of the European Social Charter (‘the Charter’)....
The New Barbarians: Bulgarians and Romanians at the Gate!
Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, is reputed to have said: ‘If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to...
Prosecuting in the Public Interest: CPS Guidelines from Assisted Suicide to Social Media
Although the DPP’s consent is required before a prosecution for assisted suicide can be brought, the discretion whether to prosecute or not exists in all cases. In this post, drawn...
XYZ or HJ: How do EU and UK refugee law stack up on identity issues?
The purpose of refugee law is to give sanctuary to people fleeing persecution because of some aspect of their identity. But to what extent, if at all, should people be...
