The Regulation of Casual Work and the Problematical Idea of the ‘Zero Hours Contract’
There has of late been considerable public concern in the UK about the use of a kind of employment arrangement known as the ‘zero hours contract’. The essence of employment...
Omnipresent in the EU: Violence Against Women
The results of the world’s largest survey on women’s experiences of psychological, physical and sexual violence have shown that violence against women is a problem which exists at home, at...
Independent Review of Terrorism Laws: a Brief Introduction
Monitoring the activities of the secret state creates a conundrum. To be effective, a monitor needs to read and to know what is secret. But why should the monitor be...
The Oxford Legal Assistance Volunteer Partnership Programme with Bail for Immigration Detainees
In the 2013-2014 academic year, following the success of its existing link with award winning legal aid firm Turpin & Miller, Oxford Legal Assistance (‘OLA’) has engaged in a new...
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...
