The UKCLA Blog
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Michael Foran: Human Rights, Gender Recognition and Single-Sex Spaces
In For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers, the Supreme Court held that references to ‘sex’ in the Equality Act 2010 pertained to biological sex. In doing so, it affirmed the default common law position, first explicitly stated in Corbett v Corbett and later upheld in Bellinger v Bellinger, that sex means biological sex unless legislation otherwise dictates. The Gender…
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Joel Hames and Emma-Jane Faulkner: Frustrating Liberty: Habeas Corpus, the Right to Trial, and Palestine Action Remand Prisoners
Introduction ‘It manifestly appeareth, that no man ought be imprisoned but for some certain cause: and these words, Ad subjiciend’ Et recipiend, prove that cause must be shewed: for otherwise how can the Court take order therein according to Law’ (Edward Coke, The Second Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England). These are…
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Mike Gordon: The Mandelson Scandal and the Prime Minister: Investigating a Breach of the Ministerial Code
The scandal erupting in relation to the latest revelations about Peter Mandelson’s relationship with the multi-millionaire convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison awaiting trial for a litany of further sex trafficking offences, has become one of the biggest in modern British political history. Having been sacked from his post as US…
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David Erdos: Lost in Inaction? The Statutory Reports on Media Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Editors’ note: This post was originally published on 12 February 2025 Section 179 of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 places the Secretary of State under a duty to ensure that a Report is “la[id] before Parliament” on both the “use” and “effectiveness” of “relevant alternative dispute resolution procedures” in cases involving actual or alleged failures by media organisations, other than broadcasters, “to comply with…
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Announcements: Public Law Lecture 2026/ Public Law Call for Guest Editors
Public Law Lecture 2026: The 2026 annual Public Law lecture will be delivered by Lord Justice Singh on the topic “Substantive Principles of Public Law: What Happened after 1987?” The event will be held at the London School of Economics on 11th March, from 5.30pm. The lecture will reflect on Jowell and Lester’s influential Public Law article, “Beyond Wednesbury: Substantive Principles of…
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Announcement: UKCLA Blog Editorial Team
Professor Mike Gordon is stepping down as one of the editors of the UK Constitutional Law Association Blog, having served in the role for the last six years. Se-shauna and I would like to thank Mike very much indeed both for bringing us on board and for his work on the blog both before and…
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Conference Announcement & Call for Papers: ‘The Legacy of Brexit and the Changing Political Landscape’
Dates: Thursday 25th June – Friday 26th June 2026 Location: University of Worcester, UK. The co-convenors of the Society of Legal Scholars Public Law section are delighted to announce a two-day, in-person conference at the University of Worcester. The conference, which is supported by the Society of Legal Scholars Subject Section Fund, will explore the…
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Nathan Whetton: Civil Disobedience, Protest and the Jury Trial Reforms
On 2 December 2025, the Lord Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy announced significant reforms to criminal trials in England and Wales. Defending his proposals on the BBC Sunday programme on 4 January 2026, Lammy justified restricting jury trial on the basis of his strong sense of justice, explicitly pointing to the fact he had a photograph…
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Ananya Kumar-Banerjee: The Tameside Duty Under the Adults At Risk Policy
In addition to challenging the role of the European Court of Human Rights in immigration issues, the current Secretary of State for the Home Department (“SSHD”) has proposed limits to the domestic judiciary’s role as regards immigration decisions. Despite this, the judiciary’s role overseeing the SSHD’s decisions in regard to detention of migrants remains significant. A recent…
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Hal McNulty: Forgetting Our Democratic Settlement: Lammy’s Plan to Curb Jury Trials
“I honestly think if I hadn’t had those normal people to basically say, ‘You gotta be joking, no way did this guy do anything wrong’, I’d be finished” (recent defendant Jamie Michael, commenting on his jury acquittal). The Justice Secretary’s proposal to restrict the use of jury trials has been met with furious opposition from all sides. So far,…