Tag: ECHR
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Eleni Frantziou: Administrative Formalities and Collective Disenfranchisement: The Situation of EU Citizens in the UK #DeniedaVote during the European Parliament Elections 2019
Political attention over the last few days has shifted towards the composition of the newly elected European Parliament, leaving largely to one side reports that EU citizens were denied a vote during the recent EP election in the UK. While the number of affected citizens remains unclear at the time of writing, the question of…
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Anne Smith and Colin Harvey: Where Next for a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland?
On the 10 December 2018 we launched the findings of our research project funded by Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT) about the next steps for a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights. The 10 December 2018 was symbolic as it marked both the 10th anniversary of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s (NIHRC) advice to the…
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Lewis Graham: Hallam v Secretary of State: Under What Circumstances Can the Supreme Court Depart from Strasbourg Authority?
The Supreme Court recently handed down its decision in R (Hallam) v Secretary of State for Justice [2019] UKSC 2. It is an important and complex judgment, featuring seven separate judicial opinions and running to over 200 paragraphs. The central question was whether certain provisions of UK law concerning compensation for miscarriages of justice were…
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Jacob Rowbottom: Cakes, Gay Marriage and the Right against Compelled Speech
In the high-profile decision in Lee v Ashers, the Supreme Court had to consider a customer’s rights against discrimination along with the baker’s right to freedom of expression. In its finding for the baker, the Supreme Court took an important step in developing a domestic doctrine against ‘compelled speech’. While the outcome of the case…
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![Shona Wilson Stark: In Re Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s Application for Judicial Review [2018] UKSC 27: A Declaration in All but Name?](https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/shona-wilson-stark.jpg)
Shona Wilson Stark: In Re Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s Application for Judicial Review [2018] UKSC 27: A Declaration in All but Name?
All eyes were on the UK Supreme Court (UKSC) last week as it gave judgment in In Re Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s Application for Judicial Review [2018] UKSC 27, the case challenging the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) compatibility of Northern Ireland’s abortion legislation. Such a case is always bound to be headline-grabbing…
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Liora Lazarus: Do Human Rights Impede Effective Counterterrorism?
Theresa May and Keir Starmer disagree about whether human rights impede effective counterterrorism. Both bring experience at the coalface of this field, May as former Home Secretary, and Starmer as former DPP responsible for the prosecution of terrorist cases. Who is right? There is no point in pretending that human rights do not present legal…
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Anne Smith and Monica McWilliams: Now Is the Time to Re-open the Debate about Progressing the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights
Following the results of the Brexit referendum in the UK and the Conservative’s plans both to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights and to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights, this is an opportunity to re-open the debate on how best to address the current political stalemate on…
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Richard Clayton QC: New Directions for Article 10: Strasbourg Reverses the Supreme Court in Kennedy
The Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v Charity Commission was striking from many points of view. Mr Kennedy was a journalist frustrated by the way the Commission handled his allegations concerning George Galloway MP’s controversial Iraq charity, the Miriam Appeal. He applied for disclosure of documents under the Freedom of Information Act, arguing that a…
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Thomas Raine: The Value of Article 14 ECHR: The Supreme Court and the ‘Bedroom Tax’
Since it was introduced under the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2012, the removal of the spare room subsidy, or ‘bedroom tax’ as it is known, has been one of the most controversial aspects of the government’s welfare reform agenda. The policy determines the amount of housing benefit (HB) to which social sector tenants are entitled…
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Alison Young: Towards an Expository Justice Approach to Human Rights Adudication?
The recent Supreme Court Case of R (Johnson) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2016] UKSC 56, appears at first glance to be a straightforward human rights claim. Lady Hale, giving the agreed judgment of the court, concluded that Johnson’s Convention rights had been breached. Because of the specific nature of the challenge brought by…