Amnesty International - Annual Report - critical of UK

Amnesty International, in its annual report for 2023-24, claims that the UK is weakening human rights protections both nationally and globally.

Flagrant rule-breaking by governments and corporate actors (amnesty.org).

The UK section of the report commences at page 390 and contains much that should be of considerable concern to anyone concerned with protection of human rights. 

Will human rights in the UK continue to have the strong protection that currently exists? The UK is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights and convention rights are woven into domestic law as a result of the Human Rights Act 1998.

There is sound reason

A note on the enactment of the Safety of Rwanda Act

'Every decision-maker must conclusively treat the Republic of Rwanda as a safe country.'

So states section 2 of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 (legislation.gov.uk) which received Royal Assent on 25 April 2024.

The passage of the Act was met with a brief statement from No 10 Downing Street - PM statement on Safety of Rwanda Bill: 23 April 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

As a Bill it received considerable criticism both within Parliament (especially the House of Lords) and from international bodies - e.g.

UK: Rwanda Bill threatens to undermine independence of judiciary, UN experts say | OHCHR

Serious human rights concerns about United Kingdom’s Rwanda Bill - Portal (coe.int)

The legislation results from

Do juries have an absolute right to acquit a defendant?

Updated Monday 22 April 2024

Do jurors in criminal cases actually have a right to decide a case against the weight of the evidence or, as it is often phrased, "according to conscience" or "jury equity"?

Historically, Bushel's Case (1670) 124 ER 1006  has been thought to have decided that they may

BUT

Each juror either swears or affirms an oath to 'faithfully try the defendant and give a true verdict according to the evidence."

Claiming to be protecting the public interest in the administration of justice, the Attorney-General is seeking to bring contempt of court proceedings against Trudi Warner because, outside a Crown Court venue, she held the sign shown above. The Attorney argues

R v Hayes and Palombo ~ LIBOR banking back in the news

   Almost 12 years ago, this blog discussed the 'LIBOR banking' situation and noted that the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) was then close to bringing criminal charges.

By way of a brief reminder, LIBOR was the abbreviation for the London Interbank Offered Rate. Money market traders found themselves able to earn money for their bank (and, through their personal pay structure, for themselves) by subtle manipulations of the rate.  Very small alterations in the rate equated to considerable sums of money.  The process was well described by Alex Bailin QC (now KC) in The Guardian 4th July 2012 The Law catches up with LIBOR

In 2015,

Criminal Damage Act 1971 - damage caused by protesters and the defence of lawful excuse

The Criminal Damage Act 1971 was enacted to 'revise the law of England and Wales as to offences of damage to property ...'  First, a bit of history ...

History:

The Act was the product of the Law Commission's work (Report 29 published 23 July 1970) which, at the time, was part of a process of revising the criminal law with a view ultimately to codification. The latter has not been achieved. A link to the Commission's report is below.

The House of Lords Second Reading on the Criminal Damage Bill is worth reading for the succinct speech of Lord Hailsham (then Lord Chancellor), setting out the purpose of the Bill - Criminal Damage Bill Hl - Hansard - UK Parliament. 

The Law Commission reported

Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill

Today (13 March), the government introduced the Bill to - 'Provide for the quashing of convictions in England and Wales for certain offences alleged to have been committed while the Horizon system was in use by the Post Office; to make provision about the deletion of cautions given in England and Wales for such offences; and for connected purposes.'

Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill - Parliamentary Bills - UK Parliament

Explanatory Notes (pdf) - Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (parliament.uk)

Previous post 23 February - Law and Lawyers: Post Office ~ Horizon ~ proposed legislation (obiterj.blogspot.com)

Ministers introduce bill to quash convictions of Horizon scandal victims | Post Office Horizon scandal | The Guardian

Shamima Begum ~ deprivation of citizenship

Was the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) correct to conclude that the decision (of the Home Secretary) to deprive Shamima Begum of British citizenship was lawful. Yes said the Court of Appeal (Civil Division). 

The judgment and a summary are available at - Shamima Begum -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 

The court's constitution was The Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales, Lord Justice Bean and Lady Justice Whipple. The decision was unanimous. 

The court commented - "It could be argued that the decision in Ms Begum’s case was harsh; it could also be argued that Ms Begum is the author of her own misfortune. But it is not for the court to agree or disagree with either point of view. The only task of the Court was to assess whether the deprivation decision was unlawful. Since it was not, Ms Begum’s appeal is dismissed."

Begum v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWCA Civ 152 (23 February 2024) (bailii.org)

Shamima Begum citizenship ruling at Court of Appeal - YouTube

23 February 2024

Post Office ~ Horizon ~ proposed legislation

A Bill will be introduced by the government to "make sure that those convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal, which began in the 1990s, are swiftly exonerated and compensated" - see the Written statement 22 February 2024

The government claims that the planned legislation "does not set a precedent for the future relationship between the executive, Parliament and the judiciary"  but "the scale and circumstances of this prosecutorial misconduct demands an exceptional response."

It is obvious enough that the government has, in this election year, been spurred into action

Ireland v UK ~ challenge by Ireland to UK primary legislation

Updated 29 February 2024 - DILLON case (High Court Northern Ireland)

Ireland has instituted an inter-State action against the United Kingdom - New inter-State application brought by Ireland against the United Kingdom - ECHR - ECHR / CEDH (coe.int)

The application is a challenge to sections of the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act 2023, which received Royal Assent on 18 September 2023. See also the Explanatory Notes issued by the UK government. 

The European Convention on Human Rights enables Ireland to seek enforcement of human rights no matter who holds power at either Westminster or Belfast. Human rights  underpin much of the 1998 Belfast (“Good Friday”) Agreement. 

This is one to keep an eye on although it is perhaps unlikely that much will happen before the next UK general election.

The European Court of Human Rights Press Release provides fuller details .....

UKSC - Paul and others v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust - Tort - Negligence

This post is an early look at the Supreme Court's decision in Paul and another (Appellants) v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (Respondent) - The Supreme Court which considered the question - "Can an individual make a claim for psychiatric injury caused by witnessing the death or other horrifying event of a close relative as a result of earlier clinical negligence?"

Tort:

The law of tort is largely judge-made and is often traceable back for centuries. There have been only occasional interventions by Parliament. Claims for damages in tort frequently arise where a claimant (C) argues that a particular defendant (D) owed C a duty of care and that D negligently breached that duty thereby causing reasonably foreseeable damage (e.g. personal injury) to C.

In some situations the liability of D may be relatively easy to establish but there are particular situations where that is far from being the case. In those particular situations, a claimant

Happy New Year 2024

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2024 to all who visit this blog and it is good to note that a considerable number still do,

The blog is still alive but posts will not be all that frequent because I now wish to  confine things to issues of major importance or significance. 

The first of those is likely to be the Supreme Court's judgment in Paul and another v Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (UKSC News) about whether an individual can make a claim for psychiatric injury caused by witnessing the death or other horrifying event of a close relative as a result of earlier clinical negligence?

My Twitter (X) account remains active but I have decided that I will not usually engage in discussion on the platform.

Here's to a great New Year and let's hope that various conflicts around the world can be resolved.