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Defending Press Freedom in the Investigation into Private Lives
Read more: Defending Press Freedom in the Investigation into Private LivesIn Baroness Lawrence and others v Associated Newspapers [2026] EWHC 1637 (KB), the High Court dismissed an action brought in the tort of misuse of private information by Baroness Lawrence and other public figures (including the Duchess of Sussex and Sir Elton John) against Associated Newspapers (Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday). The basis of the case was that the newspapers and staff at Associated Newspapers had used unlawful means…
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High Court rules that Palestine Action proscription was unlawful
Read more: High Court rules that Palestine Action proscription was unlawfulThe High Court last week held that the Home Secretary had acted unlawfully in proscribing (banning) the action group Palestine Action under s.1 of the Terrorism Act 2000: Ammori v Secretary of State for the Home Department, 13 February 2026. Nonetheless, the effect of that proscription will remain in place until the end of February, when a further hearing will take place to discuss what happened next, including the possibility…
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Stolen childhoods behind closed doors: the hidden reality of child domestic labour in Pakistan
Read more: Stolen childhoods behind closed doors: the hidden reality of child domestic labour in PakistanDomestic work is one of the oldest and socially acceptable form of informal labour for women and the girl child in the informal labour sector. While no consolidated official statistics are available, the International Labour Organization (ILO) estimated that there were at least 8.5 million domestic workers in Pakistan.[1]The number is likely much higher, considering the difficulty of accounting for informal labour in the private sphere. Pakistan is one of…
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Deprivation of Citizenship Today: Between Globalisation and the State
Read more: Deprivation of Citizenship Today: Between Globalisation and the State“The fundamental deprivation of human rights is manifested first and above all in the deprivation of a place in the world which makes opinions significant and actions effective.” – Hannah Arendt, (Origins of Totalitarianism, 2017, 387-388). These profound words by Hannah Arendt frame the central concern of the current practices on citizenship with increasing deprivation decisions. Deprivation of citizenship represents one of the exceptional power’s states can exercise today. Particularly…
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Clause and Effect: a Legal Nightmare Before Christmas
Read more: Clause and Effect: a Legal Nightmare Before ChristmasLast week, one of the authors of this blog was watching The Santa Clause – a hit Christmas film from 1994 in which Tim Allen plays a businessman who becomes Father Christmas due to the operation of the ‘Santa Clause’ contained within a magical contract. WhatsApp exchanges with colleagues incited the remaining authors of this blog to also watch the film, and what ensued was an extensive exchange identifying the…
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Liability for harassment online: I hear you’re a transphobe now, Father!
Read more: Liability for harassment online: I hear you’re a transphobe now, Father!In a recent case – R v Graham Linehan, Westminster Magistrates’ Court, 25 November 2025 – a district judge found the defendant not guilty of harassment under the Protection of Harassment Act 1997; although guilty of criminal damage for destroying a phone owned by the complainant. The harassment action was brought by Sophia Brooks, who was born a biological male but identifies as a woman and who champions LGBT rights.…
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Segregating prisoners, judicial review and complying with human rights law
Read more: Segregating prisoners, judicial review and complying with human rights lawIn a recent case (R (Abu) v Secretary of State for Justice [2025] EWHC 3026 (Admin)), the Justice Secretary and the prison authorities were found to have transgressed both their public law powers and human rights obligations by segregating prisoners. Importantly, the secretary (and her predecessor) was found to have breached Article 3 of the Convention (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment), in what is believed to be…
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Smoking in prisons: the decision in Vainak and others v Estonia
Read more: Smoking in prisons: the decision in Vainak and others v EstoniaIn Vanik and others (Decision of the European Court, 4 November 2025; Applications nos. 17982/21 and 3 others), the European Court of Human Rights upheld prisoners’ claims that the total smoking ban imposed in Estonian prisons was a disproportionate interreference with their rights under Article 8 of the European Convention – the right to private life. Before delivering judgment, the European Court noted that it had already ruled on cases…
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Institutional liability and fundamental rights in the EU: Case C-679/23 P WS and Others v Frontex
Read more: Institutional liability and fundamental rights in the EU: Case C-679/23 P WS and Others v FrontexThe pending appeal in WS and Others v Frontex presents one of the most significant challenges for the European Union’s external border governance regime in recent years. The case concerns whether the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) can be held liable for its operational role in a 2016 joint return operation conducted with Greek authorities, in which asylum seekers were forcibly returned to Turkey in circumstances allegedly breaching…
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Does the Rwanda affair support the repeal of the Rwanda Act or reform of the Human Rights Act 1998?
Read more: Does the Rwanda affair support the repeal of the Rwanda Act or reform of the Human Rights Act 1998?Introduction This blog examines the Rwanda saga and the constitutional dilemma created by the policy and passing of the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024 (“the Rwanda Act”), together with its human rights implications. Once again, the application of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) has enraged the UK Government and increased its desire to depart from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”).…