Public Law

Online Domestic Abuse: Redefining the law and protecting victims in long-distance intimate relationships.

Abstract.  This article explores Domestic Abuse (DA) law in England and Wales and attempts to redefine it to respond to the nascent issue of tech-facilitated abuse, with a particular focus on...

Untangling Refoulement and Non-Refoulement in the Judicial Response to the ‘Rwanda Policy’

On November 15, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UKSC) held that the ‘Rwanda policy’ – the Secretary of State’s policy of redirecting people claiming asylum in the United Kingdom to...

When and Who Can Kill Your Darlings: Revisiting the Best Interests Test for Children’s Medical Treatments

Introduction In Dance v Barts Health NHS Trust (Dance), Archie Battersbee, a 12-year-old boy, suffered from a catastrophic hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury and was kept alive only by...

The Impact of Follower Notices and Accelerated Payment Notices on the Taxpayer’s Fundamental Human Rights in the Context of Tackling Tax Avoidance

Introduction Securing the payment of taxes is an essential prerogative of the legislature. Adding to this, the incentive to tackle tax avoidance schemes provides the legislature an opportunity to...

Should the COVID-19 pandemic broaden states’ margin of appreciation under the European Convention on Human Rights?

Abstract Questions have been raised over the compatibility of national restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic with Contracting States’ obligations under the European Convention on Human...

Judicial Review Reform: The Move from Constitutional Democracy to Elective Dictatorship

Introduction The Government has been promising to change the system of judicial review for a considerable amount of time.1 In July 2021, it introduced the Judicial Review and Courts...

Elgizouli v Secretary of State for the Home Department : Redefining the scope of common law constitutional rights?

Introduction In Elgizouli v Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Supreme Court considered whether it was unlawful for the Secretary of State to authorise mutual legal assistance...

Rethinking the concept of the Rule of Law in Modern Britain

INTRODUCTION Western countries take pride in their orderly constitutional systems which reflect their aspirations to respect human rights and the rule of law (“RoL”). However, when...

My Body, My Choice: How Might Artificial Wombs Endanger the Viability Doctrine? Limits to Abortion, Criminalisation and Reconciling the Maternal/Fetal Balance

I. Introduction Scientific research suggests that the implementation of artificial wombs for human fetuses (ectogenesis) is foreseeable within the next few decades,1 having already been used...

‘Keep the Powder Dry’: The Court of Appeal in Fearn v Tate Gallery

It is safe to say that the claimants in Fearn v Tate Gallery1, owners of multi-million pound, highly exclusive London flats, are not among the neediest of those who have applied to human rights...

Protecting Rights under the Common Law: R(UNISON) v Lord Chancellor

Introduction: In the case of R(UNISON) v Lord Chancellor,1 the Supreme Court ruled that the Lord Chancellor’s Fee Orders for the Employment Tribunal (ET) and the Employment Appeal...

Would becoming a republic be so simple?

Would becoming a republic be so simple? Following the Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue Parliament, some Labour MPs have called for the UK to become a republic. This article will outline the...

Private law protection of human rights from corporate abuses: deep and meaningful?

Commentary on Lungowe and others v Vedanta Resources plc and Kokola Copper Mines plc  UKSC 201 The need to secure individual human rights from corporate malpractice is of increasing...

The delicate balance between Carl Schmitt’s constituent power and liberal constitutionalism: a misunderstood and over-complicated dichotomy?

The tension between constituent power and a liberal theory of constitutionalism is important in constitutional theory as they paint very different perceptions of the nature of authority in a...

Privacy International: a constitutional barometer

In the 1960s, there was talk of a ‘Fairness Revolution’ in English judicial review.1 One of the most pertinent cases exemplifying such a movement is Anisminic.2 In that case, an...

Public sneaking into private horizontally: the development of private law as supported by the Human Rights Act 1998

Case note: Fearn and others v The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery  EWHC 246 (Ch) The incorporation of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR“) into domestic law...

Extraditing suspects and safeguarding human rights – a tangled tale

**Commentary on Kyung Yip Kim v Ministry of Justice of New Zealand and another NZCA 209 and insights on the Fugitive Offenders and Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters...

Coherence and consistency: the need to avoid judicial confusion and its consequences under the Human Rights Act 1998

**Case Note: In re Siobhan McLaughlin  UKSC 481 The thorny nature of a declaration of incompatibility (“DoI“) under section 4 Human Rights Act 1998 (“HRA“), and its...

A tale of two systems: separation or separability of Hong Kong common law and Chinese socialist legal system?

**Case note: Sixtus Leung v President of the Legislative Council  HCAL 1160, 1164, 1165, 1171 & 1178/20181 As a special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China...

“I felt cheated”[1]: a lost opportunity for upholding a right to terminate life with dignity

Case note: R (on the application of Conway) v Secretary of State for Justice (27 November 2018)2 The topical issue of assisted dying (“AD”) has shadowed over medical law and...

A symphony of parliamentary sovereignty

— Case note: Case C-621/18 Wightman v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Since the Supreme Court’s (“SC”) landmark judgement in R (on the application...

Medical exceptionalism: Best Interests From a Human Rights Perspective

Case note: Y v An NHS Trust and others UKSC 461 The question over the necessity of obtaining court order for terminating clinically assisted nutrition and hydration (“CANH”) for patients...

The ‘Live-in Requirement’ for Foreign Domestic Helpers in Hong Kong: Fundamental Rights at Risk?

Case note: Lubiano v The Director of Immigration HCAL 210/2016 In Lubiano v The Director of Immigration HCAL 210/2016, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance considered a judicial review application...

No Cake for You: The Legal Battle for Equal Treatment in Lee v McArthur & Ors

Lee v McArthur & Ors  NICA 39, commonly known as the ‘Gay Wedding Cake’ case, is currently awaiting judgment from the UK Supreme Court (‘UKSC’). Lee promises...

European Integration, Brexit and Democracy: What do we do now?

Over the past two decades, the European Union has experienced an increased disjuncture between its political vision for peace, prosperity and security and the democratic mandate of the people. This...

UK/EU Referendum: Are there alternatives to Membership?

Dear Editor, Within the next few months, the UK electorate will have to decide on the UK’s relationship with the EU. In February, the Heads of State of the EU Member States will discuss to what...