Important judgments - Supreme Court (Lords Sales/Burnett giving judgment) decided test for challenging non-statutory government policy is if it "sanctions, positively approves or encourages unlawful conduct by those to whom it is directed" not whether it is "inherently unfair"
Meanwhile, although rolling back the years in public law (80s are BACK!), the Supreme Court continues to expand the boundaries of various duties of care, in this case for tour operators. A sad case on its facts but ultimately helpful judgment for customers supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-201…
Artists' rendition of the Supreme Court Justices deciding that the 1986 Gillick case would now be the test for policy unlawfulness
Artists' rendition of the Judicial Power Project offices after reading the recent run of Supreme Court judgments in public law and human rights cases
Meanwhile, Lord Stephens pulling no punches in this judgment about the use of the "inherent jurisdiction" to authorise deprivation of liberty for children supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-201…
Court here stuck between a rock (allowing children to be housed in non-statutory accommodation in emergencies) and a hard place (being used to fill a gap which shouldn't be there in the first place)
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🚨As expected, changes to travel regulations from Monday to allow EU & US vaccinated Amber List travellers to avoid quarantine
The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel and Operator Liability) (England) (Amendment) (No. 7) Regulations 2021 legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2021/914/…
Michael Mansfield QC disowned Labour Against the Witch Hunt when in 2018 I sent him some of their tweets including calling Jewish Labour Movement "racist scum", using "Zios" and comparing Zionism to Nazism.
Important new report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments
Sounds boring right? But hundreds of statutory instruments have been used to make Covid criminal laws for the past year and a half, controlling the minutiae of our lives
This is a good report - a bit of "we have tried to work with the government, we have been polite and respectful" etc at the beginning but then goes on to make some serious criticisms of unclear and irrational criminal laws, failure to provide enough notice, guidance vs law etc
I'm not going to summarise as I don't have time but I will post some screenshots of important bits in my opinion
Still don’t really understand the legal basis for this if workers are avoiding test and trace notifications (not just the app). Is it all “research”? Is there guidance on it somewhere? bbc.co.uk/news/business-…
I don’t want to be a stick in the mud but currently there is no “critical services“ exception to self isolation regulations so strictly (it looks to me) if workers follow govt guidance they will be breaking the law gov.uk/guidance/nhs-t…
There is a essential infrastructure exception for the international returns self-isolation regulations but that is different. I suppose that workers could rely on an unlisted reasonable excuse to avoid prosecution but it’s not ideal
As @TomRHickman pointed out in the thread I retweeted earlier, the government has hopelessly confused law and guidance throughout the past 18 months and is now paying the price - no reason why everything can't be done *in principe* by guidance but (a) the govt has...
... toyed and teased in past 18 months with law and guidance with the implication that something legally mandated is more important, but has never been consistent so public totally confused, and...