Tony Dowson Profile picture
"O judgement thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason!" Solitary, poor, nasty, British and short. "Legal Twitter's nastiest anon troll"
May 2 20 tweets 7 min read
I’ve decided to write a thread on equal pay law, since there are some misunderstandings.

Equal Pay provisions have reached the news in the last year after several councils declared "bankruptcy" following settlements with female workers.

Councils have been forced to increase taxes & cut costs. This has directly impacted services (meaning strikes & piles of rubbish on the streets in Birmingham).Image The Equal Pay Act was introduced in 1970 by Barbara Castle, Secretary of State for Employment. It came into force in 1975.

However, the Act only protected like work & work that was rated as equivalent.

The TUC argued that the legislation should have included work of "equal value", but Barbara Castle rejected the notion, since it was "too abstract a concept" to embody in legislation.Image
Jan 7 6 tweets 2 min read
In this clip from a 2011 Channel 4 documentary on child sexual exploitation, men discuss attitudes towards girls

They mention girls wearing "mini skirts" & state that they "ask for it"

Some add that you have to "blame the parents" & again say that the girls are "asking for it" Here, the men discuss techniques used to groom young girls - to later sell the girls.

They say that a younger girl would attract more money.
May 1, 2024 10 tweets 4 min read
Re J [2024] EWHC 922 (Fam)

Question of whether J, who is 16 1/2, has capacity to consent to receiving hormone treatment and whether court should use powers under inherent jurisdiction to prevent further treatment.

Court makes no determination.
judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl…
Image J diagnosed with anorexia and autistic spectrum disorder. J engaged with Gender GP - which issued prescription of testosterone. Image
Apr 30, 2024 4 tweets 2 min read
ICJ not indicating provisional measures against Germany in Nicaragua v Germany. Order here:
icj-cij.org/sites/default/…
Image
Apr 27, 2024 4 tweets 2 min read
Yuan Yi Zhu reviews Chakrabarti's new book:

"Human Rights by Shami Chakrabarti review — she makes a lousy case

"The Labour peer can be a formidable advocate for her causes but her new book is lazy and meandering"

thetimes.co.uk/article/human-… "Unfortunately, much like a certain former leader of her party, Chakrabarti seems to consider any disagreement with her approach to be a sign of moral corruption." Image
Apr 26, 2024 15 tweets 4 min read
One reason why so many people struggle with the word "plausible" in the ICJ's test to indicate provisional measures (aside from the fog of politics) is that the ICJ doesn't seem to know what plausible means itself. Article 41 of the Statute of the Court of Justice gives the ICJ the power to indicate provisional measures "if it considers that circumstances so require" which "ought to be taken to preserve the respective rights of either party".

It doesn't mention the word plausible. Image
Apr 23, 2024 4 tweets 2 min read
Sumption reviews Chakrabarti's new book:

"Why Shami Chakrabarti is wrong about human rights

"In her new book Human Rights: The Case for the Defence, the lawyer seems incapable of distinguishing between a human right and a good idea"

telegraph.co.uk/books/what-to-… "She is an admirable spirit and an effective advocate for international human rights, but can surely do better than this rambling tract."
Apr 22, 2024 10 tweets 3 min read
HM Solicitor General v Trudi Warner [2024] EWHC 918 (KB)

Full judgment in the Warner case.

Permission to proceed with contempt proceedings refused.
judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl…
Image @Barristerblog
Apr 22, 2024 4 tweets 1 min read
Disappointingly, Trudi Warner contempt case will not go ahead because it would be "disproportionate".

Wondering whether this was made on art 10 basis?

Hope for an appeal on the issue. This is apparently what was said:

"It is fanciful to suggest that Ms Warner's conduct [amounted to common law contempt" Image
Apr 21, 2024 5 tweets 2 min read
"Do you hate Britain, I asked my pupils. Thirty raised their hands"
thetimes.co.uk/article/do-you… "In an after-school detention, a handful of pupils were doing their best to convince me, their teacher, that Afghanistan was much nicer now the Taliban were in control." Image
Apr 20, 2024 4 tweets 2 min read
Jolyon has taken a while to opine on the Cass Review.

He now calls it a "Potemkin exercise in reaching a pre-determined outcome" Image Thread dealing with person Jolyon QTs here:
Mar 11, 2024 4 tweets 2 min read
"Blasphemy demos ‘are growing in radicalism’"

thetimes.co.uk/article/blasph… "The report, seen by The Times, exposes links between activists at the forefront of recent protests in the UK and an extremist Islamist political party in Pakistan whose members have regularly called for blasphemers to be beheaded." Image
Oct 30, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
The new False Communications Offence from the Online Safety Act 2023.

(1) A person commits an offence
(a) the person sends a message
(b) the message conveys information that the person knows to be false

1/2 Image (c) at the time of sending it, the person intended the message, or the information in it, to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience, and
(d) the person has no reasonable excuse for sending the message
Jun 19, 2023 9 tweets 3 min read
On 22 June, it will be the 75th Anniversary of the arrival of Empire Windrush, which brought immigrants from the West Indies to the UK

The Royal Mint is even releasing a coin to commemorate the anniversary

The Windrush celebrations appear to be based on some falsehoods, however Image The coin's artists said that her design was to remember:

"Commonwealth citizens who have helped rebuild the country in its time of need".

It is likely that the "You called...and we came" poem will be read over the next week. Image
Jun 17, 2023 7 tweets 3 min read
Oh

"A sense of betrayal’: liberal dismay as Muslim-led US city bans Pride flags"
theguardian.com/us-news/2023/j… "This week many of those same residents watched in dismay as a now fully Muslim & socially conservative city council passed legislation banning Pride flags from being flown on city property that had been intended to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community" Image
Jun 17, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Somehow thinks this is a clever point, comparing lockdown parties to an unlawful abortion at over 30 weeks. Very bright man.

Jun 16, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Didn't realise that there was a Monroe Update: Image Well, I'm convinced.
Jun 16, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Vo v France (2004):

"The Convention institutions have not, however, ruled out the possibility that in certain circumstances safeguards may be extended to the unborn child.

hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-61887 "That is what appears to have been contemplated by the Commission in considering that “Article 8 § 1 cannot be interpreted as meaning that pregnancy and its termination are, as a principle, solely a matter of the private life of the mother”
Apr 23, 2023 8 tweets 3 min read
Jolyon now tweeting about a barrister who accused him of rudeness yesterday, sharing emails sent to him. ImageImageImage Jolyon didn't want to embarrass the barrister, so he just tweeted about it. Image
Apr 22, 2023 4 tweets 2 min read
Excellent review of Jolyon Maugham's magnum opus by @yuanyi_z

thetimes.co.uk/article/dc992f… Regrettably, Yuan's review of Maugham's new book did not fully disclose that Yuan is a Far Right Hack who has written for the beastly UnHerd. Image
Apr 21, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Have Arsenal officially lost yet? Tense