This article by Tom Whitehead has been extracted from the Daily Telegraph here A teacher’s human rights were breached after police included unproven allegations against him in a criminal records check, the High Court ruled yesterday. The PE teacher has not worked for more than two years because the allegation remained on his record even though police [...]
Proposed reforms to Rehabilitation of Offenders Act criticised – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
May 3, 2013 from Leave a Comment
This article by Lucy Corin appears on the Halsebury Law Exchange website here Imagine you are a middle-aged man with a young family looking to change career to work as a primary school teacher. When you were 12 you took a chocolate bar from a shop. You learnt a salutary lesson and never repeated this [...]
Supreme Court hands down an important judgment which deals with conflicting human rights (Articles 3, 6 and 8) in disputed allegations casee
December 19, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Supreme Court has handed down an important judgment in Re A (A Child) [2012] UKSC 60 (12 December 2012) (Lady Hale, with whom Lords Neuberger, Clarke, Wilson and Reed agreed; appeal against a decision of McFarlane, Thorpe and Hallett LJJ) which deals with conflicting human rights (Articles 8 and 6, as well as an Article 3 claim) Summarising [...]
FaceBook ordered to remove details of a person conviction of sexual offences
December 19, 2012 from Leave a Comment
In an unusual judgement A Court in Northern Ireland orders FaceBook to remove from its site a page entitled ”Keeping Our Kids Safe From Predators” in which a convicted pedophile is named. See XY v Facebook Ireland Ltd [2012] NIQB 96 (30 November 2012)
Strasbourg rules that the retention and disclosure of caution data is unlawful (in Northern Ireland)
November 15, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This article first appeared on the Daily Telegraph website (here) on 13th november 2012 European court ruling could see minor criminal records withheld from employers People with minor criminal records may not have them disclosed to potential employers in future after the European Court of Human Rights condemned the lack of scope for discretion in [...]
Court states that the Child Sex Offender (CSO) Disclosure Scheme must be amended.
November 2, 2012 from Leave a Comment
Following introduction of the Child Sex Offender (CSO) Disclosure Scheme Guidance Document” (the CSOD Guidance members of the public can now ask the police to provide details of a person who has some form of contact with children with a view to ascertaining whether that person had convictions for sexual offences against children or whether [...]
Judges rule human rights should be considered in Sarah’s Law cases
October 25, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This article has been taken from the Daily Telegraph website here Parents could have a harder time finding out if any paedophiles live nearby after a High Court ruling that sex offenders’ human rights to privacy should be considered. In a judgement that lawyers say risks “watering down” what is known as Sarah’s Law, the [...]
High Court clarifies law relating to so called ‘Sarah’s Law”
October 25, 2012 from Leave a Comment
This item first appeared on the 11kBW website here Disclosure of sex offender information – new high court judgment October 24th, 2012 The High Court has today handed down an important judgment on the legality of the Government’s Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme (CSOD): X(South Yorkshire) v Secretary of State for the Home Department[2012] EWHC 2954 [...]
Court rules that details of sex abuse allegations against parent must be disclosed
October 2, 2012 from Leave a Comment
The Court of Appeal has ordered the the disclosure of serious allegations made against a parent by an anonymous third party in contact proceedings. In doing so, it has demonstrated the correct approach to balancing the many different human rights considerations involved. For a full report see uk human rights blog by 1 Crown Office Row [...]
Children’s Rights Alliance lose their case – Court fails to back request for trawl of victims of unlawful restraint
January 18, 2012 from Leave a Comment
In what many peole will see as a blow for ‘trawling’ The Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) v Secretary of State for Justice and G4S Care and Justice Services (UK) Ltd and Serco plc [2012] EWHC 8 (Admin) – read judgment Although certain restraining measures had been taken unlawfully against young people in secure training centres for [...]
Court of Appeal gives guidance on SOPO controls and and human rights
August 26, 2011 from 2 Comments
The Daily Telegraph (22nd August) have given extensive coverage (see below) to a report of case in the Court of Appeal which, they say, gives paedophiles the right to unsupervisedaccess to their own children because it would breach their human rights to keep them apart. Judges weaken rules on paedophiles The Court of Appeal has [...]
sex offenders will be able to challenge their inclusion on the sex offender register for life
June 16, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This article first appeared on the Guardian website A maximum of 1,200 convicted sex offenders a year will be eligible to challenge their inclusion on the sex offender register for life, under Home Office proposals likely to come into force from early next year. The decision by the home secretary, Theresa May, to give registered [...]
Children may be protected from giving evidence in criminal trials
May 18, 2011 from Leave a Comment
According to an article on the Guardian web site written by Amelia Hill children may no longer be called to give evidence in the criminal courts except in the “most extraordinary circumstances”, even if that means risking their abusers going free, following a case due to be heard in June. The change could transform the [...]
A Letter of Rights to be introduced to help ensure fair trials in all EU countries
May 1, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee have stated that anyone suspected or accused of having committed a crime must promptly be given information on his or her procedural rights in an easy-to-understand language, said the Civil Liberties Committee on Thursday, in amendments to a draft law to protect defendants’ rights across [...]
On line Human Rights TV channel
May 1, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Our attention has been drawn to the online Human Rights TV news channel which not only contains a lot of useful information about human rights but also has some excellent video’s including many concerning justice issues. The basic aim of the channel is to empower the voice seldom heard. Online Human Rights TV describe their [...]
Court considers Human Rights issues in disciplinary procedings
April 18, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Puri, R (on the application of) v Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust [2011] EWHC 970 (Admin) (15 April 2011) This case refers to a claim for judicial review of two decisions of the defendant, the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Essentially, the issue is whether Article 6 ECHR was engaged in the disciplinary [...]
Government looses its final appeal against giving prisoners the right to vote
April 13, 2011 from Leave a Comment
This news item has been extracted from the Guardian Online (here) on the 12th April The Government has lost its final appeal against giving prisoners the right to vote following a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights. A five-judge panel said the UK must now draw up proposals within six months to end [...]
Home Secretary makes statement on Sex Offenders Register
February 18, 2011 from Leave a Comment
Copy of press release issued by the Home Office: ‘The sex offenders’ register has existed since 1997. Since that time it has helped the police to protect the public from these most horrific of crimes. Requiring serious sexual offenders to sign the register for life – as they do now – has broad support from [...]
Police chiefs could be forced to clear the DNA database of samples provided by innocent people
January 31, 2011 from Leave a Comment
The following article by Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 31st January 2011 The Coalition Government has pledged to dramatically reduce the time period that police can retain samples of people who were not charged or convicted of offences. It follows a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights [...]
State databases illegal and not providing value for money
April 1, 2009 from Leave a Comment
There have been a number of reports in the Press regarding recently published research by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation into the use of Government Databases. The document Database State reviews a number of Government databases and ranks them according to whether or not, in the opinion of the authors, they meet existing legislative safeguards. There is a very useful [...]
High Court rules that sex offenders have the right to challenge listing on register
December 22, 2008 from Leave a Comment
The law which puts serious sex offenders on the register for life violates their human rights, three High Court judges said. Under the Sex Offences Act 2003, sex offenders sentenced to 30 months or more ‘shall be subjected for life’ to being on the register. But Lord Justice Latham, sitting with Mr Justice Underhill and [...]
European Court of Human Rights rules that retention of DNA by police on individuals who do not have convictions is unlawful
December 8, 2008 from Leave a Comment
The European Court of Human Rights have determined the retention by the authorities (including the UK police) of fingerprints, cellular samples and DNA profiles after a person has been acquitted or discharged, is unlawful. See also BBC report ¦ Full text of judgement