Human Rights

In this section of our blog we write about developments in human rights law. This are of law is constantly in the media as human rights breaches unfortunately occur on a frequent basis. We cover the most recent cases heard in the European Court of Human Rights and write about how human rights law is developing.

If you are interested in human rights law – have a browse! There are many interesting articles to read and more are added regularly.

If you believe you have suffered an infringement of you human rights, you can contact us today. Contact Law can put you in touch with a local solicitor experienced in this area of law.

Human rights committee urges abolishment of surgical castration for sex offenders in Europe

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) is urging Germany and the Czech Republic to abolish surgical castration of sex offenders as the practice might be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. The countries are the only two in Europe which still occasionally resort to such practices. According to the [...]

Government accused of war crimes by not securing prisoner’s release

Last year lawyers for Yunus Rahmatullah succeeded in convincing a UK court to grant a writ of habeas corpus, which called for their client to be put on trial or be released. Rahmatullah is currently held at Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, where he has been detained since 2004 when he was seized by British forces [...]

Mixed reaction to proposal to extend closed material procedures

This week the Cabinet Office published the Justice and Security Green Paper online, which concerns extending the use of ‘closed material procedures’ (CMP) in civil law cases. Under the proposals, evidence against the Government would not be disclosed to claimants in court proceedings if the Secretary of State deemed the material to be of a [...]

Tweets put young Saudi journalist’s life at risk

Last week a young Saudi journalist, Hamza Kashgari, was deported from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia after the latter requested his extradition. Kashgari was wanted by Saudi authorities to face charges of blasphemy after he tweeted a conversation he imagined having with Prophet Muhammad. As part of his imaginary conversation Kashgari tweeted, “I have loved things [...]

Government measure risks violating the right to a fair trial

Human rights groups are concerned that the Government’s intention to introduce new legislation extending closed material procedures, in which secret evidence is withheld from the claimant and the press, will jeopardise claimants’ right to a fair trial. The Government is currently looking to further expand the use of such proceedings in civil law cases. Campaigners [...]

Self-taught preacher accused of verbal assault

This week has seen the start of a case where freedom of expression and the risk of verbally assaulting someone have been at the centre of the matter. A self-taught preacher, Michael Overd, is accused of having verbally assaulted a gay couple, Craig Manning and Craig Nichols. Overd is said to have shouted that the [...]

Bin Laden’s “right hand man” to be released

The radical cleric Abu Qatada, referred to as “Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man in Europe”, is to be released on bail as no charges have been brought against him. Yesterday Mr Justice Mitting, at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, said that Qatada’s continued detention could not be justified. The judge considered that he should be [...]

Government work-placement scheme ‘breaches’ Human Rights Act

A government work-placement scheme offering unemployed people some form of unpaid employment has been claimed to breach the Human Rights Act. Judicial proceedings have commenced and Waterstones, which used to participate in the scheme, have now decided to opt out after the Guardian reported that the scheme did not benefit its participants. Cat Reilly, a [...]

Supreme Court considers Assange extradition

The Australian founder of the whistle-blowing organisation Wikileaks, Julian Assange, yesterday appeared in the UK Supreme Court for the start of a two-day hearing regarding the lawfulness of a warrant ordering his extradition. Specifically, the matter concerns the validity of a European arrest order made by a Swedish prosecutor. Assange is opposing extradition to Sweden, [...]

Disabled man pushes for progression of assisted suicide guidance

A 47-year-old man left completely paralysed after he suffered a stroke three years ago has won the right to have his lawyers investigate how his life could be terminated without the involved parties facing prosecution. The research is to provide the background to a case that will challenge the Director of Public Prosecutions’ guidelines on [...]