UK Law Weekly

A police warrant to search and seize property normally contains all of the relevant details but in the case of Haralambous this was excluded on grounds of public interest immunity. A judicial review was made against this not only in relation to the decision in the Magistrates' Court but also looking at the equivalent decisions in the Crown Court and the High Court. In this episode we consider not...

In this episode we leave the UK and head to the Court of Justice of the European Union where a fraud case developed into questions about fundamental human rights, constitutional law and a potential threat to the primacy of EU law itself.

The smoking ban has now been around for more than a decade so it might seem obvious that everyone is affected but one unusual rule of statutory interpretation might mean that there is a surprising exception built into the law. Music from bensound.com

How strict should the courts be when it comes to time-barring human rights cases? While there is some flexibility built into the system there are important questions about how the Human Rights Act 1998 should be interpreted. In this episode we also dig into the allegations of racial discrimination made against the Bar Standards Board. Music from bensound.com

World famous poker player Phil Ivey walked into a London casino and won £7.7 million playing baccarat but the casino refused to pay out because they thought that Ivey had cheated. In this episode we not only discuss what it means to cheat but also the legal definition of dishonesty. Music from bensound.com

P was assaulted while she was on duty as a police officer in 2010. When she was herself arrested the following year she blamed it on PTSD from the previous assault. Nevertheless she was still dismissed from the police force but when P came to appeal the decision she did so in a very unusual way that we explore in this episode. Music from bensound.com

After Armes had been abused by two of her foster parents when she was growing up she brought a case against the local authority arguing that they were liable. This case split the Justices and has potential consequences for vicarious liability in the area of tort law. Music from bensound.com

BPP are a company that will be familiar to most law students as they supply legal education and books. Books are zero-rated for the purposes of VAT and so when HMRC made a decision against BPP for failure to pay, the company appealed this to the Tax Chamber of the First-tier Tribunal. However the government's lawyers were completely disorganised throughout the entirety of the appeal and in this ep...

What is a sham marriage and how can we define it for the purposes of the law? In this episode we explore that question as well as the fate of a woman who has lived in the UK since 2007 but now faces deportation after being accused by immigration officers of engaging in a marriage of convenience. Music from bensound.com

The concept of matrimonial property was shaken up in the context of Scottish divorce law by the Supreme Court in this case. In particular the Justices had to make a decision about what proportion of a pension could be included and what it meant to be a member of a pension scheme. Music from bensound.com

In 2013 the government introduced fees for people bringing cases before the employment tribunals in the UK. Although this would remove some of the burden on taxpayers, UNISON argued that the Fees Order prevented access to justice and acted in a discriminatory manner towards women and other minorities. In this episode we consider the decision in the light of access to justice and the wider constitu...

In this special bonus episode we review the recent finding of the Employment Appeal Tribunal against Uber and consider what this means for the company as well as the so-called gig economy in the UK.

One of the most delicate balancing acts that occurs within the realm of human rights law is between Article 8 (the right to private and family life) and Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the UK this has allowed for the development of a common law right to privacy but how far can this extend when it interferes with the reporting of public legal procee...

When Actavis took a new medical treatment to market, Eli Lilly thought it looked familiar. They had their own product that had been patented and the one from Actavis was only a slight variation. In this episode we explore the issues that arose surrounding intellectual property law and consider the wider implications when it comes to tightening or loosening the European patent system. Music from be...

Walker has been in a same-sex relationships since 1993 but because he retired before civil partnerships became legal in late 2005 his partner was not entitled to the spousal pension. In this case Walker challenges the discrimination by reference to the EU's Framework Directive. We then discuss how rights may continue to be protected in the UK after Brexit. Music from bensound.com

The financial dealings of Rangers Football Club have been subject to a great deal of scrutiny in the recent past and in this case the Supreme Court focused on one particular aspect of the way that the club was run. When a footballer signed for the club they were offered the chance to avoid paying income tax by using a complicated trust mechanism. In this episode we unpack that mechanism and consid...

Zain Dean is a Scottish citizen who had been living in Taiwan for 19 years when he was convicted for manslaughter in 2010. While he was on bail he absconded back to Scotland on a friend's passport. When he was eventually caught the Taiwanese authorities sought to extradite Dean back to their country but an appeal was raised against this on the basis of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human...

The Conservative immigration policy of 'deport now, appeal later' was part of their manifesto and found its way into law as part of a drive to protect the public from foreign criminals. In two cases where human rights issues were at stake this law was challenged on the basis that it is very difficult to conduct an appeal from abroad. In this episode we also consider the judgment in the context of...

Abortion is a controversial subject in Northern Ireland and is only available in a narrow range of circumstances. This means that a lot of women have to travel to England where they can pay for an abortion. In this judicial review case A had travelled to Manchester and paid £900 for an abortion but argued that, as a resident of the UK, this should have been made freely available to her on the NHS....

There is often very little thought that goes into what happens to people once they leave prison and this is especially true of women. In this case Ms. Coll was required to live in approved premises that were more than 50 miles away from her home and family. Her judicial review challenged this on the basis of the Equality Act 2010. In this episode we also examine the way that women are treated with...

When a group of teachers at a sixth form college in Warwickshire went on strike their employers were entitled to withhold a proprtional amount of pay. For the college this was based on the number of working days in the year but the teachers argued that the correct calculation should be based on the total number of days in a calendar year. As the Supreme Court came to a final decision in this case...

On 15th September 2008 Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and became the most high profile casualty of the financial crisis that rocked the global economy. Nearly a decade on and the repercussions are still being felt in the legal and political climate. This case in particular looks at the administration and liquidation of Lehman Brothers International Europe through the eyes of insolvency legis...

Whn it comes to statutory interpretation there are rules that the courts have to follow but the situation is less clear for interpreting non-statutory texts such as frameworks and guidance. In this episode we explore the method that should be adopted by judges and how they have to tread a fine line between interpretation and policy. Music from bensound.com

When a public body undertakes a procurement exercise it should be carried out in an open and transparent fashion that is fair to all of the bidders. In this case the process was not carried out in the correct manner and this presented the Supreme Court with a number of questions about when and how a case may be brought. In this episode we also consider just how effective the EU's regime in this ar...

Under the current regime of the Access to Justice Act 1999 a publisher can be liable for costs arising from a defamation case even where those costs include premiums associated with conditional fee agreements and after the event insurance. In this case three publishers challenge the law as an infringement on their right to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights. In thi...