News Home Office ministers are refusing to abandon their policy of threatening to take the children of rejected asylum seekers into care despite a critical internal report saying it has failed to encourage them to leave the country. Immigration minister Liam Byrne refused, on 21 February, to rule out extending the controversial policy that can […]
Government and Legislation Last Week On Tuesday 13 February 2007 the Secretary of State for Communities set out her detailed vision for the development of housing policy for the next 5 to 10 years. For a copy of her speech, The Future of Housing Policy, click here On 14 February 2007 the Disability Rights Commission […]
Cases CM (Kenya) v Secretary of State for the Home Department An immigration tribunal had erred in law in finding that it was not unduly harsh to return an asylum seeker to Nairobi, as it had failed to give sufficient reasons for rejecting an expert report that suggested that the asylum seeker would be in […]
Maya Sikand, a member of the Garden Court Chambers crime team will be speaking at this years Criminal Bar Association spring conference.
Ian Macdonald QC scored a notable victory for the right to demonstrate and display banners outside Parliament
Last Week’s Housing Cases Watchman v Ipswich BC [2007] All ER (D) 109 (Feb), 8 February 2007. Despite a history of rent arrears and other debt, Mrs Watchman took out a mortgage to buy her home. The instalments were higher than the rent. When the rate of repayments increased and her husband lost her job, […]
(Click on case title to be transferred to a transcript of the Case) News Immigration and Nationality Directorate | Minister pledges fast but fair asylum system – New asylum teams for West London and the South EastCommission on International Religious Freedom reported that asylum seekers in the U.S are still being abused, the federal immigration […]
Government & Legislation last week The statistics for landlord’s possession claims, dealt with by the county courts in the last quarter of 2006, were released on Friday 2 February 2007. The number of claims issued was down 20%. The statisticians note that this was the first period to which the Rent Arrears Pre-Action Protocol applied […]
CASES Burden of proof Madarassay v Nomura International [2007] EWCA Civ 33 The Court of Appeal holds that is not enough for a Claimant to shift the burden of proof for her simply to establish a difference in status (ie gender) and a difference in the treatment. A difference in status and a difference in […]
Garden Court runs an ongoing programme of seminars and training based at Chambers. We also host seminars by other social justice organisations.
Government & Legislation Last week Monday 22 January 2007 saw another wave of "anti-social behaviour" initiatives from the Government’s Respect Action Team. For a copy of the new Respect Handbook, click hereFor the latest statistics on injunctions, possession orders and demotion orders, click here For the list of 40 local authorities allocated an additional £6m […]
News On 21 January 2007, it was reported that the Secretary of State, John Reid MP, stated that the Home Office could be split into two departments under recommendations made by him. One department would deal with security issues and the other with justice under the plans, which are set be to put to the […]
Cases Statutory grievance procedure Bradford MDC v Pratt UKEAT/0391/06/ZThe modified procedure requires the step one letter to set out both the grievance and "the basis" for it. The EAT held that the purpose of step one of the modified grievance procedure is for an employee to set out in his statement not only the grievance […]
News Reports from unannounced inspections on four immigration short-term holding facilities (Colnbrook near Heathrow Airport, Reliance House and John Lennon Airport, Liverpool and Sandford House, Solihull) noted that detainees spent unacceptably long periods locked in single rooms; there was a lack of information and independent advice for people facing imminent removal; staff lacked information about […]
Government and Legislation last week On 19 January 2007 the Scottish Executive concluded its consultation exercise on the relaxation or abolition of the "local connection" rules in the homelessness legislation in Scotland. For a copy of the consultation paper (Modifying Local Connection Provisions in Homelessness Legislation) click here On 18 January 2007 the Wales Audit […]
Garden Court's Housing silk, Jan Luba QC, is among the 100 Top Lawyers unveiled in today's Times newspaper as members of the Law Panel supporting the new Times Law On-line initiative.
Government & Legislation in the New Year Today (15 January 2007) the Government has issued a consultation draft of a new statutory Code of Guidance on Allocation of Social Housing. Responses are sought by 10 April 2007. For a copy of the document click here The Government’s proposed reforms of the legal aid scheme were […]
Practitioners who have been advising clients on the rights of EU nationals and their family members in recent months will have noted the immensely difficult hurdles placed on those who have not formerly resided in another Member State. The UK Government h
Review Griffin v City & Islington College UKEAT/0459/06/JOJ The Respondent conceded liability for holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations as a series of unlawful deductions going back three years on the basis of the decision of the EAT in List Design Group v Douglas [2002] ICR 636. It requested a review when the Court […]
Gender/sexuality, activism and the promise of law - a two day conference at the University of Westminster with speakers including Maya Sikand and Bethan Harris from Garden Court Chambers
