Daniella Lock: In Defence of the Divisional Court’s Palestine Action Ruling This post responds to important issues raised by Dane Luo and Gabriel Tan with regard to one of the grounds upheld by the Divisional Court in the judicial review of Palestine Action’s proscription …

Daniella Lock: In Defence of the Divisional Court’s Palestine Action Ruling ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/03/02/d...

Weronika Galka: Secret proceedings, (mal)administration, and the courts: RA and AA v SSFCDA, MZZ v SSD and SSHD and In the Matter of the SSD [2026] EWCA Civ 3 In early January 2026, the Court of Appeal (Peter Jackson LJ, Elisabeth Laing LJ, and Jeremy Baker LJ) handed down the decision in R (RR and AA) v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and …

Wrote up some of my thoughts on a pretty bewildering case that illustrates what was going on in the courts while the Afghanistan data breach super injunction was in place: ukconstitutionallaw.org/2026/02/26/w...

Former special counsel Jack Smith offered a robust defense of his derailed efforts to prosecute Donald Trump, telling lawmakers in his first public testimony that the president “willfully broke the very laws that he took an oath to uphold.” https://wapo.st/4qFjsSX

EU court rules entire bloc must respect same-sex marriages in rebuke to Poland Couple who married in Germany had their right to a ‘normal family life’ impeded, court of justice finds

With my continental hat on - massive, massive moment for the EU. Hopefully will lead to meaningful progress on LGBTQ+ rights in Poland, which the domestic political forces have long alternatively vilified and/or sidelined.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

No wonder Armando Iannucci stopped writing The Thick of It…

I was also pleasantly surprised to see the way the Committee handled the thick/thin ROL debate, as well as its references to the rule of law culture (on which, see JUSTICE's upcoming report, launch in January!). The entirety of the CC's findings are well worth a read. (/end)

The HL Constitution Committee today published the findings of its rule of law inquiry. As one of the co-authors of JUSTICE's submission to inquiry, I'm very happy to see the report picks up on our framing of the link between electoral legitimacy to govern and the rule of law (at para 62). (cont)

Conor Gearty · Unwelcome Remnant: Erasing the Human Rights Act The Supreme Court is quietly editing the Human Rights Act out of existence. In cases where human rights cannot be...

‘None of this is being done in secret – the judgments are public – but the changes have barely registered. Judges, whether serving or retired, tend not to speak out. Barristers know on which side their bread is buttered.’

Conor Gearty on the Human Rights Act: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Very saddened to have heard of Prof Conor Gearty’s passing. His work on human rights and national security issues is one of the main reasons why I developed an interest in the area - always sharp, always thought-provoking. In person, he was unfailingly witty and kind. He will be missed.

Much of the furore around the use of Article 8 ECHR in immigration cases is manufactured, as @alicedonald.bsky.social and co-authors highlight in this new, must-read report. The problem has been supercharged since Leveson LJ identified it a decade ago:

www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/defaul...

Letter of the day (in the Times)

The Legality of Statistical Proportionality Israel's practice of statistical proportionality should be considered to violate the legal duty to take feasible precautions in attacks.

The reliance by the #IDF on a rudimentary statistical model to conduct its proportionality analysis raises serious questions regarding their compliance with international humanitarian law.

Israeli human rights lawyer Alon Sapir on the shortcomings of the model and its legal implications:

www.judiciary.uk/judgments/hu...

(2/2) determined ASAP pulls against confining recourse to the POAC statutory remedy where multiple defendants prosecuted for TA offences under the order likely to challenge its legality ([46-49]).

IMO, a good example of JR’s contribution to upholding rule of law by facilitating legal certainty.

(1/2) The judgment in Ammori v SSHD is out: PA given permission to challenge proscription order in JR proceedings.

Some interesting comments on the availability of JR in “collateral attack” scenarios - Chamberlain J suggests that “strong interest” in allowing legality of a challenged order to be

The Supreme Court's decision is now out: supremecourt.uk/uploads/uksc...

Lord Sales and Lady Rose give the lead judgment and find no breach of the ECHR. Lord Leggatt dissents in relation to the outcome of the Shvidler appeal.

Really good points here, esp. on political constitutionalism/open justice interactions.

Courts’ justification for deferring on nat sec questions is that such Qs should be answered at the ballot box - during the 2024 election, the electorate was functionally deprived of an opportunity to do so.

Hah - yes! Thanks for spotting, we’re on it.

European Court of Human Rights judgment on whether UK dealt with Russian interference in UK politics - states have an obligation to take some action to address foreign interference but have a margin of discretion; UK had taken sufficient measures in Court's view - hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre-press?i=...

Big month for international law judgments, with the ICJ’s advisory opinion on climate change scheduled for July 23 hand down.

The ECtHR judgment in the Ukraine and Netherlands v Russia case has been handed down - and it’s 1600+ paras long! Russia found to have breached Arts. 2, 3, 4(2), 5, 8, 9, 10, 13 & 14, as well as Arts. 1 & 2 of Protocol 1 in respect of its actions in Ukraine.

hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre#{%22lang...

A remarkable judgment, in which the Lady Chief Justice finds that MI5 gave false evidence to three courts. I'm surprised this hasn't had more media attention - it seems quite serious to me.

www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/u...

This week JUSTICE's @stephneedles.bsky.social, @tyronesteele.bsky.social & @wgalka.bsky.social are at the World Justice Forum, discussing how to build resilience for the rule of law.

Grateful to have met with @lucyrigby.bsky.social, the Solicitor General, to discuss JUSTICE's work & these issues.

Attending the World Justice Forum in Warsaw on behalf of @justicehq.bsky.social this week - exciting!

Rayan Fakhoury | Not Conducive to the Public Good It would be a mistake to see the attempt to deport Mahmoud Khalil for his political views in relation to Palestine as an...

‘What begins as a state of exception often augurs a new normality. Coercive powers ceded to the state are rarely handed back, and powers exercised against those at the margins of society invariably permeate more widely.’

Rayan Fakhoury on the blog: www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/ma...

U.S. votes against U.N. resolution condemning Russia for Ukraine war Washington’s shift on the Ukraine war marks a major break with European allies and comes as the Trump administration aims to repair relations with Russia.

Breaking news: U.S. sides with Russia to vote against a U.N. resolution condemning Moscow for the Ukraine war.

Washington’s dramatic shift on the conflict marks a major break with its European allies and coincides with the Trump administration’s bid to repair relations with the Kremlin.

The four part webinar series "International Human Rights Litigation: New Frontiers and Challenges" will be launching on 18 March 2025.

This series has been organised by Professor Philip Leach and Professor Dr. Başak Çalı.

Registration and further details: ow.ly/Q66V50V040h

UK-based lawyers for Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai targeted by Chinese state Exclusive: Barristers at Doughty Street Chambers say they have been subject to surveillance, hacking and rape threats

Important story, deserving to be widely shared.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

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Erga omnes nature of human rights obligations in respect of climate change: A preliminary survey of the positions in the ICJ Climate Change advisory proceedings Amongst the many legal issues arising from the ICJ advisory proceedings in Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change, the erga omnes nature of the obligations involved has a particular sig…

Very worth-while @ejiltalk.bsky.social entry on "Erga omnes nature of human rights obligations in respect of climate change". I agree with Slovenia that aspects of the customary human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment have an erga omnes character www.ejiltalk.org/erga-omnes-n...