The Unlawful State: Stories from a Pandemic
A new series investigating the stories of those disproportionately affected by the pandemic.
Latest picks
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Published in:openJustice: OpinionDemocracy, policing and the coronavirus pandemic
Policing during the pandemic shows that we still have a long way to go before the UK can say it polices by consent.
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Published in:openJustice: InvestigationTrump administration excludes key human rights issues from its reports
Research reveals Trump’s State Department denies human rights abuses abroad, particularly in relation to the rights...
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Published in:ourNHS: OpinionUndermining public law is no way to protect public health
Safeguards on everything from procurement to notifiable diseases, health inspections to freedom of information, are...
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Published in:openJustice: OpinionWho’s afraid of judicial review?
The government has pledged to ‘reform’ the way in which citizens can challenge the lawfulness of its own decisions....
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Published in:openJustice: OpinionWhy you should care about the right to trial by jury
Trial by jury is one of the few aspects of the UK criminal justice system that treats people of colour fairly. It is...
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Published in:openJustice: OpinionPolicing during the pandemic: an insight into racism in the UK
The policing of lockdown and the Black Lives Matter protests demonstrates the insidious nature of racist policing in the UK.
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Published in:openJustice: Opinion“We’re like sitting ducks”: how the Home Office is placing life and liberty at risk
New research reveals that the Home Office’s approach to immigration detention during the pandemic is unlawful and...
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Published in:openJusticeInnocent before proven guilty? How a 2017 policy is bringing race into the courtroom.
New research reveals that a policy that requires defendants to state their nationality in the criminal court is...
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Published in:openJustice: OpinionCan true justice be done remotely?
An emergency response to the pandemic has fast-tracked the digitalisation of the UK justice system. But do remote...
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Published in:openJustice: OpinionDemocracy to autocracy? COVID-19 is exposing a crisis in the UK constitution
The response to COVID-19 is showing how the UK’s unwritten constitution puts democracy at risk. Even in times of...
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Published in:openJusticeRace and citizenship in Britain
Anthony Brown knows what it's like to have to fight for his citizenship rights. He is determined to help others...
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Published in:openJustice: OpinionThe judiciary in an age of political chaos
Last week’s Supreme Court decision that Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament was unlawful re-established...
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Published in:openDemocracyUKWhy the British constitution's finest moment should also be its last
Today's Supreme Court judges have been brave - but now only an huge and overdue exercise in democracy towards a new...
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Published in:openJusticeThe human stories behind the Dunkirk evictions
This week, 700 people were evicted from Grande-Synthe and other nearby temporary migrant camps in Dunkirk, France....
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Published in:openDemocracyUKUK rape survivors face ‘digital strip searches’ and other deterrents to justice
The proportion of reported rapes that end in conviction is shockingly low – and new forms of obstacles to justice...
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Published in:openJusticeLegal aid matters
Legal aid is 70 years old today. We need to celebrate it's past and campaign for it's future.
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Published in:openJustice"They told me to stop crying at night": How the UK is failing asylum seeking children
Figures suggest that many young asylum seekers arriving in the UK have their ages wrongly disputed leading to...
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Published in:openJusticeIt’s time to radically rethink our immigration system
Today marks one year since Sajid Javid was appointed Home Secretary. So far he has failed to live up to his promises.
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Published in:openJusticeWe’ve achieved same sex marriage in England and Wales. But this is only half the battle.
Today, we celebrate the fifth year of marriage equality in England and Wales. But discriminatory immigration rules...
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Published in:openJusticeWhy legal aid matters and what you can do about it
Cuts to legal aid are causing widespread injustice and likely costing the taxpayer more. The government are...
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Published in:openJusticeConsumer is King? Of class actions and who matters in EU law
The European Commission proposes that consumers should be able to take class actions in future, in the wake of the...
Latest
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Published in: openJustice: Feature‘That’s me done’: How the UK government abandoned artists to COVID-19
For many artists, the pandemic has confirmed that the government either doesn’t care about the arts or is actively...
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Published in: openJustice: Feature‘I lost everything’: COVID-19 and the UK’s Hostile Environment policy
Migrant workers and human rights organisations say the Home Office’s failure to respond to the pandemic has left...
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Published in: openJustice: InvestigationBenefits payments withheld from the chronically ill in COVID-19 government failure
The cancellation of face-to-face assessments meant claimants didn’t receive money they were entitled to – leaving...
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Published in: openJustice: OpinionPrisons are not the place for immigration detainees during the coronavirus crisis
More migrant detainees are being held in prisons since the start of the pandemic. This puts liberty, health and...
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Published in: Can Europe Make It?Let Justice Ginsburg be not the pinnacle, but the base of the transformation we need
While it is a common belief that racism is an outside force acting to derail justice, racism is central to the...
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Published in: openJustice: OpinionDisposable lives: how the plight of immigration detainees is highlighted during COVID-19
The UK government’s continued use of immigration detention lacks moral and legal justification. But it comes as no surprise.
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Published in: openJusticePrice and prejudice: automated decision-making and the UK government (podcast)
We spoke to lawyer Cori Crider about why automated decision-making in government is a major challenge of our time.
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Published in: openJustice: InvestigationPrice and prejudice: automated decision-making and the UK government
The use of automated decision-making in UK public services is on the rise. Do not be fooled by the cloak of...
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Published in: openJusticeThe Unlawful State
A series investigating unlawful decisions by public authorities and the tools to fight back.
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Published in: openJustice‘Serious disruption to the life of the community’ - policing of the Extinction Rebellion protests
What happens when the idealism, creativity and energy of climate activists are pitched against the criminal justice...
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Published in: openJusticeWhat next for justice?
The government have finally pledged to take some action on the access to justice crisis. Now we need to hold them to...
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Published in: openJusticeRe-writing history: how the MoJ strayed from the founding principles of legal aid
The latest round of legal aid cuts, reviewed last month, show a flagrant denial of the noble principles upon which...
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