UKAJI March and April 2020 round-up

UKAJI March and April 2020 round-up

Here is UKAJI’s round-up of important administrative justice news, events, publications, and cases for March and April 2020. If you have anything to add to this round-up or any future round-ups, please contact Lee Marsons at lm17598@essex.ac.uk.

Readers are reminded that UKAJI’s ongoing summary of updates related to Covid-19 and administrative justice can be found here. While this round-up might inevitably refer to Covid-related material, it will not repeat material found in UKAJI’s main Covid-19 updates.

UKAJI blog posts:

• Emmanuel Slautsky (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Public law values in times of lockdown: lessons from the Belgian case
• Richard Kirkham (University of Sheffield) and Chris Gill (University of Glasgow), A Manifesto for Ombudsman Reform
• Eri Mountbatten-O’Malley (Edge Hill University), The Emperor has no clothes: A sober analysis of the Government response to Covid-19
• Johnny Tan (LSE), Online hearings and the quality of justice
• Julian Hendy (Hundred Families), Victims and the mental health tribunal
• Jonathan Collinson (University of Huddersfield), Simplifying the Immigration Rules: the government response makes the solution sound so simple
• Lee Marsons (University of Essex), Covid-19 and the UK Administrative State
• Jaime Lindsey (University of Essex), Virtual hearings, participation and openness in the Court of Protection
• Margaret Doyle (University of Essex), Going online in a hurry
• David Whalley, Jumping in with both feet?
• Stefan Theil (Bonavero Institute of Human Rights), Germany – a federal executive power grab?
• UKAJI published a call for blogs, opinions, and news on Covid-19 and administrative justice
• UKAJI published its February 2020 round-up

Research, blogs, and publications:

• Richard Kirkham and Christian Gill, A Manifesto for Ombudsman Reform (Palgrave MacMillan)
• Joe Tomlinson, ‘Do we need a theory of legitimate expectations?’ (2020) Legal Studies 1-15
• Dean Knight, ‘Contextual review: the instinctive impulse and unstructured normativism in judicial review’ (2020) 40 Legal Studies 1-21
• Paul Daly, Cultivating and maintaining adjudicative virtue in a world of constraints
• Paul Daly, Vavilov and the culture of justification in administrative law
• Paul Daly, The inner morality of administrative adjudication
• Joe Tomlinson, Jed Meers and Simon Halliday launched the ‘Law and Compliance During Covid-19’ project, funded by the Nuffield Foundation
• The Fabian Society published a report called ‘Public Service Futures: Welfare States in the Digital Age’
• The Housing Law Practitioners Association published its first ever podcast, available here
• Mark Mancini, The Common Good Administrative State
• Leonid Sirota, How much justice can you afford? The trade-offs involved in designing fair administrative procedures
• Naomi Creutzfeldt and Richard Kirkham, Understanding how and when change occurs in the administrative justice system: the ombudsman/ tribunal partnership as a catalyst for reform?
• Jed Meers, Forms of fettering: application forms and the exercise of discretion in the welfare state
• Karma Hickman, The unsettling Settlement Scheme: what happens if EU citizens refuse to apply?
• CJ McKinney, No knowing how many Europeans will be left unlawfully resident by Brexit, experts warn
• Chris Desira, New statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 120
• The Administrative Justice Council published a report on digitisation and accessing justice in the community

Cases:

• AM (Zimbabwe) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] UKSC 17 
• R (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2020] UKSC 16 
• R (Elgizouli) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] UKSC 10
• R (DN (Rwanda)) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] UKSC 7
• MS (Pakistan) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] UKSC 9
• R (Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 542
• R (AD) v London Borough of Hackney [2020] EWCA Civ 518
• R (Corbett) v Cornwall Council [2020] EWCA Civ 508
• R (Drexler) v Leicestershire County Council [2020] EWCA Civ 502
• R (Hook) v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2020] EWCA Civ 486
• R (Le) (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 505
• R (James) v Hertsmere Borough Council [2020] EWCA Civ 489
• R (McMahon) v Watford Borough Council [2020] EWCA Civ 497
• R (Runa) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 514
• R (Advearse, Gerolemou and Summerton) v Dorset Council [2020] EWHC 807 (Admin)
• R (AQS) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2020] EWHC 843 (Admin)
• R (D, P and K) v Lord Chancellor [2020] EWHC 736 (Admin)
• R (FNM) v Director of Public Prosecutions [2020] EWHC 870 (Admin)
• R (Gassa and Matthey-Flemming) v Richmond Independent Appeals Service [2020] EWHC 957 (Admin)
• R (Idolo) v London Borough of Bromley [2020] EWHC 860 (Admin)
• R (McKeown) v London Borough of Islington [2020] EWHC 779 (Admin)
• R (Packham) v Secretary of State for Transport [2020] EWHC 829 (Admin)
• R (Wiltshire County Council) v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2020] EWHC 954 (Admin)
• The BBC reported that two doctors, Nishant Joshi and Meenal Viz, had launched a judicial review against government guidance on the use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
• MH (Iran) v Secretary of State for Home Department (review; slip rule; church witnesses) [2020] UKUT 125 (IAC)
• KH v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] UKUT 50 (AAC)
• R (OA) v Secretary of State for Education and Student Loans Company [2020] EWHC 276 (Admin)

Events:

• The Housing Law Practitioners Association issued an urgent call for evidence on Practice Direction 51Z, which stays possession proceedings for three months. The call relates to an upcoming Court of Appeal case where the court must consider whether the Direction is unlawful.
• The University of Essex is holding two Zoom events in May 2020 on the use of quantitative methods in socio-legal research. Please contact Jaime Lindsey or Lee Marsons, both of the University of Essex, for further information.
• The British Association of Comparative Law launched a blog series on Covid-19 in comparative perspective
• Public Law Project held an event entitled ‘Remote Justice? Access to courts and tribunals during the pandemic’ on 8 April 2020 via Zoom
• Administrative Law & Governance Colloquium 2020: Sarah Nason, Monday, March 16, 5pm WEBCAST
• The Administrative Justice Council is recruiting new members for its Advice Sector Panel, particularly those with experience of working with BAME communities
• UK Authority held a Zoom session entitled ‘Powering Digital Public Services’
• The Administrative Justice Council held a Zoom event on 29 April entitled ‘Impact of COVID-19 on the Administrative Justice System’
• NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde held a mediation skills workshop on 3 March 2020.
• The International Ombudsman Institute held a seminar on 3 March 2020 on Artificial Intelligence and the Ombud.
• Tania Sourdin (Newcastle Law School, Australia) is to hold a Zoom Webinar on ‘Future Law: Transparency, technology and teaching: an eye for justice’ on 5 May 2020
• The Society of Conservative Lawyers held a Zoom webinar on the response to coronavirus on 30 April

Ombuds affairs:

• The SPSO published its Strategic Plan for 2020-24
• The SPSO placed its decision in one case before the Scottish Parliament for April 2020 and its decisions in seventy cases for March 2020.
• The PHSO published its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy for 2020-24
• The PHSO published its first annual casework review
• The LGSCO determined that a village cricket club was forced to find a new venue as a result of a faulty grant of planning permission for new housing granted by Shropshire Council
• The LGSCO determined that North Yorkshire County Council had failed to carry out a financial assessment it had agreed to undertake following an earlier upheld complaint
• The LGSCO reported that Trafford Council agreed to review way it monitors missed bin collections following Ombudsman investigation

Parliamentary affairs:

• The House of Lords published a briefing paper on the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill
• MPs approved a motion to allow remote participation in key Commons proceedings
• The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee held an evidence session on Universal Credit’s design and its impact on the housing sector
• The House of Lords held a general virtual debate on the delivery of social and home care
• Holyrood’s Social Security Committee called on the UK and Scottish Governments to work together to deal with the issue of unclaimed benefits
• The Welsh Assembly’s Equality, Local Government and Communities Committee called on the Welsh Government to roll out an adequate level of education on politics and democracy across all schools.
• ​The Welsh Assembly’s Legislation, Justice and Constitution Committee launched an inquiry into the justice system in Wales.

News items:

• Owen Bowcott, Court hearings via video ‘risk unfairness for disabled people’ (The Guardian)
• Estelle Huchet, Ageism in the age of Covid-19 (Each Other)
• Open Letter, Universal credit’s two-child limit and the benefit cap must end now (The Guardian)
• Judith Burns, Schools give emergency food to families with nothing to eat (BBC)
• Brendan Hughes, Charity Commission decision making approach incompatible with legislation
• Hillsborough: MP to table ‘disaster advocate’ bill in Parliament (BBC)
• Steve Broach, Why the coronavirus lockdown adjustment for people with disabilities and mental health conditions was the right thing to do (Special Needs Jungle)
• Ruth Patrick, Universal credit during coronavirus: now is an opportunity to fix it (The Guardian)
• Windrush compensation scheme to get MPs’ backing (BBC)
• Windrush scandal: Home Office showed ‘ignorance’ of race (BBC)
• Coronavirus: ‘Safe spaces’ needed for homeless to self-isolate (BBC)
• Renewable Heating Incentive: ‘Corruption did not cause’ energy scheme failure (BBC)
• Coronavirus: Food bank shortage blamed on panic buying (BBC)
• BAME communities’ ‘unequal mental health care’ (BBC)
• Homelessness: Councils ‘telling people to contact private landlords’ (BBC)
• Amelia Gentleman, The Windrush victim sleeping rough at Heathrow Airport (The Guardian)
• MPs oppose ‘bedroom tax’ being applied to domestic abuse survivors (BBC)
• DWP says it is ‘shocked’ by its own disability tribunal record (BBC)
• Monidipa Fouzder, Law centre hit by ‘unrelenting’ cuts closes (Law Gazette)
• Nathaniel Barker, Housing Ombudsman confirms tougher new powers following government approval (Inside Housing)
• Eleanor Gruffydd-Jones, LGBT asylum process criticised by applicants and MP (BBC)