When is a duty not a duty? Interpreting the main homeless duty in Elkundi v Birmingham and Imam v Croydon
Housing has been in the news quite a bit over the last few weeks. We have seen the inclusion in the Queen’s Speech of the much-anticipated and long-delayed Social Housing Regulation Bill and Renters’ Reform Bill, aimed at increasing regulatory oversight and improving standards in the social and private rented sectors. The Prime Minister has…
How to sue an ex-king
Lois and I have in recent weeks observed that the blog posts that prove most popular are those that provide practical advice to our readership on matters that are likely to arise in their own lives. For this reason, I hope that you will enjoy my short presentation of the decision of the High Court…
Split decision in Mozambique gas project challenge
Back in October last year, I wrote a piece arguing that the UK legal system is ill-equipped to deal with the climate crisis. Citing a number of high-profile legal challenges to carbon-intensive infrastructure projects which have been dismissed over the last few years, I argued that the wide margin of appreciation enjoyed by decision-makers when…
The Supreme Court giveth, and the Supreme Court taketh away: How to terminate a fixed-term tenancy
The upshot of this case is that, if a tenancy agreement contains a provision for early termination based on anything other than the fault of the tenant, the landlord may rely on that provision to apply for a standard possession order. If the only provision for early termination is a forfeiture clause, requiring the fault…
Pupillage interviews: What to expect and how to make the most of them
As pupillage interview season gets underway in earnest, we share our experiences of the process in previous cycles, and some tips for making the most out of your interviews.
Animals in constitutions around the world
If animals are part of the community of beings whose lives are governed by law, how can a constitution validated only by humans legitimately apply to animals? How could a constitution be legitimate with respect to animals? And how could, or should, a constitution recognise the status of animals as worthy of protection if the…
The birds and the bees: Biodiversity Net Gain in practice
After a long process of scrutiny, debate and amendment, the Environment Act 2021 (“the Act”) finally received royal assent on the 9th November last year. It sets out a statutory framework for post-Brexit environmental protection and regulation, to be overseen by the newly created Office for Environmental Protection.[1] Some of the provisions of the Act…
Trespassers and will-be-trespassers: Anti-encampment injunctions and the recent Court of Appeal decision
The recent decision by the Court of Appeal in the Barking case is an important development in the law relating to injunctions generally. It is particularly important with respect to anti-encampment injunctions and anti-protestor injunctions.
Section 21 and the Supported Housing Sector
In April 2019 Theresa May’s Government announced its plans to repeal Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 (as amended by the Housing Act 1996) and put an end to so-called ‘no fault evictions’. Long controversial, Section 21 allows landlords to evict tenants who have assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs): after a fixed term tenancy comes…
Part 4 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill and Article 14 of the ECHR
The offence in Part 4 of the Act, while applying to everyone, targets a specific group of racial and cultural communities, namely Gypsies, Roma and Travellers. This raises the question whether there is anything in the United Kingdom constitution that could influence the interpretation of the offence in order to avoid a discriminatory effect.
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