The Continuing Use of Problematic Sexual Stereotypes in Judicial Decision-Making

This article examines the continuing use of problematic sexual stereotypes at appellate level in the English and Welsh legal system. Using five cases as illustrations, it argues that, notwithstanding professional training and guidance on sexual equality matters, certain senior judges in this jurisdiction still at least sometimes openly employ crude and problematic sexual stereotypes in their judgments or fail to deal appropriately with the use of these stereotypes by trial judges. The central point is that there is still a significant problem with the open use of crude sexual stereotypes in legal reasoning at a senior level in this jurisdiction, despite the pressure on all members of the legal system to appear to be ‘politically correct’

The Carloway Review: an opportunity lost

The Scottish Government is (at the time of writing) piloting through the Scottish Parliament the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill. Its target is in effect sectarianism. Whatever form any new statute will take, the burden will remain with the justice system to decide what sectarianism is