Between Domestication and Europeanisation. A Gendered Perspective on Reproductive (Human) Rights Law

Europeanization; European Court of Justice; European law; gender policy; law; U.K.

Gender equality and legal mobilization in the United Kingdom: using rights for lobbying, litigation, defense and attack

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Brexit and the voice of the people: but which people? The UACES Blog [weblog article, 5 February 2019]

Brexit has been debated and unpicked to exhaustion. Writing in February 2019, Brexit is beginning to feel like a bad soap opera whose scriptwriter has run out of ideas. The plot is going round in circles. And yet, most discussions revert one way or another to sovereignty, migration and economy – all with clear nationalistic and imperialistic overtones. Debates about people or ‘the people’ seem to be at the core of these discussion, especially when it comes to migration. All such debates are implicitly or explicitly about ‘us’ and ‘them’. This binary(ies) need challenging. What is also needed is a recognition of the multiple further intersections and subgroups within these binaries of groups of people

Strategic Litigation for Gender Equality in the Workplace and Legal Opportunity Structures in Four European Countries

Legal mobilization in the courts has emerged as an increasingly important social movement strategy, which complements other political strategies. This paper explores legal and institutional factors that can account for the varying levels of legal mobilization in countries with a civil law system. It examines the different legal opportunity structures (LOS) (such as judicial access and material and procedural law) and the extent to which strategic litigation has been employed by trade unions and other social actors to promote equal pay in four European countries: Switzerland, Germany, France, and Poland. While every component of LOS influences legal mobilization, legal factors and legal context alone are not sufficient to explain the observed variations. Rather, they constitute an important general framework in which other social and political factors, such as norms about gender roles, equality, and litigation, are also significant. Two issues seem to be especially relevant and have emerged as a rewarding field of analysis—the role of media coverage and organizational action frame

Increasing the involvement of smallholders in high-value horticulture: Lessons from Zimbabwe

This report describes a dialogue with the Zimbabwean horticultural industry, and particularly with the exporter Hortico, which together with Selbys, is one of two horticultural exporters sourcing substantial quantities from smallholders. The aim was to identify and test new approaches that would reduce the risks inherent in such schemes, thereby accelerating their development

Respect for human dignity: an Anglo-French comparison

The thesis analyses the ways in which respect for human dignity is ensured through law. Situated within the framework of comparative legal studies, it examines the place and significance of the principle of respect for human dignity in English and French law within the context of the protection of fundamental rights at both national and European levels (including the European Convention on Human Rights and the law of the European Union). The introduction sets out the framework of the study. It is here that the comparative nature of the research is presented and the chosen methodology of comparative law justified. The thesis is then divided into two main sections. The first, comprising Chapters 1 and 2, is devoted to the definition of key concepts, notably that of `dignity' and the `human person' and to an analysis of the 'juridification' of respect for dignity, that is its insertion into legal sources at both national and supra-national levels and its relationship with other fundamental legal principles and values. The second part of the thesis, Chapters 3 to 6, comprises a detailed comparative study of instances in which the concept of dignity is applied in France and England. Initially under investigation is respect for dignity at the boundaries of life; that is at its beginnings (Chapter 3) and at its end (Chapter 4). The focus then shifts towards respect for dignity during the course of the human life cycle, looking particularly at violations of physical integrity (Chapter 5) and mental integrity (Chapter 6). The study concludes that while both French and English legal systems have been called upon to respond to potential dignity violations as a result of scientific and technological developments, their responses have varied as a result of their distinct legal cultures. Nevertheless, there is a substantial trend towards rapprochement as a result of harmonising influences from Europe

After Brüstle: EU Accession to the ECHR and the Future of European Patent Law

The aim of the Directive on Biotechnological Inventions 1998 1 was to harmonize national patent laws in order to bolster Europe's competitiveness in fields involving biotechnological applications. From the beginning, the Directive was met with a barrage of opposition from politicians, political lobbies, religious organizations and academics who called for the need to ensure that ethical principles would not be sacrificed on the altar of commerce and market forces. 2 Human rights were specifically invoked to justify the importation of moral exclusions into the Directive. 3 Yet, little thought was given at the time to the implications and the potential tensions created by the lack of integration between the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE) legal orders and courts. This paper analyses and evaluates how the historical tensions are manifested in the paradoxical judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) in the Brüstle case. 4 It is suggested that the CJEU ruling represents a disproportionate interference with the autonomy of Member States and is inconsistent with the degree of autonomy vested in Member States by the European Convention legal order. More generally, the paper uses the Brüstle case as a lens through which to analyse and evaluate the potential impact of the current proposal for the EU's accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on the resolution of emerging tensions

Written submission from the School of Law, Politics and Sociology, University of Sussex (OEU0007)to the Women and equalities Committee inquiry: ensuring strong equalities legislation after EU exit

Undoubtedly, the UK’s equalities legislation has become stronger in recent years providing important protection for people who experience discrimination. Nevertheless, this has happened in the context of widening economic inequality, cuts in public services and restrictions on access to justice – all of which make it harder for victims of discrimination to realise the rights that exist on paper. If the UK leaves the EU, the next few years will be a period of great political, economic and social instability when it will be vital to ensure that protection against discrimination is strengthened not weakened and that a culture of support for equality and human rights is promoted throughout the UK. The rights that must be protected benefit everyone in the UK, not only supporting marginalised people and victims of discrimination but also making workplaces fairer for all and underpinning the legitimacy of our democratic institutions