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Landmark Health and Social Care Insight
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This is the latest update on developments in health and social care law from Landmark Chambers. We hope you will find this briefing useful; please feel free to forward it to your colleagues.
Editors: David Lock QC, Samantha Broadfoot QC, Leon Glenister and Hannah Gibbs.
Assistant Editor: Faryal Shafi
Click here to make an enquiry or for further information about our specialist public law barristers.
Please be advised that the information contained within this newsletter does not constitute legal advice. Click here for details.
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| The Brook House Inquiry: Medical Abuse in Immigration Detention? |
| Alex Goodman |
| After considerable delays, the Brook House Inquiry into the torture and inhuman and degrading treatment of detainees uncovered by BBC Panorama in 2017 is underway with the hearings continuing until 6th April 2022. |
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| By drawing on the medical evidence the Inquiry has heard thus far, this article highlights the lessons learnt about the standards of governance, oversight, management, and vigilance in detention facilities run by the Home Office and G4S. |
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High Court dismisses challenge by pro-life organisation to new abortion regulations in Northern Ireland
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| Yaaser Vanderman |
| The Northern Ireland High Court has dismissed a challenge by the Society for the Prevention of Unborn Children (“SPUC”) against the Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2021 and the Abortion Services Direction 2021 on all grounds, including that they breached Article 2(1) of the NI Protocol for violating the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. |
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The regulations challenged are the broad equivalent of the abortion services regime in England and Wales.
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| Online Safety Bill – Update – March 2022 |
| Samantha Broadfoot QC |
| The recently published report by the Joint Committee on the Online Harms and Safety Bill acknowledges that the Bill is overly complex and lacking in clarity in certain key aspects. |
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| The report proposes additional measures to protect vulnerable groups from online harm through a series of recommendations that lay considerable responsibility with Ofcom, which will need substantial resources to implement its new and extensive functions. This article sets out the headline points. |
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| Paposhvili: Where are we now? |
| Miranda Butler |
| Paposhvili v Belgium has made a significant and rapid difference to the landscape of Article 3 claims in the UK. Whereas previously removal could only be resisted if death was imminent in the event of removal, Paposhvili and the Supreme Court’s decision in AM (Zimbabwe) v Secretary of State for the Home Department have lowered the threshold to whether removal would give rise to a real risk of a serious, rapid and irreversible decline in the person’s state of health resulting in intense suffering, or to a significant (i.e. substantial reduction) in life expectancy. |
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| Despite this lowering of the threshold, such cases are won and lost on the quality of the expert evidence and practitioners handling such cases should ensure they are addressing the specific points raised by the ECtHR and Supreme Court in detail. |
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| Change of control of GP practices to US health giant held to be lawful |
| Newsletter Editorial Team |
| The High Court has found that North Central London CCG’s authorisation of a change of control from AT Medics Ltd to a subsidiary of a US health giant, which was commissioned to provide GP services, was lawful. |
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| Giving the CCG a wide margin of discretion, the Court rejected the challenge centred on the failure to take into account the financial stability of the concerned subsidiary, and held that the approach to change of control was not irrational, and that the public were sufficiently involved in the change of control process. |
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| Divisional Court hears challenge to government’s care homes policies at start of pandemic |
| Charles Bishop |
| A challenge to the government’s policies in respect of care home residents during the COVID-19 pandemic is before the Divisional Court from 14th March 2022 for a six-day hearing. |
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Broadly, the court will decide whether the relevant policies breached the UK’s positive obligation to protect the right to life under Article 2 ECHR. |
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| Consultation on the Modern Bill of Rights |
| Alex Goodman |
| The Government’s consultation on its proposed “Bill of Rights” to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 (“HRA”) is a curious and somewhat inaccurate document and appears premised on a misconception that the HRA threatens parliamentary sovereignty. |
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Public Law at Landmark Chambers
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Public law involves the rules that govern the way all aspects of government interact with citizens, companies, non-governmental organisations, public bodies and other governments.
It covers everything from the grant of telecommunication licences to major corporates, all aspects of the law of the NHS, through to the rules affecting the detention of asylum seekers.
Each area has its own complex set of rules but there are overriding principles of public law which govern how public bodies are required to act. Our public lawyers have, between them, a huge depth of experience.
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