R (MP) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (MP v Secretary of State for Health)
NHS regulations require most non-EU citizens to pay up to 150 percent of the cost of healthcare treatment. A man who was being treated for cancer challenged this in the courts, arguing that the regulations did not comply with equality laws.
Immigration status and the right to rent a property (R (Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants) v Secretary of State for the Home Department)
As part of the Home Office’s ‘hostile environment’ towards those without leave to remain in the UK, the Immigration Act 2014 prevents landlords from renting property to people who do not have leave to enter or remain in the UK. A body representing the interests of immigrants challenged this, arguing that the law breached both equality and human rights legislation because it causes landlords to discriminate against potential tenants on the grounds of their nationality and/or their race. This may happen, for example, because landlords think they do not look or sound British, even if they are not disqualified from renting.
Protecting disabled people’s right to live independently (Davey v Oxfordshire Council)
A severely disabled man had his care package cut by the local council. It meant that he would lose a team of carers who had been supporting him to live independently for 20 years. We intervened to support his legal challenge that the decision broke equality and human rights laws and breached the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Immigration: children who are eligible for leave to remain whose parents have been convicted of a crime (KO (Nigeria) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department)
Home Office policy says that children who are eligible to apply for leave to remain but whose parents are ‘foreign criminals’ must either be deported with the parent or remain in the UK without them. We are concerned that this breaches the child’s right to family life, and we intervened in a case seeking to challenge the Home Office policy.
Protecting unaccompanied young asylum seekers whose age is disputed (R (S) v London Borough of Croydon & Anor)
An unaccompanied young person arrived in the UK seeking asylum. He claimed he was under 18. His local council placed him in adult accommodation and refused to provide child-appropriate services until an age assessment had taken place. He challenged their decision, arguing that it breached his human rights.
Immigration rules: extending domestic violence protection to refugees (R (A) v Secretary of State for the Home Department)
The wife of a refugee was granted temporary leave to remain in the UK. When domestic violence forced her to leave her husband, immigration rules meant she was no longer eligible for indefinite leave to remain. Had her partner been a British citizen or had settled immigration status, she would still be eligible for indefinite leave to remain under the Home Office’s domestic violence concession. However, the concession did not apply to partners of refugees. The woman unsuccessfully challenged the rules in the Court of Session (Outer House), and brought an appeal to the Court of Session (Inner House).
Ending unlawful detention of adults with incapacity (NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde)
After we brought a judicial review against NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and HC One Oval Ltd, the owner of a chain of care homes, the NHSGGC stopped placing patients in two care homes in Glasgow without legal authority and a legal agreement was reached.