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Advancing human rights and equality
through public interest litigation

European Law

Andy Wightman MSP and Others v Secretary of State for Exiting the EU [2018] CSIH 62

2018

This is a legal challenge brought by 6 elected representatives and the Good Law Project, of which Jolyon Maugham QC is Director.

The applicants had asked the courts to refer to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) the question of whether the United Kingdom could revoke unilaterally the notification given under Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union. In March 2017, this notice was given by the Prime Minister to begin the process of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

European Court finds that inability to cross-examine witness does not result in unfairness

2016

Simon Price v United Kingdom, Application no. 15602/07

The European Court of Human Rights unanimously decided that proceedings which led to the conviction of the applicant for drug trafficking offences did not infringe Article 6. This was despite the fact that the applicant was unable to cross-examine a key prosecution witness due to his refusal to attend court.

9-year Scottish murder trial was found to have breached human rights

2016

O’Neill and Lauchlan v the United Kingdom (Application Nos. 41516/10 and 75702/13)

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that criminal proceedings in the UK ran beyond the reasonable period of time permitted under Article 6 of the ECHR.