Browsing Law by Title
Now showing items 1-20 of 54
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The BME student experience at a small northern university: An examination of the experiences of minority ethnic students undertaking undergraduate study within a small northern universityThis article discusses a small-scale study exploring BME student experiences at a small northern England university using focus groups and interview data. The findings were based on the themes of belonging and segregation, academic and social experiences, differential treatment and equal opportunities, and early education and employability.
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Book review: Crimes of Mobility. Criminal Law and the Regulation of Immigration, written by Ana AlivertiBook review: Crimes of Mobility. Criminal Law and the Regulation of Immigration, written by Ana Aliverti
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The boundaries of legal recognition of personal partnerships: Where and why?This book discusses why Parliament passed the Civil Partnerships Act 2004 to give rights and duties to both same sex couples and other relationships and whether the extent of the rights and duties afford is suitable.
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Brexit: The Golden Chalice of European Demos Formation?In all its chaos, divisiveness and uncertainty, Brexit has not only raised considerable constitutional questions for the United Kingdom (UK) but has also led to the European Union (EU) reflecting on its self, its direction and how it comprehends and defines its existence both internally and on the global platform. One branch of speculative discussion on what a post-Brexit EU will look like is consideration of the role that the English language will play in the EU’s institutions once the EU loses the Member State that houses the demos for whom that language is associated. Whilst much of this discussion has necessarily focused on whether a different language could become the unofficial lingua franca of the EU institutions in terms of the practicalities of its day-to-day workings, the future role and use of the English language as a democratic legitimacy tool has barely been remarked upon.
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Bridging the gap – an exploration of the use of positive actionDespite laws in Britain permitting limited positive action initiatives to combat disadvantage faced by minority groups in employment since the mid-1970s, the subject has notoriously been a neglected and highly controversial area in the UK. Notwithstanding the potential provided by sections 158 and 159 of the Equality Act 2010, it still appears that organizations prefer to steer clear of this opportunity to address disadvantage suffered by protected groups. Whilst there is a body of work considering the theoretical importance of positive action in the UK (see inter alia Barmes, 2011; Burrows & Robison, 2006; Johns et al, 2014; McCrudden 1986; Noon, 2010), there is a lack of empirical exploration of the practical implications of these provisions. Qualitative study to determine the utility of the positive action provisions is considered both timely and necessary as we approach the fifth anniversary of the Equality Act 2010. This paper will explore the theoretical context of the current positive action provisions within England, Scotland and Wales. It will also discuss the early findings of a small-scale qualitative study carried out by the authors looking at the experiences of a purposive sample of public and private organisations in light of the potential for positive action in relation to employment in the UK.
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Bridging the gap: an exploration of the use and impact of positive action in the UKDespite laws in Britain permitting limited positive action initiatives to combat disadvantage faced by minority groups in employment since the mid-1970s, the subject has notoriously been a neglected and highly controversial area in the UK. Notwithstanding the potential provided by sections 158 and 159 of the Equality Act 2010, it still appears that organisations prefer to steer clear of this opportunity to address disadvantage suffered by protected groups. Whilst there is a body of work considering the theoretical importance of positive action in the UK, there is a lack of empirical exploration of the practical implications of these provisions. This paper will provide a brief overview of the theoretical context and current positive action legislative provisions within the UK. In light of this context, the early findings of a small-scale qualitative study carried out by the authors will be discussed looking at the experiences of a purposive sample of public and private employers in relation to the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010. Early research findings suggest that whilst there was a clear willingness and openness by employers to use of outreach measures in order to redress disadvantage, there was evident wariness regarding a move towards preferential treatment as expounded by section 159. Whilst respondents appeared to appreciate the business case for and utility of the positive action measures under section 158, there was far less enthusiasm for more direct preferential treatment, with many respondents raising serious concerns regarding this. These concerns often reflected a highly sensitive risk-based approach towards any action that could expose their organisation to the possibility of “reverse discrimination”.
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Child abuse in England and Wales 2003–2013: Newspaper reporting versus realityThis study examined how child abuse and neglect were reported in a sample of 459 newspaper articles between 2003 and 2013 in England and Wales. The results were compared with data on child abuse and neglect over the same decade. Sexual abuse was by far the most commonly reported, in both tabloid and broadsheet newspapers. Although neglect and emotional abuse are the most common causes of child protection plans in England and Wales, neglect and emotional abuse are relatively invisible in newspaper articles, as is physical abuse. Possible explanations for this disproportionate focus on sexual abuse, which has also been found in Australia and the United States, include the fact that sexual abuse cases reach the criminal courts more often than other forms of child victimisation. Although broadsheet papers were more likely than tabloid newspapers to comment on causes and solutions beyond the individual perpetrator committing a crime, the majority of articles in broadsheet papers still did not frame either the causes or the solutions in broader terms. It seems possible that the notion of the decontextualised ‘evil’ perpetrator serves to distance journalist and reader alike from the pervasiveness and pain of child abuse. The article concludes with ideas to improve the accuracy and utility of the coverage of child abuse and neglect in newspapers.
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Company IncorporationAn overview of company law as it applies to incorporation of the company and the importance of separate corporate personality & the maintenance of the corporate veil.
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Convention compatible construction: Section 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998Section 3 Human Rights Act 1998 and convention compliant interpretation
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Corporate Social Responsibility and Chinese Oil Multinationals in the Oil and Gas Industry of Nigeria: An appraisalThis article focuses on the extant corporate social responsibility ǻCSR) practices in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria. The oil and gas sector of Nigeria has been beset by a lot of problems not limited to violence, kidnappings, eco-terrorism, and maladministration amongst others. One way of curing the inherent problems is the use of CSR by many oil multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in Nigeria. This article focuses on the Chinese oil irms operating in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and investigates if they operate on the same basis as the Western irms. It seeks to determine whether the variants of CSR practised by non-Western irms in Nigeria have had negative or positive impacts in the oil and gas industry especially with China’s contribution to Nigerian economy.
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COVID-19 and the UN Security Council: should we expect an intervention?COVID-19 is a threat to international peace and security under Article 39 of the UN Charter, posing the question where is the UN Security Council? This article explores whether or not we should expect to see the UN Security Council engage the pandemic, and what obstacles may be in the way of such a move.
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The Criminalisation of Irregular MigrantsThe criminalisation of irregular migrants – in relation to irregular entry, residence, and work – is considered against the 1975 and 1990 ILO Migrant Workers Conventions (MWC); the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 (ICCPR); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966 (ICESCR); the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG); and the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 2000, including its Protocols to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (‘the Trafficking Protocol’) and against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (‘the Smuggling Protocol’). The creation of laws, which are generally applied only to foreigners – concerning irregular entry, residence, and work – increases costs and exposure to adverse labour conditions and social vulnerabilities, and also impedes access to justice. The possibilities of criminal conviction, resulting in fines, imprisonment and expulsion contribute to a precarious class of low-skilled migrant. The chapter argues that the criminalisation of migration exacerbates the migrant premium because it decreases income while increasing dependency on employers, smugglers and traffickers and complicates access to human rights protection. The chapter suggests that one of the policy propositions for the Global Compact should be an understanding of how the emphasis internationally, regionally and nationally on smuggling and trafficking and border control has resulted in the criminalisation of irregular migrants – both potential and actual - for the ways in which they enter, leave, reside and work in a country; and that migrants need to be able to manage their working needs in a flexible manner.
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Crossing the rubicon: an exploration of the use of positive action provisions in Higher Education Institutions in the UKCrossing the rubicon: an exploration of the use of positive action provisions in Higher Education Institutions in the UK
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Directors' statutory general dutiesAn article providing a detailed overview of the statutory duties owed by director to their company according to Companies Act 2006
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Enforcement of family law judgements in the European Union: Report for the Republic of CyprusThis report discusses the enforcement of family law judgements in the Cypriot courts.
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The Equality Act 2010: Five years onEditorial for a double edition of the International Journal of Discrimination and the Law based on a conference hosted by the University of Chester in collaboration with the University of Liverpool on the Equality Act 2010.
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Equality at work? positive action in gender segregated apprenticeshipsThis research explores the attitudes towards and the use of positive action aimed at addressing gender inequality in apprenticeships offered in sectors in which women are underrepresented in England. This research has been conducted as a means of following up recommendations made in research undertaken by the Young Women’s Trust (YWT) in 2016. The YWT report recommended that where it can be shown that the number of women undertaking apprenticeships in any given sector is disproportionately low employers should consider whether they can take positive action to increase the participation of women. It was therefore considered that in the context of apprenticeships, the overwhelming gender disparity in certain sectors and in particular the attitudes towards and use of positive action in resolving this gender disparity required further exploration. The engineering, ICT and construction sectors have therefore been chosen by the researcher and the YWT due to the stark underrepresentation of women in these sectors in England. This research concludes with appropriate specific recommendations on positive action in relation to gender segregated apprenticeships in England within the particular sectors explored. However, it is hoped that these may provide a foundation for the development of wider recommendations in relation to the effective use of positive action initiatives more generally across the protected characteristics and beyond apprenticeships in the UK.
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Equality at work? positive action in gender segregated apprenticeships (summary report)Some of Britain’s crucial industries are struggling to recruit the staff they need. As part of the Government’s commitment to meeting this skills gap, a target was set in 2015 of three million new apprenticeship starts by 2020. However, it is questionable whether the Government will meet this target or its wider aspiration to make apprenticeships more accessible. Despite this skills gap, women continue to be significantly under-represented in many parts of the economy – with little progress having been made in recent years. While there are more female than male apprentices, women remain locked out of sectors with significant skills gaps and which offer good pay and good prospects. The percentage of female engineering apprentices actually declined from 4.6% in 2002 to 3.1% in 2015.1 In construction there are just three female to every 98 male apprentices; and in Information Technology (IT) 35 females to 186 males. Addressing this chronic under-representation will give women more opportunities to enter areas of work with better quality apprenticeships, prospects and pay2 than where they are currently working – such as in the retail or caring sectors. Given this background and building on our key 2016 report, Making Apprenticeships Work for Young Women, YWT commissioned Professor Chantal Davies of the University of Chester to carry out research into the use of Positive Action (PA), with a special focus on its use in apprenticeships within engineering, construction and IT.3 The research consisted of: • A survey of over 4,000 young people aged 18-30 carried out by Populus Data Solutions; • A survey of 800 HR decision-makers carried out by YouGov to understand attitudes towards use of Positive Action in apprenticeships; • Series of focus groups and semi structured interviews with sector bodies, apprentices and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) representatives.4 • Data triangulation with literature and data from a roundtable discussion in March 2018 hosted by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC roundtable) looking at the use of Positive Action in relation to under- representation on the grounds of disability, race and gender in apprenticeships across England, Scotland and Wales. Through this research we found that there is very significant confusion about Positive Action and whether and how it can be used – despite the fact that the majority of employers were committed to measures to bring about gender equality. While not a panacea or suf cient in isolation, our research suggests Positive Action is being chronically under-utilised, which in turn is acting as a barrier to addressing the under-representation of women in key sectors within apprenticeships and beyond.
