30th November 2018
This week, the Justice Beat focuses on gig economy employment claims in the public sector, an agricultural inheritance row and the latest Brexit drama in the courts.
Brexit hitting the courtroom
1. Should the alleged commission of election spending offences by campaign groups render the Brexit Referendum and the UK’s Article 50 notification void? That's what anti-Brexit campaigners will argue in a High Court case next week, The Independent reports. The case follows the referral of Arron Banks and Leave.EU to the National Crime Agency for investigation. One of the claimants is raising funds on CrowdJustice to challenge the Referendum result.
2. An influential opinion on whether the UK’s Article 50 notification is unilaterally revocable is due next week, Reuters reports. The Court of Justice of the European Union held an urgent hearing on the question of revocability last Tuesday and the opinion of the Advocate General, which the Court usually follows, is due next Tuesday, 4 December 2018. The claimants, a group of Scottish politicians who hope the Court will decide that the UK can unilaterally revoke Article 50 notification, are raising funds on CrowdJustice.
Spotlight on the gig economy
3. The National Gallery should class artists and art lecturers as employees rather than freelancers, and grant them related employment rights, a group of artists is claiming. According to the Independent, the group’s challenge - which commenced in the Employment Tribunal this week - is a landmark case which shifts the spotlight on the gig economy from the likes of Uber and Deliveroo to the public sector. Twenty seven artists and lecturers who were summarily dismissed by the Gallery are raising funds on CrowdJustice to take legal action.
4. Meanwhile, gig economy giant Uber has been fined £385,000 after hackers made off with data on 2.7 million of Uber’s UK customers, the BBC reports. Uber has made similar payments in Europe and the US to settle charges brought overseas in respect of the massive data breach. It also paid $100,000 (£78,400) to the hackers to destroy the data they took.
Bet the farm
5. A hatred of cows and poor work ethic have resulted in a dairy farmer’s son losing a legal battle to inherit his family’s Lincolnshire farm worth £1 million, Metro reports. A High Court judge concluded that Clive Shaw had been promised the farm only on the condition that he worked for it, and that Mr Shaw had not met that condition. The Judge ordered Mr Shaw to pay £100,000 in legal costs and gave him six weeks to leave the farm.
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This week on CrowdJustice, three deaf mothers, who took their daughters to a Little Mix concert and were denied a sign language interpreter for the whole of the event, are raising funds to make live entertainment more accessible and the mother of 16 year old Libby Rose, who died after seeking help from mental health services for multiple eating disorders, is crowdfunding to open an inquest into her death.
Equal rights campaigners in Bermuda celebrate a victory for LGBTQ equality after a landmark ruling by the Bermudan Court of Appeal overturned legislation replacing same sex marriage with civil partnerships. Campaigners raised over £40,000 on CrowdJustice to bring the claim.
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Want to learn more about crowdfunding for legal action? Get in touch: [email protected]
Image credit: Flickr / Tiocfaidh ár lá 1916