December 22nd
In our holiday edition we look at the #12DaysOfJustice - 12 CrowdJustice cases that have made an impact in 2017. Happy holidays from all of us at CrowdJustice!
Twelve: the number of times David Davis said the Brexit impact papers existed before saying they didn’t as reported in the Guardian. Facing a crowdfunded challenge by the Good Law Project and MEP Molly Scott Cato, the government has finally released the papers in what has been described as the biggest case of “the dog ate my homework”.
Eleven citizens and Plan B are challenging the UK government on failing to set appropriate carbon targets. The courts are increasingly being used to tackle climate change with the Global Legal Action Network and Portuguese children holding European countries accountable in Strasbourg for breaching their human rights. You can read about out their crowdfunding campaign here.
Ten times as many military kits and arms have been sold by the UK to Saudi since 2016. Campaign Against Arms Trade is challenging the government’s policy on sales to Saudi appealing a decision in the High Court and crowdfunding their legal costs.
Nine months after Carole Cadwalladr, Guardian journalist, first started to investigate how British democracy was “hijacked” by Cambridge Analytica, American voters are using English data protection laws and courts to find out how this company used their personal data to influence elections and are crowdfunding their costs.
Eight years: is how long it’s been since the bloodiest year for British troops in Afghanistan, reports the Guardian. But when it comes to the Afghan interpreters who helped troops, the Government is refusing to implement a resettlement scheme – a decision that is being challenged in the Supreme Court. MPs have recently been told they have a “moral obligation” to help these interpreters, says the Telegraph.
Seven million pounds: that’s the election spending limit which the Vote Leave campaign is under investigation for having breached during the EU referendum. It took the Electoral Commission 18 months to launch this inquiry, a victory for the Good Law Project and all those who supported their CrowdJustice campaign to issue proceedings against the watchdog for failing to investigate.
Six months: that’s how long it’s been since the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. Since then there has been doubt and deep scepticism about the process from survivors as reported in the Independent with one powerful testimony before the Inquiry describing how communities are having to teach the authorities how to be “human”. We discussed the need to ensure diverse participation in the public inquiry with a member of BMELawyers4Grenfell.
Five claimants including Stephen Hawking are challenging the government on the commercialisation of the NHS and crowdfunding their costs. In a challenge given public support by Ken Loach, Alan Bennett, Melvyn Bragg and Helena Kennedy hundreds of people are ensuring “public and parliamentary procedures have been satisfactorily enacted".
Four men: Noel Conway, Tony Nicklinson, Paul Lamb and Omid T (among others) have brought challenges to fight for their right to a dignified death: Saimo Chahal QC, partner at Bindmans, representing Omid considers the law and provides an update on the cases here.
Three women (and counting) have accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct reminding us that #MeToo goes as far as the White House. But what happens if you speak out about harassment, but then get sued for defamation? This happened to a group of women who are crowdfunding their legal defence costs in relation to a case in the music industry.
Two women: A and B, a mother and daughter, fought for the abortion rights of Northern Irish women. While their challenge failed in the Supreme Court it did provoke the government’s u-turn on this issue. Legal issues remain and A and B are continuing to Strasbourg with crowdfunded legal costs.
One mental health worker from Northern Ireland, Ciaran McClean, was behind the challenge to the government’s deal with the DUP. While failing to get permission to bring a judicial review, he succeeded in shining a light on this deal and to date the DUP have yet to receive any funds from the government.