19th January
Welcome to the Justice Beat, CrowdJustice’s weekly roundup of the most important legal stories from around the web. This week we focus on women's rights... and cryptocurrency.
Worboys
1. Victims of John Worboys have launched a CrowdJustice campaign to support a judicial review of the parole board’s decision to release him from prison. Harriet Wistrich, of Birnberg Peirce, acting for two of the 105 victims of the man convicted of rape and sexual assault during his time as a black cab driver, said the legal challenge would be “unprecedented”. The government, which initially also considered bringing a judicial review of the Parole Board's decision, has abandoned plans to do so, reports the Indy.
Trafficking
2. A group of former prostitutes are bringing a groundbreaking challenge, arguing that requirements to disclose past convictions when applying for a range of jobs criminalises victims of abuse and trafficking, reports the Guardian. Harriet Wistrich, who is also acting in this case, said that the requirement to disclose past convictions is “out of sync with current understanding that those women are often victims of abuse rather than perpetrators of crime.”
Revenge porn
3. An American YouTube star has won damages in an unprecedented ‘revenge porn’ case, reports the BBC. In the first civil case of its kind in the UK, Chrissy Chambers sued her ex-boyfriend for harassment, breach of confidence and misuse of private information, following videos he uploaded after their relationship ended. In an interview outside the court she said “for anyone who has been living in fear of revenge porn used against you, there has never been a better time to come forward”.
4. This case follows a settlement by Facebook last week over a naked photograph of a 14-year-old girl which was posted in revenge. This is the first case of its kind, and could see social media firms face an “avalanche” of claims, writes the Telegraph.
... and cryptocurrencies
5. There was mass panic in the cryptocurrency world this week, when South Korea announced they were considering making domestic cryptocurrency exchanges illegal. South Korea has joined a “global chorus” of virtual coin-critics, say Reuters. Following this announcement, the value of Bitcoin fell by 18%, Ripple by 25% and Ethereum by 15%.
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This week on CrowdJustice, a patient is seeking a judicial review of the decision to downgrade Poole A&E, and two victims of John Worboys have launched a campaign to find out why he was released.