1. 12-year-old forces government to accelerate British Sign Language GCSE
Deaf 12-year-old Daniel Jillings reversed the government’s decision to delay introducing a BSL GCSE through submissions from his family’s lawyers that the lack thereof may be discriminatory and unlawful. Daniel started his CrowdJustice campaign because he said it was ‘unfair’ that whilst there are many foreign language GCSE’s - inaccessible to himself and other deaf children due to speaking and listening exams - there is none in BSL, his first language.
The Scottish Raptor Study Group (SRSG) had been monitoring the protected raven species in Strathbraan for over 30 years when Scottish National Heritage issued a licence permitting gamekeepers to kill young ravens across the area. The license was part of an experiment to see what raven culling would do to local wading bird populations, but because of scientific studies suggesting ravens are not related to wading bird decline, the SRSG believe it was in fact issued to protect red grouse, which are shot for sport. Their CrowdJustice campaign raised over £26,000 and led to the license’s suspension.
3. Court of Appeal: Home Office was ‘unfair and unlawful’ towards child refugees
Back in September, charity Safe Passage challenged the government’s rejection of refugee children hoping to escape Calais’ crumbling ‘Jungle’ camp and join family in the UK. The High Court ruled in favour of the government. However, in Safe Passage’s appeal this July, the court found the Home Office had misled it by giving incomplete information, and had in fact rejected around 500 children without giving them proper reason, on advice from their lawyers to avoid legal challenge.
4. Proposed Wimbledon police station closure ruled unlawful
University lecturer Paul Kohler believes the only reason he survived a violent beating, which left him ‘utterly unrecognisable’ and with permanent double vision, was because police could get from Wimbledon station to his home within 8 minutes of his daughter’s 999 call. So when the Mayor of London implemented a policy of closing 37 of London’s 73 police stations, he began a CrowdJustice campaign for a legal challenge. Around 350 backers made the challenge a reality, and the High Court ruled the Wimbledon police station closure is unlawful.
Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan met in 2010 and have two children. They looked to formalise their commitment and for the legal rights and protection offered by marriage, but could not subscribe to its legacy of having ‘treated women as property for centuries’. So they crowdfunded a legal bid for their right for a civil partnership, currently available only to gay couples, and won. LGBT and human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell called the ruling a ‘victory for love and equality’.
Junior doctor Hadiza Bawa Garba misdiagnosed six-year-old Jack Adcock’s sepsis and it killed him. She was convicted of manslaughter and given a year’s suspension, but the General Medical Council (GMC) appealed this and had her struck off the medical register completely. The Doctors’ Association’s Learn Not Blame campaign and Dr Chris Day got behind her and put an appeal on the platform within days, where backers gave around £370,000 to protect Hadiza from GMC scapegoating. The case won in the Court of Appeal and Dr Bawa-Garba will be reinstated. She said, ‘My hope is that lessons learnt from this case will translate into better working conditions for junior doctors, better recognition of sepsis, and factors in place that will improve patient safety.’