February 16th
Welcome to the Justice Beat, CrowdJustice’s weekly roundup of the most important legal stories from around the web. This week we focus on accountability, diversity and modern slavery. And CrowdJustice invites you to an event.
Accountability
1. Oxfam could have breached British law when its aid workers used prostitutes in Haiti, reports the Times.
2. Bail for Immigration Detainees has launched a legal action to ensure the government holds G4S accountable in the wake of a number of "catastrophic failings", including at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre in West Sussex. The case, which challenges the government's apparent failure to designate G4S a ‘High Risk’ strategic supplier, with the concomitant oversight that brings, is being crowdfunded.
3. Following his resignation as president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma faces the reinstatement of 780 counts of corruption after a court ruled that a decision to drop the charges was irrational, writes The Economist. Zuma, who has been accused of corruption and economic mismanagement, denies wrongdoing.
Diversity
4. Is information about a company's diversity plan and strategies a trade secret? IBM is saying so, in a US case that alleges that its chief diversity officer has information that will cause "real and immediate competitive harm" if she doesn't serve out her year-long non-compete. The lawsuit is against her new employer, Microsoft. It may be a spat between rivals, but it also highlights the increasing importance of diversity measures in corporate America, writes Bloomberg.
5. And in an arguable case of progress being made, The Times writes that the profession is "finally becoming more diverse at the senior levels" since new figures show that more than half of all partners in solicitors’ firms are state-school educated and a third are women. However, the Times adds that the figures are "less impressive" in the bigger City or regional firms.
Modern slavery
6. A man who spent more than two decades in forced slavery in Luton has won a significant victory in the Court of Appeal, which could lead to many more victims of trafficking being granted leave to remain in the UK, reports the Guardian. The court agreed that Home Office guidance on when trafficking victims are granted leave to remain is more onerous than European Convention guidelines.
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Event
Interested in some of the big legal challenges shaping the future of the NHS? CrowdJustice invites you to a free event to hear from three doctors on their respective legal challenges and what's next for the NHS.