14th December 2018
This week, the Justice Beat covers the latest Brexit news - from a landmark ruling of the European Court of Justice to a vote of no confidence in Theresa May, and outcry as anti-deportation activists are convicted under terrorism laws.
Brexit breaking point?
1. The fate of the UK’s membership of the European Union remains in Britain’s hands, the European Court of Justice ruled on Monday. In a landmark decision, the Court declared that the UK does not need permission of other EU member states to revoke the Article 50 notification which kicked off Brexit. A cross-party group of MPs worked with The Good Law Project to crowdfund over £185,000 on CrowdJustice and take the matter to the European Court.
2. The ruling comes at a challenging time for Theresa May, who survived a vote of no confidence in her leadership. Her party voted 200 to 117 to keep her in post for now, but the slim margin leaves the Prime Minister in a weakened position to push through her Brexit deal. The Government also came under fire for reinstating two suspended MPs just hours before the vote - one of whom had resigned from Government after it was revealed he sent lewd text messages, HuffPost reports.
Solidarity for Stansted 15
3. Using anti-terror legislation to convict anti-deportation activists will have a chilling effect on public protest, according to the New Statesman. The Stansted 15, who cut a hole in a perimeter fence at Stansted Airport and chained themselves to a plane being prepared for a deportation flight to Nigeria, face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. They will be sentenced in February 2019.
Changing the legal landscape
4. The Law Society of Scotland published an article in its Journal this week exploring how crowdfunding has become a popular tool to help people access the legal system. In the article, Elaine Motion, litigation partner at Balfour+Manson, describes her experience acting for the MPs who secured the reference to the European Court of Justice on the question of the revocability of Article 50 notification.
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This week on CrowdJustice, a primary school teacher is raising funds to bring claims of discrimination and unfair dismissal against her former employer, a group of families at breaking point over cuts to special needs services are crowdfunding to get legal advice and potentially take action against their county council, and a woman who saw her rapist jailed in 2018 is raising funds to bring a claim against Northumbria Police, alleging that they failed to investigate the crime properly.
Just to let you know - we won't be writing the Justice Beat for the next couple of weeks, but don’t worry - the Justice Beat will be back from 4 January 2019. From the team at CrowdJustice, we wish you happy holidays and all the best for the New Year!
Want to learn more about crowdfunding for legal action? Get in touch: [email protected]
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