Critics of the three-step process laid out in RA24 argue that the proportionality test needs to inform each step and not just the final one. Such critics include Wonkhe, Professor Naomi-Waltham Smith of Oxford University and James Murray, legal director at Doyle Clayton solicitors. In order to illustrate why this is necessary in order to comply fully with the HRA they draw on a recent case occasioned by the Austrian drag artist Conchita Wurst winning the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. Continue reading
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Given the manner in which the OfS conceived of and carried out its duties in relation to Sussex’s conditions of registration (E1), it is perhaps unsurprising that it reached the Final Decision that it did. However, this does not augur well for how it is going to conceive of and carry out its duties under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act. Continue reading
The notion of freedom of speech within the law played a key role in this case, and in her judgment Lieven J observed that “there is an immediate question as to what ‘freedom of speech within the law’ means and how it relates to the need to undertake a proportionality balance within Article 10 of the ECHR, in order to comply with s.6 of the Human Rights Act 1998” (200). The latter states that “it is unlawful for a public authority to act in a way which is incompatible with a Convention right”. Continue reading
Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world. It maintains an extensive database of international case law. This is its newsletter dealing with recent developments in the field. Continue reading
In March 2025, the Office for Students (OfS) fined the University of Sussex £585,000, the highest amount ever levied by the regulator. This was largely because after a three-and-a-half-year investigation, which the University’s vice-chancellor Professor Sasha Roseneil described as “Kafkaesque”, the OfS had decreed that the University’s Trans and Non-Binary Equality Policy Statement (hereafter the Policy Statement), which sought to protect the rights of trans and non-binary people in the University, breached the institution’s regulatory requirement to uphold freedom of speech and protect academic freedom. Continue reading
In quick succession, two articles have been published, one by Simon Lock for the Bureau of Investigative Journalists, the other by Peter Geoghegan and Jenna Corderoy in the New Statesman, suggesting that the Society for Media Lawyers (the “SML”) is sinister and powerful organisation, singly responsible for stymying further legislation relating to SLAPPs. Continue reading
In April 2026, the Divisional Court handed down its judgment in R (Thompson and Carlo) v The Commissioner of Police of The Metropolis [2026] EWHC 915 (Admin), the second major judicial challenge to the use of Live Facial Recognition (LFR) by law enforcement in England and Wales. Continue reading
On Saturday 16 May 2026, two separate protests took place in central London – one pro-Palestine demonstration a day after Nakba Day, and the other, a far-right rally staged by Tommy Robinson. Police deployed 4,000 officers, including reinforcements from outside the Capital. A total of 43 arrests were made at the Unite the Kingdom and Nakba Day protests: 20 linked with the former and 12 associated with the latter. Continue reading
Columbia Global Freedom of Expression seeks to contribute to the development of an integrated and progressive jurisprudence and understanding on freedom of expression and information around the world. It maintains an extensive database of international case law. This is its newsletter dealing with recent developments in the field. Continue reading
Meta has launched a legal challenge against Ofcom over the fees and fines regime it is enforcing under the Online Safety Act. This is the first major challenge to the enforcement architecture of the landmark legislation. Meta claims that Ofcom’s methodology for calculating the charges is flawed and should not be based on a company’s global revenue, but instead UK only revenues. Continue reading
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