Adult safeguarding, Dame Louise Casey and gaps in the law Dame Louise Casey, leading an independent commission into adult social care, has recently (3 March) written to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, asking for immediate action on safeguarding, dementia and motor neurone…

V useful thread on Mahmood’s current changes to asylum support and refugee status (NB more to come, it seems)

Fascinating programme of Bach and Byrd by The Sixteen @wigmore-hall.org.uk An education.

Virtuoso performances @wigmore-hall.org.uk . Uplifting is indeed the word.

It was not clever of @gwr.com to delete all pre-existing bookings from the app when it upgraded its booking service this month, but hats on to staff on its helpline for their time and patience in retrieving bookings & reissuing tickets where I was unable to do so.

Thread on the amicus briefs focusing on #statelessness in the litigation before SCOTUS against the attack on birthright citizenship

Rachel Francis and Catherine Robinson’s practical guide on immigration law for family practitioners will be published in the February issue of Family Law. Read the synopsis here: www.familylaw.co.uk/news_and_com...

Family judges should not normally grant permission for expert evidence to be given in children proceedings by an expert ‘psychologist’ who is neither registered not chartered, the president of the High Court family division ruled in a judgment on Friday. rozenberg.substack.com/p/a-busy-few...

We are hiring - Communications Officer! Use your communication experience to build the migration justice movement’s defiance and strength at a pivotal moment. Visit our webpage for more information about the role. Applications deadline: Monday 23rd March. righttoremain.org.uk/job-vacancy-...

Exciting concert @wigmore-hall.org.uk

Includes discussion of COL v The United Arab Emirates, in which the High Court awarded more than £145,000 to a domestic worker the Philippines in a London diplomatic household who was found to have been the victim of 'modern' slavery.

Round-up of #citizenshipbyinvestment in Africa (and globallay) @techcabal.bsky.social techcabal.com/2026/02/14/m...

UK ban on Palestine Action ruled unlawful ft.trib.al/TKbvf6A

On advance access: "Air Travel, Statelessness, and the Rights Claims of Ugandan Asians, c.1973" by @riakapoor.bsky.social (@qmul.bsky.social) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...

Fascinating trial of AI legal bots by seeing how they deal with a concrete scenario (four out of five got the wrong answer and the fifth subsequently got the wrong answer when one element of the question was varied). Knowing the answer was wrong depended on knowing the right answer.

39 Essex Chambers February 2026 Mental Capacity Reports The February 2026 Mental Capacity Reports are now out. Highlights this month include: (1) In the Health, Welfare and Deprivation of Liberty Report: two tributes following recent deaths of MCA champions, and best interests in the balance; (2)…

Huge congratulations to @biicl.bsky.social and to Sonya Sceats, who has done a wonderful job @freedomfromtorture.bsky.social

Overall, the developments in Hungary we document in our 2025 Rule of Law Report submission show a continued and serious disregard for EU values, EU law, and CJEU judgments. Read the full report: helsinki.hu/en/hungarian...

Advance decisions to refuse treatment – updated guidance note I have updated my guidance note on advance decisions to refuse treatment under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 to take account of cases since 2020.  My shedinar on advance decision-making more broadly (and the related but entirely…

Well, some personal news

Professor James Hathaway author of "The Rights of Refugees" and, with Michelle Foster, "The Law of Refugee Status" is made an honorary KC www.gov.uk/government/n...

Hungary 12 April elections - @odihr.pl recommends an Election Observation Mission: core team of analysts + request the secondment by OSCE States of 18 long-term observers + 200 short-term observers to follow election day proceedings + media monitoring odihr.osce.org/sites/defaul...

São Tomé #citizenshipbyinvestment programme launched last year: Russians 1st with 22 applications; Chinese 2nd with 17, while Germans (?!) 3rd with 15 www.imidaily.com/intelligence...

Territorial integrity and sovereignty are fundamental principles of international law. They are essential for Europe and for the international community as a whole.

Sir Nicholas Mostyn's obituary of Sir James Munby for the Financial Remedies Journal,

Sir James Munby, former president of the High Court family division, died on New Year’s Day. He was 77. “That he chose to spend the greater part of his career in family law was of great and long-lasting benefit," his successor Sir Andrew McFarlane said. rozenberg.substack.com/p/sir-james-...

"The emphasis must be on sensible risk appraisal, not striving to avoid all risk, whatever the price, [ ] – in particular to achieve the vital good of the elderly or vulnerable person's happiness. What good is it making someone safer if it merely makes them miserable" Vale Sir James Munby.

The US is pulling out of the International Law Commission, the single most important UN organ (after the International Court of Justice) dealing with, well, international law (by the way, an Austrian and my former boss August Reinisch is a member)

Four government defeats on the Chagos Bill in the Lords yesterday: hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2026-0...

Botswana has become the latest country to offer 'golden passports'. Around 1,000 people have registered their interest in paying $100,000 for citizenship to date, with applicants from the US, Zimbabwe and India in the top three ft.trib.al/ESNp4I1

Gripped by proof of Jane Rogoska's Hotel Exile, Paris 1933 til surviving deportees return after 1945, centred on the Hôtel Lutetia, meeting place for exiles, then German Military Intelligence HQ, then transit centre for returnees from the camps. Woven from first hand accounts. Published February.

For nonlawyers, it’s worth noting that statements like this have—as a formal matter—important legal effects as a matter of international law. If such statements are *not* made, and in volume, future arguments that Trump’s invasion sets a legal precedent will stand on much firmer legal ground.

The @nihrc.bsky.social is seeking to commission research on cross-border justice cooperation and human rights. Please share and consider tendering.

Best wishes for the Winter Solstice. Image created by Stonehenge Dronescapes.

The @nihrc.bsky.social are today launching a major new report, by @anuragdeb.bsky.social, @sylviademars.me, @aoifemod.bsky.social, Eleni Frantziou and me, on the novel arrangements for remedying breaches of the UK's obligations for rights and equality in NI under Art 2 WF: nihrc.org/assets/uploa...

www.gryklaw.com/vacancies/ Paralegal positions available at our highly-rated immigration and nationality law firm. A great way for graduates to start their career in this field. A law degree is not required. I'd be very grateful for reposts.

SA government has published a revised white paper on citizenship & immigration, tightening conditions for naturalisation www.gov.za/news/speeche...

The only attention paid by the government to family legal aid fees over the past three decades has been has been to cut them, the barristers’ leader Barbara Mills KC said in System Overload, a new report on family legal aid published by the Bar Council. rozenberg.substack.com/p/more-work-...

the detail of the changes has now been published, about 50 minutes before they come into effect assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6937ed...

Know your rights. Protect your neighbors. New York is — and always will be — a city for all immigrants.

Capacity to marry – the English perspective (and is it the last word?) Hot on the heels of the first Irish case to consider capacity to marry under their new regime, by pure coincidence of timing, the matter has returned to the English courts. In Stockport MBC v EKK EWCOP 42 (T3), Trowell J has…

Every federal court has ruled that President Trump's attempt to dismantle birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. We look forward to defeating him at the Supreme Court.

'The Master of Pembroke College Oxford, The Rt Hon Sir Ernest Ryder, is seeking an outstanding candidate to support with delivering a major externally funded research project: “Law and Democracy – Monograph on Standards in Public Life.”' www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPT086/m...

Register now for our NEW workshop series – Knowledge is Power; Detention and Enforcement on 17th December, with more dates available if you can’t make it. #MigrationisLife #NoOneisIllegal #TheseWallsMustFall ow.ly/gwu050XCPQw

Delighted as a trustee of @kalayaan.org.uk to see this motion pass & proud of all the organisation's work to promote the rights of domestic workers subject to immigration control.

A huge thank you to @hinabokharild.bsky.social for tabling & helping pass the London Assembly motion calling for more rights for migrant domestic workers to help them avoid exploitation! Thanks also to the other members for voting in support! Read the motion here: www.london.gov.uk/who-we-are/w...

Update: *two* CJEU judgments coming Dec 18th on whether EU border agency Frontex can be held accountable in court for alleged human rights abuses. Background/analysis on these cases by Antje Kunst 1 WS eulawanalysis.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-... 2 Hamoudi eulawanalysis.blogspot.com/2025/04/hamo...

New Blog Alert 📣 @ninaca.bsky.social analyses how radical-right influence is driving a three-phase tightening of Finland’s naturalisation regime 🇫🇮 A shift that signals a harsher, more exclusionary model of Nordic citizenship across the region 🔍 Read 📖 shorturl.at/md5zK

Who cares? Migrant domestic workers and the cost of care New episode of Mobility, Work and Rights #podcast ft. Bridget Anderson @mmbuob.bsky.social, Rhacel Parrenas @rhacel.bsky.social, and Sabrina Marchetti Hosts: @ilsevanliempt.bsky.social & me. Listen & Follow: open.spotify.com/episode/5NjS...