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High Court rules Northern Ireland abortion ban violates UK human rights commitments
Belfast’s High Court ruled that Northern Ireland’s strict abortion laws are incompatible with the United Kingdom’s human rights commitments, in the latest of a series of legal victories for abortion rights campaigners in the region.
British-ruled Northern Ireland has some of the tightest abortion restrictions in the world, banning abortion except when a mother’s life is at risk, but a change in the law appears inevitable soon.
Thursday’s case was brought by a Belfast woman, Sarah Ewart, who travelled to Britain for an abortion after being told her baby would not survive outside the womb.
“I am massively relieved… Too many women in Northern Ireland have been put through unnecessary pain by our abortion law,” Ewart said in a statement.
Pressure has mounted to ease Northern Ireland’s abortion rules after the neighbouring Irish Republic voted overwhelmingly last year to repeal a similarly restrictive ban. That referendum demonstrated a stark change in attitudes on an island once known for its religious conservatism.
Northern Ireland’s regional government has not functioned since a power-sharing agreement between mainly Protestant and Catholic political parties collapsed in 2017. The British parliament voted in July in favour of a plan that would decriminalise abortion in the region if its local government has not been re-established by Oct. 21.
In the unlikely event that the change of the abortion law is not imposed by London, Thursday’s ruling means the Belfast court could take steps that would force lawmakers to act.
Abortion rights were long opposed in Northern Ireland by religious conservatives in both the Protestant community that supports continued British rule and the Catholic community that favours union with the strongly Catholic Irish Republic.
But opinion has changed in recent years. In the Irish Republic, the Catholic Church’s influence has rapidly eroded because of shifting cultural norms and scandals involving mistreatment of children in orphanages and Church sexual abuse.
The British Supreme Court last year made a similar ruling that abortion law in Northern Ireland was incompatible with commitments under the European Convention on Human Rights, although it stopped short of compelling a change in the law because the case had not been brought by an identified victim.
Press release at https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-abortion-nireland/court-rules-northern-ireland-abortion-ban-violates-uk-human-rights-commitments-idUKKBN1WI17C
Campaigners have lost a significant legal battle against the government’s handling of the rise in women’s state pension age
The retirement age for women rose from 60 to 65, in line with men, and will go up to 66 by 2020, and to 67 by 2028.
Women born in the 1950s claim the rise is unfair because they were not given enough time to make adjustments to cope with years without a state pension.
They argued the changes were discrimination, but judges disagreed.
In a summary of the court’s decision, the judges said: “There was no direct discrimination on grounds of sex, because this legislation does not treat women less favourably than men in law. Rather it equalises a historic asymmetry between men and women and thereby corrects historic direct discrimination against men.”
The court also rejected the claimants’ argument that the policy was discriminatory based on age, adding that even if it was “it could be justified on the facts”.
To chants of “the fight goes on” from supporters, Joanne Welch, who led the campaign, said outside court: “Where do we go from here? Well, where will the government go from here is the better question.”
She referred to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pledge during the Tory leadership campaign to look at the state pension age issue with “fresh vigour”, adding: “We will be holding you to that undertaking.”
She said she was “rather puzzled” by the court’s ruling, but added: “We can take this, we’ve got broad shoulders.”
What was the case about?
Up until 2010, women received their state pensions at the age of 60 but that has been rising since then. While most campaigners support pension age equality, they argued that the government was discriminatory in the way it has introduced it.
The result has been that some women who thought they would retire and receive a state pension at 60 found that they would have to wait longer – for some a wait of more than five years. That resulted in financial hardship for many.
Those affected were born in the decade after 6 April, 1950, but those born from 6 April 1953 were particularly affected and have been the focus of much of the campaign.
In June, the judicial review in the High Court heard the claim from two members of the Backto60 group who said that not receiving their state pension at the age of 60 had affected them disproportionately.
They argued that many women took time out of work to care for children, were paid less than men and could not save as much in occupational pensions, so the change had hit them harder.
It is estimated that 3.8 million women were in this position, with some potentially losing out on more than £40,000.
The Backto60 group is seeking repayment of all the pensions people born in the 1950s would have received if they had been able to retire earlier. It argues that the speed of the change and what it calls the lack of warnings has disadvantaged millions of women.
However, the government has estimated that a reversal of the pension changes in the Acts of Parliament of 1995 and 2011 would cost £215bn over the period 2010-11 to 2025-26.
About £181bn of that would be money potentially owed to women and the rest to men.
It has said the move to make the state pension age the same for men and women was a “long-overdue” move towards gender equality, and had been clearly communicated to those affected.
Part of a longer news story at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49917315
See also:
- WASPI https://www.waspi.co.uk/
- BackTo60 https://www.backto60.com/
Domestic Abuse Bill: Commons second reading passes
MPs debated the second reading of the Domestic Abuse Bill in the House of Commons on 2 October 2019.
Second Reading
The Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland, opened the debate on behalf of the Government. Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Carolyn Harris, responded on behalf of the Opposition. The Bill passed second reading without a division and now progresses to Committee stage.
A carry-over motion was also passed meaning that, if necessary, the Bill can continue its passage through Parliament in the next Parliamentary session.
- Watch Parliament TV: Second reading of the Domestic Abuse Bill
- Read Commons Hansard: Second reading of the Domestic Abuse Bill
The Domestic Abuse Bill 2017–19
The Bill was introduced to the House of Commons and given its First Reading on Tuesday 16 July 2019.
- Domestic abuse remains one of the most prevalent crimes in England and Wales. An estimated two million adults aged 16 to 59 experienced domestic abuse in the year ending March 2018, two-thirds of whom were women.
- The purpose of the Bill is raise awareness and understanding of domestic abuse and its impact on victims.
- It aims to improve the effectiveness of the justice system in providing protection for victims of domestic abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice.
- It seeks to strengthen the support for victims of abuse provided by other statutory agencies.
Keep up to date with all the proceedings and documentation, including amendment papers, on the Domestic Abuse Bill and find out how a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament.
- Follow Bills before Parliament: Domestic Abuse Bill
- About Parliament: Passage of a bill through Parliament
House of Commons Library analysis
The House of Commons Library produces briefing papers to inform MPs and their staff of key issues. The papers contain factual information and a range of opinions on each subject, and aim to be politically impartial.
The Library has published a briefing paper for second reading.
Follow the @HouseofCommons on Twitter for updates on the UK House of Commons Chamber.
https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/2019/october/commons-domestic-abuse-bill/
See also:
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