Series editors: Rosalind Comyn, Sarah Hannett KC, Zoe Leventhal KC, and Aidan Wills
This ‘25 for 25’ blog series is a collection of posts by Matrix members on twenty-five significant public law and human rights cases in which Matrix members have been involved in the twenty-five years since Matrix was founded.
The views expressed in these posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the members involved in these cases.
02/12/2025
R (AAA (Syria) and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] UKSC 42
Written by: Hugh Southey KC Background The UK Government sought to introduce a controversial policy of transferring asylum seekers to Rwanda without giving substantive consideration to the claim. The legal challenge argued this was unlawful because, among other things, there was a risk of refoulment to another country where there was a risk of ill-treatment. […]
26/11/2025
R (on the application of E) v Governing Body of JFS [2009] UKSC 15
Written by: Mark Greaves Background E, the father of a 13 year old boy referred to as M, wished to send his son to JFS (the Jewish free School, as it used to be known), an outstanding school which was oversubscribed. Under its oversubscription policy, the school gave priority to children who were recognised as […]
19/11/2025
In re McQuillan [2021] UKSC 55
Written by: Raj Desai In re McQuillan (“McQuillan”) a seven-strong Supreme Court addressed the temporal application of the Human Rights Act 1998 (“HRA”) and the scope and application of the investigative duties arising under Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) to events during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. In […]
12/11/2025
Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v DSD [2018] UKSC 11
Written by: Jessica Sutton The Claimants, DSD and NBV, were survivors of serious sexual assault. They had each been attacked by John Worboys, known as the “Black Cab Rapist”. DSD was attacked in 2003 and NBV in 2007. While Worboys was arrested in 2007, he was not charged and continued to engage in prolific sexual […]
05/11/2025
R (Lumba) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] UKSC 12
Written By: Jessica Jones This case raised a number of issues relating to the detention pending deportation of foreign national prisoners (‘FNPs’). It has become known predominantly as the case that sets out and describes the public law requirement on the executive to publish relevant policies, and to follow a published policy unless there is […]
29/10/2025
R (Friends of the Earth, ClientEarth & Good Law Project) v Secretary of State for Energy Security & Net Zero [2024] EWHC 995 (Admin)
Written By: Zoë Leventhal KC Background The three claimants challenged, for the second time, the lawfulness of the Secretary of State’s strategy for meeting the UK’s net zero target for the sixth carbon budget (2033-2037) under the Climate Change Act 2008: known as the “Carbon Budget Delivery Plan.” The original plan, known as the “Net […]
22/10/2025
Bracking v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2013] EWCA Civ 1345
Written By: Nick Armstrong KC Background The public sector equality duty (“PSED”) was a quietly revolutionary idea. It came out of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry in respect of racial discrimination, was extended first to disability discrimination in 2005 and then to gender discrimination in 2007, before s.149 of the Equality Act 2010 made it a […]
15/10/2025
R (A) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] UKSC 37 and R (BF (Eritrea)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] UKSC 38
Written by: Katy Sheridan Background On 30 July 2021, the Supreme Court handed down two judgments. Each had different contexts but one common legal issue: when is a policy unlawful? In A, the appellant brought a judicial review against the Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme Guidance. He argued that omissions in the Guidance created an […]
07/10/2025
The Belmarsh Case: Liberty, Security, and the Rule of Law
A v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2004] UKHL 56 | Author: Jack Boswell
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