Two from Tribune

I've got two news stories in Tribune this week....

Watchdog attacks UK jail overcrowding

A European anti-torture watchdog has criticised overcrowded conditions in Britain’s jails. The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture was set up to monitor abuses of the European Convention on Human Rights and carries out spot checks on detention centres right across Europe.

For their British inspection, investigators visited a number of prisons and found what they call a culture of “chronic overcrowding”.

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Blacklisting report fails human rights test, says parliamentary report

A hard-hitting report published by the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights has criticised the government’s proposed regulations aimed at outlawing blacklisting.

The report – called Any of our Business? Human Rights and the UK Private Sector – examines how businesses need to take account now of human rights legislation.

In what must have been a very late addition to the report, it also raises concerns about new laws on blacklisting. And the report emphasises evidence from Keith Ewing, professor of public law at King’s College, London, and construction union UCATT that the Government’s proposals do not go far enough.

It says: “We doubt the compatibility of the government’s blacklisting proposals with the UK’s international human rights obligations. We recommend that the government provide a full explanation of its argument that the proposals are compatible.

“This should include a response to the criticism of the Institute of Employment Rights that these proposals fail to provide an adequate remedy for those individuals who have already been affected by blacklisting.”

And it promises: “In the light of the Government’s explanation, we anticipate revisiting this issue.”

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Meanwhile the first employment tribunal arising from the blaclisting scandal is due to start on January 18 in London where Balfour Beatty is defending a claim by Ucatt activist Mick Dooley. The tribunal is scheduled to last four days.

Comments

[被リンク]

Britain's jails are overcrowded. It is unbelievable.