8 named examples with their significance, drawn from the Panther database. Read them, then test yourself.
In test mode, tap an example to reveal why it matters.
The examples
Baroness Doreen Lawrence (2013): Functional Representation in the Lords(2013)(tap to reveal)- Mother of Stephen Lawrence (murdered 1993). Drove the campaign that produced the Macpherson Report 1999. Made a Labour life peer in 2013 as Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon. Continues to speak on race equality, police accountability and institutional racism, including in the wake of the 2023 Casey Review.
Human Rights Act 1998: Courts Can Issue Declarations of Incompatibility(2021)(tap to reveal)- The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law, allowing citizens to enforce Convention rights in UK courts rather than going to Strasbourg. However, Parliament's supremacy was preserved - courts can issue a 'declaration of incompatibility' (finding legislation breaches the ECHR) but cannot strike it down. Parliament then decides whether to amend the law. By 2021, approximately 43 declarations of incompatibility had been issued since HRA came into force in 2000. In most cases, Parliament subsequently amended the legislation. The most contested case remains prisoner voting (Hirst v UK) where Parliament has refused to comply.
Illegal Migration Act 2023(2023)(tap to reveal)- The Illegal Migration Act 2023 imposed a duty on the Home Secretary to detain and remove all asylum seekers and migrants who arrived in the UK irregularly. Substantial parts of the Act were declared incompatible with the ECHR and Human Rights Act by the courts in 2024, and the Act was subsequently suspended from application.
Prisoner Voting Rights: ECHR Ruling vs Parliamentary Sovereignty(tap to reveal)- ECHR ruled UK's blanket ban on prisoner voting incompatible with Convention rights. Parliament refused to implement the ruling. Only limited rights for some prisoners were eventually introduced. AO2: use to show the limits of judicial review in a parliamentary sovereignty system - Parliament can ignore international court rulings. AO3: use on 'agree' side of questions about whether rights are adequately protected; use on 'disagree' side for questions about whether constitutional reform has succeeded.
R (Christie Elan-Cane) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2021] UKSC 26: Supreme Court ruled no legal obligation to provide non-binary 'X' passport option(2021)(tap to reveal)- Use alongside Coughlan as a second example of the Supreme Court ruling in the government's favour on a politically contested rights question. The court found the government's position lawful under the ECHR. Analytically: challenges the claim that the Supreme Court is a powerful check on the executive by showing it will often defer to Parliament and ministers on contested social policy. For AO3: pair with cases where the court ruled against government (Belmarsh, Miller) to evaluate how far judicial review constrains executive power.
Rwanda Asylum Partnership (2022-2025)(2024)(tap to reveal)- The Rwanda scheme sent asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing. It was blocked by the ECHR (2022), ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court in AAA v Home Secretary (2023) which found Rwanda was not a safe third country, then revived by the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 which declared Rwanda safe by statute, before being scrapped by the Labour government in July 2024.
Rojava (Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria): Anarchist-Inspired Self-Government(2012-present)(tap to reveal)- Rojava is a de facto autonomous region of northern Syria organised from 2012 around direct democratic councils, co-chair gender equality, and a Bookchin-influenced model of democratic confederalism.
Supreme Court Ruling on Meaning of 'Sex' under Equality Act (April 2025)(2025)(tap to reveal)- On 16 April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled unanimously in For Women Scotland v Scottish Ministers that 'sex' under the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex, not gender identity.