LAW004-1 Public Law

Consider the following scenario and advise accordingly. 

Maria is a vegan campaigner. In March 2017, she took part in a demonstration with a group called “AMACA” (“Angry Mob Against the Consumption of Animals”). The group is known for employing a combative and aggressive campaigning style, including confrontational and extreme methods to discourage people from consuming meat and animal products. During the demonstration in March 2019, Maria handed out leaflets displaying animal cruelty and depicting images of slaughtered animals with the title “Would you let this happen to your child?”. The demonstrators then moved outside a nearby restaurant belonging to a chain specialising in grilled chicken, where they started calling customers eating their meals in the restaurant’s outdoor area “cannibals”. Customers, many of which were dining with small children, became frustrated and moved aggressively towards the demonstrators. Police contained customers in the outdoor dining area, while they moved on to arrest the demonstrators, including Maria. They were charged and found guilty under incitement to hatred legislation. The group “AMACA”, which was under surveillance for allegedly planning to attack abattoirs and butcher shops, is banned by the Home Secretary later on in the year under anti-terrorism legislation. 

Maria was in prison from March 2017 until January 2018. During that time, she was subjected to verbal and physical attacks. On some occasions, inmates were throwing chicken bones into her cell and prison guards were forcing her to pick them up. Despite telling the prison staff that she is vegan, the guards would always place meat in her tray. As a result, Maria became severely malnourished while in prison, as she would not eat the food if the tray contained meat. When she asked to speak to her solicitor, she was told that she could only write a letter which the prison governor would need to check and then hand over to her solicitor. Maria wrote several letters, but these were never handed to her solicitor. In November 2017, she tried to appeal her conviction but her application was refused. 

Advise Maria on her application to the European Court of Human Rights.

Answer one of the following three questions

1.“The working of our system of government is conditioned by a mass of usages or practices which must be taken into account if the system is to be understood.”

With reference to relevant case law and constitutional practice, explain how constitutional conventions are treated by courts.

2.The UK ceased to be a Member State of the European Union when the EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 came into force on 31 January 2020. 

What are the main constitutional issues arising from the UK’s exit from the European Union and has the Brexit process triggered the need for a more formal separation of powers?

3. With reference to case law, explain the process that courts in England and Wales are using to consider whether national legislation is complying with the European Convention on Human Rights.