Independent : Unpaid job schemes not a breach of human rights sa

Government back-to-work schemes criticised as “forced labour” were ruled lawful by the High Court today.

A judge rejected jobless graduate Cait Reilly's claim that a scheme requiring her to work for free at a Poundland discount store breached human rights laws banning slavery.

Mr Justice Foskett, sitting at the High Court in London, said that "characterising such a scheme as involving or being analogous to 'slavery' or 'forced labour' seems to me to be a long way from contemporary thinking".

Miss Reilly, 23, from Birmingham, and 40-year-old unemployed HGV driver Jamieson Wilson, from Nottingham, both claimed that the unpaid schemes they were on violated article four of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits forced labour and slavery.

The judge said both Miss Reilly and Mr Wilson were each entitled to a declaration that there had been breaches of the 2011 jobseeker's allowance regulations in their cases.

Mistakes had been made in notifying Ms Reilly about the requirements of the Work Academy Scheme so that she did not appreciate the scheme was not mandatory. Mr Wilson had been given inadequate notice about the Community Action Programme (CAP).

But the judge ruled neither scheme was contrary to article four, and the errors made did not invalidate the 2011 jobseeker's allowance regulations.

The ruling will come as a relief to the Government. Had it lost today's legal challenge, it was likely that all back-to-work schemes would have been potentially invalid.

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Collected links about the Unpaid work schemes judgement today. .......

Unpaid work schemes ruled lawful as high court rejects Poundland case

Judge rejects graduate's claim that being forced to work unpaid at Poundland was 'slave labour' and breached human rights

http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/aug/06/unpaid-work-scheme-ruled-lawful-poundland

Unpaid job schemes not a breach of human rights says High Court

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/unpaid-job-schemes-not-a-breach-of-human-rights-says-high-court-8009277.html

Full judgement

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/Resources/JCO/Documents/Judgments/reilly-wilson-sec-state-work-pensions.pdf

The Queen (on the application of) Caitlin Reilly and Jamieson Wilson -v- Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

High Court (Queen's Bench Division) Administrative Court judgment

Neutral Citation Number: [2012] EWHC 2292 (Admin)

http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/media/judgments/2012/reilly-wilson-sec-state-work-pensions-judgment-06082012

Public Interest Lawyers : Judgment delivered on Government’s “Back to Work” schemes – Stripping of Benefits Unlawful

http://www.publicinterestlawyers.co.uk/news_details.php?id=268

Work Programme referrals, attachments and Jobseekers Allowance sanctions

http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2012/work_programme_referrals_jsa_sanctions_jan12.pdf

Unemployed Cait Reilly told being made to do work experience in Poundland is not slavery or breach of your human rights

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/unemployed-cait-reilly-told-being-made-to-do-work-experience-in-poundland-is-not-slavery-or-breach-of-your-human-rights-8009189.html

Court to rule on Poundland work experience case

The High Court rules on Monday on whether a jobless graduate's human rights were breached when she was forced to work for free in Poundland on a work experience scheme.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9455226/Court-to-rule-on-Poundland-work-experience-case.html

Workfare in court

This week, the High Court in London is hearing a challenge on the legality of the government's highly contentious workfare schemes.

http://falseeconomy.org.uk/blog/two-challenges-to-workfare

Bugger!!