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DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION

12 June 2008
Issue: 7325 / Categories: Case law , Local government , Discrimination , Law digest
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Gichura v Home Office [2008] All ER (D) 257 (May)

The claimant was a wheelchair user. He was placed in immigration detention. He complained that there had been a failure to make reasonable adjustments in relation to his disability.

HELD Some functions are plainly government-like, such as the administrative handling of a detainee upon arrival, and so are out with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA 1995). However, the fact a service is incidental to detention is not enough to exclude that service from the ambit of DDA 1995 if, when performed by an ordinary person, it would be the provision of a service within the meaning of DDA 1995, s 19.

A public duty and a service can be performed at the same time. There is distinction between acts that might be done by a private person, and acts that a private person would never do, with only the latter being government functions. It is inconceivable that Parliament did not intend DDA 1995 to apply in circumstances such as detention in a detention centre, police custody or prison.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Artificial intelligence may be revolutionising the law, but its misuse could wreck cases and careers, warns Clare Arthurs of Penningtons Manches Cooper in this week's NLJ
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