Activities per year
Abstract
In a 2003 Supreme Court judgment, Lord Hoffmann argued that in the absence of a guaranteed minimum standard of living, many other rights are reduced to ‘a mockery’. Given research findings that 2.4 million UK residents experienced destitution in 2019, this article considers whether a social floor exists in law and the implications of its absence or weakness for the standard of human rights protection in the UK. The common law, social rights treaties and the European Convention on Human Rights can each play a role in identifying a minimum standard of living, but with variable precision, generosity and enforceability – and subject to the sovereign legislature setting its own social floor, including one that may render people destitute. With an analysis of the case law revealing clear weaknesses in protection against destitution, the authors argue that a specific statutory duty is required to address this failure of rights protection.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 465-497 |
Number of pages | 33 |
Journal | The Modern Law Review |
Volume | 86 |
Issue number | 2 |
Early online date | 14 Nov 2022 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published (in print/issue) - 9 Feb 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Lecturer, School of Law, Ulster University. This article draws on research funded by the Legal Education Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The authors would like to thank Michael Adler, David Webster and the MLR's anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier drafts, which have helped make it a better piece of work.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. The Modern Law Review published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Modern Law Review Limited.
Keywords
- Destitution
- social rights
- human rights
- poverty
- inhuman and degrading treatment
- family life
- European Convention on Human Rights
- European Social Charter
- law of humanity
- welfare state
- social security
- social assistance
- Social Protection
- social welfare
- extreme poverty
- Asylum seekers
- asylum support
- hardship
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Legal protection against destitution in the UK: the case for a right to a subsistence minimum'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.-
Legal protection against destitution in the UK: towards a right to a subsistence minimum?
Mark Simpson (Speaker), Grainne McKeever (Speaker) & Ciara Fitzpatrick (Speaker)
5 Apr 2023Activity: Talk or presentation › Oral presentation
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The future of the welfare state: protection from destitution?
Grainne Mc Keever (Speaker)
3 Nov 2022Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
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Legal protection against destitution in the UK: the case for a right to a subsistence minimum
Grainne McKeever (Speaker), Mark Simpson (Speaker) & Ciara Fitzpatrick (Speaker)
9 Dec 2022Activity: Talk or presentation › Invited talk
File
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Written Submission to the APPG on the (In)Adequacy of Social Security by: Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick (Lecturer in Law, Ulster University); Prof Gráinne McKeever (Professor of Law and Social Justice, Ulster University); Dr Jed Meers (Lecturer in Law, York University); Dr Mark Simpson (Senior Lecturer in Law, Ulster University)
McKeever, G., Simpson, M., Fitzpatrick, C. & Meers, J., 9 Jan 2023, (Accepted/In press) 4 p.Research output: Other contribution
Open AccessFile -
Independent Review of Discretionary Support
McKeever, G., Fitzpatrick, C., Simpson, M., O'Hare, U., Higgins, K., Currie, J. & McConville, G., 2022, 166 p.Research output: Book/Report › Commissioned report
Open Access -
Scrutinising Social Security Law and Protecting Social Rights: Lord Kerr and the Benefit Cap
McKeever, G., 2022, (Accepted/In press) The Judicial mind: A Festschrift for Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore. Hart PublishingResearch output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review