About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

17 J. Soc. Welfare & Fam. L. iii (1995)

handle is hein.journals/jnlosclwl17 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 17(1) 1995: iii-v Editorial Late last year, the Law Commission announced an overhaul and simplifi- cation of procedures for judicial review which are intended to reduce waiting times and increase access. Increasingly seen as the most effective mechanism for compelling public authorities to discharge their responsibilities, the procedure was last revised in 1977 and, since 1980, there has been a 600 per cent increase in the number of applications for judicial review. In this issue, Anne Morris outlines the importance of a case which arose from the use of this procedure and which led to the recent decision in the House of Lords that part-time employees are being sexually discriminated against, contrary to European Law, as an indirect consequence of the provi- sions of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978. This imposes more stringent requirements on part-time employees which must be met before they are entitled to protection from unfair dismissal and receipt of redundancy pay. The case, which arose as a result of the Equal Opportunities Commission seeking judicial review following the rejection of arguments made to the Secretary of State by the Commission that the provisions of the 1978 Act constituted unlawful indirect discrimination, contrary to the provi- sions of the Equal Pay Directive and the Equal Treatment Directive, highlights once again the far-reaching effects of membership of the European Union, as well as the importance of judicial review as a remedy. The Government subsequently announced in the Queen's Speech that, linked with provisions to make company pension schemes more secure and to raise the state pension age for women to 65 as part of the drive towards pensions equality, legislation would be introduced to address the issues raised. It is estimated that up to half a million women will now have better job protection and that about 285,000 working women will gain from improved maternity benefit arrangements forced on the Government by the European Union. Apart from the important legal implications of this decision, both procedural and substantive, its significance must also surely lie in its potential effect on the employment market, which has come increas- ingly to rely on the part-time employment of women in recent years and may do so increasingly in future as patterns of child rearing and related socio- economic activity become more diverse. In a wide-ranging critique of proposals for the reform of child care law in Scotland, Alastair Bissett-Johnson considers developments since the Review of Child Care Law in Scotland (1990). Driven forward by growing concerns about the adequacy of existing child protection measures and Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968, which have been highlighted by the Orkney Inquiry and others, the White Paper published by the Scottish Office proposes a number of changes. These try to meet the obligations created by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, whilst also reflecting many of the concerns which led up to the Children Act 1989 in England and Wales, in © 1995 Routledge 0141-8033

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most