Book Reviews Reviews by Elizabeth Robson Taylor MA of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister” and Mediator DISCRIMINATION IN PUBLIC LAW By ADAM STRAW QC With OLIVER PERSEY ISBN: 978 1 91364 847 3 Legal Action Group The access to justice charity www.lag.org.uk INDISPENSIBLE: AN IMPORTANT NEW BOOK ON DISCRIMINATION RELEVANT TO JUDICIAL REVIEW It could well be, either now or in the future, that you as a practitioner will need to rely on discrimination arguments if you are providing advice or representation, for example, in a judicial review claim. In that event, you will be pleased -- not to mention relieved -- that at last, there is a new book out by Adam Straw QC that
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covers comprehensively and succinctly, all salient aspects of this often complex, controversial, disputatious, and certainly wide-ranging area of law. Discrimination of course, can occur just about anywhere. Note that it is published by the Legal Action Group in handy paperback format which makes it a convenient as well as authoritative work of reference. As the Legal Action Group explains, ‘Discrimination in Public Law’ covers the four sources of law regarding equal treatment as relevant to judicial review. Practitioners dealing with discrimination will need to know all four of these areas, namely: the Equality Act 2010... Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)... EU law which has been retained post-Brexit... and “public law equal treatment.” Discrimination issues can manifest themselves almost everywhere within an extraordinarily wide range of categories, from asylum and benefits to community care and housing, education, immigration, health, mental health, prison law, police and trafficking.
As you will note, this is a short list. Remarkably however, the relevant areas of law pertaining to discrimination are brought together in this volume. EU law concerning discrimination for example, is discussed in the book’s final section, Part D. As the work from LAG over the last fifty years attests, this remarkably succinct and informative text “aims to draw on useful authorities from outside their specialism.” Also note the more than sixty pages of tables of cases, statutes, and statutory instruments, plus a table of European and international legislation. Note too that the appendix contains links to publicly available resources referred to in the text. Here then, is a distinguished work of reference that is also practical and convenient to use -- and considering the gravity and importance of its subject matter, it should be included in every practitioner’s law library. The date of publication of this new paperback edition is cited as 3rd February 2022.
