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Mobility Allowance And The Law, Mel Cousins
Mobility Allowance And The Law, Mel Cousins
Mel Cousins
The Irish government has recently announced the abolition of the mobility allowance and motorised transport grant. It appears that this decision was heavily influenced by the Government’s view that ‘the schemes are illegal in the context of the Equal Status Acts’. Although the reform options considered and legal advice received have not been specified, the impression has been created that reform would be very complex and that it would be impossible to reform the existing scheme to make it legally compliant without a major increase in its budget. This note discuses the legal issues concerning the operation of the mobility …
Equal Treatment And Objective Justification In Social Security Cases Under The European Convention On Human Rights, Mel Cousins
Equal Treatment And Objective Justification In Social Security Cases Under The European Convention On Human Rights, Mel Cousins
Mel Cousins
This article discusses recent UK case law on equal treatment and social security with particular reference on objective justification in two important recent decisions: the Supreme Court decision in Humphreys and the Court of Appeal’s judgement in Burnip. There has been a marked and progressive improvement in the analysis of equal treatment issues under the ECHR by the UK courts. Decisions of European Court have helped to clarify that Article 14 is not narrowly confined to the grounds set out in Article 14 and that a broader range of statuses are also covered. The more flexible approach to comparators has …
Workers’ Compensation And The Right To Interstate Travel – Schatz V Interfaith Care Centre, Mel Cousins
Workers’ Compensation And The Right To Interstate Travel – Schatz V Interfaith Care Centre, Mel Cousins
Mel Cousins
In Schatz, the Minnesota supreme court considered the interesting question of the right to interstate travel as it affects workers’ compensation. While we know that durational residence requirements for welfare benefits and medical care are likely to be found to be unconstitutional, the US courts have to date not greatly explored where other conditions of social security, workers compensation or welfare schemes may impinge on the right to interstate travel. In order to set the groundwork, Part 1 of this note sets out the Supreme Court’s decisions concerning benefits and the right to travel, focusing on the aspects of most …
A Case Of Premature Litigation: Surrogacy, Equal Protection And Social Welfare Benefits, Mel Cousins
A Case Of Premature Litigation: Surrogacy, Equal Protection And Social Welfare Benefits, Mel Cousins
Mel Cousins
The issue of surrogacy in Irish law has received considerable (if somewhat belated) attention following the decision of the High Court to recognise a surrogate mother as the child’s mother for the purposes of birth certification. The Equality Tribunal has also referred to the European Court of Justice a complaint in which it has been argued that the failure to provide leave to a surrogate mother was in breach of EU and international law. A claim has also been brought under the Equal Status Acts (ESA) arguing that the failure of the Department of Social Protection (DSP) to provide a …
Rational Basis With Bite In Minnesota: Unemployment Benefits And Personal-Care Assistants, Mel Cousins
Rational Basis With Bite In Minnesota: Unemployment Benefits And Personal-Care Assistants, Mel Cousins
Mel Cousins
The Minnesota court of appeals has recently come to an interesting decision on equal protection and insurability of workers, ruling – in Weir v ACCRA Care - that the exclusion of certain personal care assistants (PCA) from the unemployment insurance scheme was in breach of the Minnesota equal protection guarantee. This note examines this recent decision, contrasting it with the approach under the federal equal protection clause. The case is one of a number in different jurisdictions in which less favorable treatment of ‘family member’ carers has been struck down under equal protection and human rights law.