Aileen McColgan, KC is a British barrister and academic. She was Professor of Human Rights Law at King's College London between 2001 and 2018 and is now Professor of Law and Social Justice at the University of Leeds. [1] She is an expert in labour law, discrimination and human rights. She works as a practising barrister at 11 KBW (previously Matrix Chambers). [2] McColgan was selected to become Queen’s Counsel in the 2019 competition and was sworn in in 2020. [3]
McColgan is originally from Derry, Northern Ireland. She holds degrees from Trinity College, Cambridge and Edinburgh University. [1]
Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, religion, disability, or sexual orientation, as well as other categories. Discrimination especially occurs when individuals or groups are unfairly treated in a way which is worse than other people are treated, on the basis of their actual or perceived membership in certain groups or social categories. It involves restricting members of one group from opportunities or privileges that are available to members of another group.
Stonewall is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.
Kenneth Donald John Macdonald, Baron Macdonald of River Glaven, is a British lawyer and politician who served as Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) of England and Wales from 2003 to 2008. In that office he was head of the Crown Prosecution Service. He was previously a Recorder and defence barrister. He is a life peer in the House of Lords, where he sits as a crossbencher and was previously a Liberal Democrat. He was Warden of Wadham College, Oxford until 2021.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of equality and non-discrimination laws in England, Scotland and Wales. It took over the responsibilities of the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission. The EHRC also has responsibility for other aspects of equality law: age, sexual orientation and religion or belief. A national human rights institution, it seeks to promote and protect human rights throughout Great Britain.
United Kingdom employment equality law is a body of law which legislates against prejudice-based actions in the workplace. As an integral part of UK labour law it is unlawful to discriminate against a person because they have one of the "protected characteristics", which are, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, pregnancy and maternity, and sexual orientation. The primary legislation is the Equality Act 2010, which outlaws discrimination in access to education, public services, private goods and services, transport or premises in addition to employment. This follows three major European Union Directives, and is supplement by other Acts like the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. Furthermore, discrimination on the grounds of work status, as a part-time worker, fixed term employee, agency worker or union membership is banned as a result of a combination of statutory instruments and the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, again following European law. Disputes are typically resolved in the workplace in consultation with an employer or trade union, or with advice from a solicitor, ACAS or the Citizens Advice Bureau a claim may be brought in an employment tribunal. The Equality Act 2006 established the Equality and Human Rights Commission, a body designed to strengthen enforcement of equality laws.
The Equality Act 2010 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom passed during the Brown ministry with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-discrimination law in mostly England, Scotland and Wales; some sections also apply to Northern Ireland. These consisted, primarily, of the Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and three major statutory instruments protecting discrimination in employment on grounds of religion or belief, sexual orientation and age.
Conor A. Gearty is the Professor of Human Rights Law at LSE Department of Law. From 2002 to 2009, he was Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at the London School of Economics. His academic research focuses primarily on civil liberties, terrorism and human rights.
Keith David Ewing is professor of public law at King's College London and recognised as a leading scholar in public law, constitutional law, law of democracy, labour law and human rights.
Hugh Collins, is emeritus Vinerian Professor of English Law at the University of Oxford and a fellow of All Souls College. He retains the former title as emeritus after Timothy Endicott took up the professorship on 1 July 2020.
European labour law regulates basic transnational standards of employment and partnership at work in the European Union and countries adhering to the European Convention on Human Rights. In setting regulatory floors to competition for job-creating investment within the Union, and in promoting a degree of employee consultation in the workplace, European labour law is viewed as a pillar of the "European social model". Despite wide variation in employment protection and related welfare provision between member states, a contrast is typically drawn with conditions in the United States.
Sandra Fredman FBA, KC (hon) is a professor of law in the Faculty of Law at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford.
Frances Raday is a Professor Emerita of Elias Lieberman Chair in Labor Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Raday is currently a Professor of Law at the Haim Striks Law School at Colman College of Management Academic Studies, where she also acts as President of the Concord Center for Integration of International Law in Israel and as Head of the School's Graduate Programs.
Sir Bob Alexander Hepple was a South African-born legal academic and leader in the fields of labour law, equality and human rights.
Sir Rabinder Singh KC, styled The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Singh, is a British Court of Appeal judge and President of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, formerly a High Court judge of the Queen's Bench Division, a King's Counsel and barrister, formerly a founding member of Matrix Chambers and a legal academic.
Sir Jeffrey Jowell is a practising barrister at Blackstone Chambers specialising in public law. He was the inaugural Director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law from 2010 - 2015. He is Emeritus Professor of Public Law at University College London where he was Dean of the Law Faculty and a Vice Provost. He is the author of leading publications in his field.
Helen Mountfield, is a British barrister practising in administrative, human rights, and equality law. She has been Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford since 2018.
Forstater v Center for Global Development Europe is an ongoing UK labour-law case brought by Maya Forstater against the Center for Global Development (CGD). The Employment Appeal Tribunal established that gender-critical views are protected as a belief under the Equality Act 2010. The Tribunal further clarified that this finding does not mean that people with gender-critical beliefs can express them in a way that discriminates against trans people.
Diamond Ashiagbor is Professor of Law at Kent Law School, University of Kent and author of several books.
The legal career of Mary Robinson, which occurred prior to her becoming President of Ireland in 1990, lasted over 22 years. Made a barrister in 1967, Robinson specialised in constitutional, criminal, and European community law.
Jane Aeberhard-Hodges is a lawyer and gender equality consultant. She served as the Director of the International Labour Organization's Gender Equality Bureau. Jane serves as an advisor to Every Woman Coalition. She is specialized in public international law, international and comparative labour law, and gender equality and human rights law.