A big win for the Good Law Project (and more exciting news) – Newsletter

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Hello!

It’s been an eventful two weeks. And we’re kicking off this newsletter with some good news.

Capita ends use of bonded labour

We launched a new crowdfunding campaign to take outsourcing giants Capita and FDM to court over their so-called ‘graduate programmes’. These companies have been offering ‘training’ to young people who, after completion, are bound to stay with them for two years on unfair terms. They cannot leave before completing those two years without paying a release fee of tens of thousands of pounds. And so we wrote to these companies saying we would sue them in the High Court.

Faced with possible legal action, Capita abandoned its demand that graduates pay for training if they leave before finishing the two-year period. And as covered by the Guardian, Labour MP Frank Field called upon the government to open a public inquiry into Capita and FDM’s conduct.   

Given that Capita have effectively accepted their practice is unlawful, and will, we understand, release existing graduates from the bond, we do not see any further purpose in pursuing Capita. This is a big win for the Good Law Project.   

But FDM does not yet accept that its practice, which indentures thousands of graduates, is unlawful, so we intend to issue proceedings in the High Court next week. Please support us here. If you have been caught up in FDM’s scam, we want to hear from you.

GLP goes to the High Court

On Tuesday, the High Court heard the GLP’s judicial review of the Electoral Commission’s failure to police Vote Leave spending limits. The decision is to be handed out soon, and we will, of course, keep you updated.  

For a round-up of the day’s event, see here. You can read the skeleton arguments of the concerned parties on our website.

Also, you should definitely read our director’s recent blog post, Has Vote Leave broken the law? The Electoral Commission thinks so.

The Amsterdam Appeal

We received a decision about our EU citizenship case in Amsterdam. In short, we argued that since Article 20 says EU citizenship is different to member state citizenship, it follows that a member state leaving the EU would not automatically mean a loss of EU citizenship. The Court of Appeal agreed that the interpretation of Article 20 on this point is unclear, and will need to be resolved by the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. However, the Court of Appeal decided that it is necessary to wait until the outcome of the negotiations before referring to Luxembourg, thereby overturning the decision of the District Court.      

We will consider the judgment and then announce our next steps. For a full background of the case, see here.

Monocle caves in

You may recall how GLP is helping former intern, Amalia Illgner, sue the magazine Monocle for minimum wage. The magazine, which has been exploiting young interns, is now offering to pay her without admitting liability. Yet we believe that she is owed more, and we want a judge to rule against them to enable us better to protect interns generally

A date for the Uber case

And after many emails and phone calls, the Tax Tribunal has finally set a date for the Uber appeal to set a route map going forward. The hearing will take place on 11th July.

News from our director

Last weekend, our director Jolyon Maugham QC appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Money Box to discuss our legal action against Capita and FDM, and also featured in the Guardian’s further coverage of our case.  

How can you help

To help us keep up the good work, please, if you can, support us financially by becoming a member or making a one-off donation.

Thank-you,

The Good Law Project

@GoodLawProject