Policing the boundaries of Articles 8 and 11 ECHR

Abstract

Vining v London Borough of Wandsworth demonstrates the continued relevance of human rights arguments within UK employment law. The Court of Appeal’s decision on Article 11 shows how the almost universal scope of human rights can be used to attack the various types of restrictions placed by domestic law upon the availability of employment rights. It signals an area of fruitful work for employment law scholars and practitioners alike. The court’s reasoning on Article 8 must be read alongside a more detailed analysis by the European Court of Human Rights in Denisov v Ukraine. A close analysis of the two cases exposes a distinct difference in how the two courts applied Article 8 to the cases before them. In order to ensure compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights, the domestic approach must be corrected in the future.