Pimlico Plumbers Ltd & Anor v Smith [2018] UKSC 29 (13 June 2018)The UK Supreme Court (“Court”) found in favour of the respondent, Mr Smith, who argued that he was a “worker” for Pimlico Plumbers Ltd (“Pimlico”) under the relevant employment legislation. The Court rejected Pimlico’s argument that Mr Smith was a “self-employed operative” and upheld the previous decisions of the Employment Tribunal (“Tribunal”), Employment Appeal Tribunal and Court of Appeal.

The High Court has allowed an appeal against a decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal, leaving open the possibility for Google to be sued in defamation for allegedly defamatory results appearing in Google searches.

In a 7-2 decision, the US Supreme Court overturned a decision of the Colorado Civil Rights Commission that a baker could not refuse to sell a wedding cake to a same-sex couple.

Abu Zubaydah v Lithuania (European Court of Human Rights, Application No. 4654/11, 31 May 2018)  Al Nashiri v Romania (European Court of Human Rights, Application No. 33234/12, 31 May 2018)The Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (Court) held, in two separate decisions, that Lithuania and Romania both committed violations of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) due to their compliancy in the United States Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) rendition program. The applicants in both cases were suspected of involvement in carrying out terrorist attacks and were detained by the CIA. It was alleged that Lithuania and Romania, respectively, had allowed the CIA to transport the applicants into their jurisdiction, where they had been subjected to torture and arbitrary detention by the CIA.

Centrale des syndicats du Quebec v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2018 SCC 18Quebec (Attorney General) v. Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la sante et des services sociaux, 2018 SCC 17In two recent decisions, the Supreme Court of Canada considered the whether several provisions of Quebec province’s gender pay equity legislation, the Pay Equity Act 1996, were contrary to section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (addressing systemic wage discrimination against women).

Čakarević v Croatia (European Court of Human Rights, First Section, Application no. 48921/13, 26 April 2018)Ms Ilinka Čakarević, a Croatian national, brought proceedings against the Croatian government in relation to debt recovery proceedings brought by the government after they overpaid her unemployment benefits.

Jesner v Arab Bank Plc No. 16-499, 584 U.S. _(2018)By a narrow 5-4 majority, the United States Supreme Court held that it did not have the authority under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) to determine civil liability for foreign corporations that engage in gross human rights violations in contravention of international law.

On 18 April 2018, the High Court of Australia handed down its first decision considering the contentious 'fast track review' process.

Re: Matthew [2018] FamCA 161 (16 March 2018)The Family Court of Australia has declared that transgender young people diagnosed with gender dysphoria no longer need to apply to the Court for Stage 3 treatment where the transgender teenager has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria, the transgender teenager's treating practitioners agree that the child is Gillick competent and there is no controversy regarding the application.

Naït-Liman v Switzerland (European Court of Human Rights, Grand Chamber, Application no. 51357/07, 15 March 2018)The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights held that a Swiss court’s decision to refuse jurisdiction to hear a claim did not violate rights of access to a court. The claimant, a Swiss national, had sought compensation for torture inflicted by the Tunisian Republic.

Nix v Germany (European Court of Human Rights, Chamber, Application no. 35285/16, 13 March 2018)The European Court of Human Rights has rejected an appeal brought by a German citizen who claimed his right to freedom of expression had been impermissibly burdened. The applicant had published an image of Nazi-era SS chief Heinrich Himmler in SS uniform wearing a swastika armband on his personal blog. He was convicted by a German court under a law which prohibited the use of propaganda material of unconstitutional organisations, including the Nazis.