Earlier this month, Dr Erin Ferguson spoke at the Public Law Project's annual conference in London. The Public Law Project is a national access to justice charity that supports individuals and communities who have been marginalised through poverty, discrimination, or disadvantage when they have been affected by unlawful state decision-making.
Erin was invited to speak on a panel discussing the question ‘can public law protect social housing and address the housing crisis?’ Erin’s talk focused on privatisation and its impacts on the social housing sector, which has been transformed through the right to buy scheme, the large-scale voluntary transfer of housing stock from local authorities to registered social landlords, and, more recently, the increase in private equity investment. Erin discussed how privatisation affects the operation of public law norms and principles and urged public lawyers to think beyond the traditional public-private divide to understand the challenges currently facing social housing and the contributions that public lawyers can make.
At the conference, Erin also had the opportunity to hear from a range of speakers working in public law and human rights, including Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, High Court judge Mr Justice Fordham, Sarah Lunnon of Just Stop Oil, Athian Akec of the Black Equity Organisation, and Lord Hermer, the Attorney General for England and Wales.
Speaking of her experience, Erin tells us ‘The conference was a great opportunity to meet public law practitioners, activists, and politicians working in diverse areas, but all committed to protecting social justice, human rights, and the environment. Speakers provided insight into current threats to human rights, such as restrictions on public protest and the watering down of the Windrush review recommendations. Ultimately, the conference was a good reminder to me of the important work being done by communities to protect human rights, and it has inspired me to incorporate more practical insights into my teaching.’