Database of Expert Reports
Until recently, proceedings in which non-indigenous cultural and legal conventions were significantly at issue were normally considered under the rubric of Private International law in English courts. But as members of non-European minorities have become an ever more salient, and indeed an integral, component of the population of UK, treating such persons – together with their distinctive behavioral practices – as 'foreign' has become increasingly anachronistic.
In recent years the courts have begun to recognize that plurality is an indigenous phenomenon, and that this can be of immediate significance in all manner of legal contexts. Hence as Arden LJ put it in Khan v Khan [2007] EWCA Civ 399
Where the parties are members of a particular community, then in my judgment the court must bear in mind that they may observe different traditions and practices from those of the majority of the population ....
Pluralism involves the recognition that different groups in society may have different traditions, practices and attitudes, and from that value tolerance must inevitably flow. Tolerance involves respect for the different traditions, practices and attitudes of different groups. In turn, the court must pay appropriate regard to these differences.
A number of CASAS members have no begun to accept instructions to prepare expert reports for use in cases where issues of the kind to which Lady Arden has directed our attention are at the forefront of proceedings.
For the sake of improved scholarly debate we are taking the opportunity to past up a number of reports prepared CASAS members, accompanied by the judgments which were subsequently handed down by the Court.
The institutional accommodation of religious and cultural diversity
1. The Logic of Cremation in Indic Contexts: An Anthropological Analysis
An expert report prepared by Roger Ballard for use in a Judicial Review of the Newcastle City Council's interpretation of the 1902 Cremation Act, and its consequent decision that not to allow open pyre cremations conducted according to Hindu rites to be performed within its jurisdiction.
a lengthy addendum addressing issues ranging yet more widely than those considered in Roger Ballard's initial report
Judgments
Ghai v Newcastle City Council [2009] EWHC 978 (Admin) - Mr. Justice Cranston's Judgment
A brief commentary on the Judgment by Roger Ballard
Ghai v Newcastle City Council [2010] EWCA Civ 59 - Judgment by the Court of Appeal
A brief commentary on the Court of Appeal Judgment by Roger Ballard
2. The religious and cultural significance of the Sikh Kara -
An expert report prepared by Roger Ballard for use in a Judicial Review of the Uniform policy deployed by Aberdare High School
Judgment
Sarika Watkins-Singh v Governors of Aberdare High School [2008] EWHC 1865 (Admin) = Mr. Justice Silber's Judgment
3. The Fate of Shambo the Bullock
An expert report prepared by Roger Ballard in response to instructions received from the Welsh assembly
Suryanda v Welsh Ministers [2007] EWCA Civ 893 - Lord Justice Pill's judgment
4. Honour Killing?
Regina v Ali Goren - Matters of Honour in Turkish families: An Anthropological Perspective
A background to proceedings in which the jury threw out the core prosecution argument that Tulay lost her life as a result of a collectively planned and executed killing designed to restore her family's allegedly besmirched honour in favour of the view that she was was murdered by her angry and jealous father.
However this has not prevented the media from reporting the jury's verdict as confirming the prosecution/CPS thesis that this was a further instance of a collectively planned 'honour killing'.
The legal status of Hawala-style transjurisdictional value transfers
1. The operation of contemporary Informal Value Transfer (Hawala) systems: A report by Dr Ballard
Judgment
Safdar Azam v Wahid Iqbal and Sara Dayman [2007] EWHC 2025 (Admin) - Mr. Justice Sullivan's Judgement
Background reports for the Immigration and Asylum Tribunal
- The History and Current Position of Afghanistan’s Hindu and Sikh Population - by Roger Ballard
An overview of the history of Afghanistan's indigenous Sikh and Hindu population, of the diaporic exodus precipitated by the rising forces of neo-fundamentalism, and the efforts of the UK immigration authorities to dismiss and disregard these developments.
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The Christians of Pakistan: A Historical Overview and an Assessment of their Current Position - by Roger Ballard
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The Ahmadiyyas of Pakistan: A Historical Overview and an Assessment of their Current Position - by Roger Ballard