Heather Green
@votingrules.bsky.social
640 followers 760 following 85 posts
Legal academic - public law & law relating to elections. Former University employee, now working independently/not institutionally affiliated in Aberdeen, Scotland.
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Reposted by Heather Green
echr.coe.int
Georgios Papadopoulos v. Cyprus: Cypriot authorities’ failure to resolve a legislative gap concerning a vacant parliamentary seat breached the Convention hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng-press?i=...
#ECHR #CEDH #ECHRpress
Reposted by Heather Green
alanbeattie.bsky.social
Henceforth the red robes will only be worn as an away kit when the Canadian Supreme Court is playing the US one.
pwnallthethings.bsky.social
Tragic news from Canada where the Canadian Supreme Court has gone from the official dress on the left to the one on the right
Canadian Supreme court. Everyone is dressed in bright red wooly gowns, with a beige trim. It looks sort of like a Santa robe The Canadian Supreme court. Everyone is dressed in black gowns with a bright white kravat, and two thin red vertical lines on the side of the robe
Reposted by Heather Green
lewisgrahamlaw.bsky.social
A case note by Leah Trueblood and me on this summer’s Tortoise Media v Conservative Party decision has been published in Judicial Review.

Open Access link here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Tortoise Media v Conservative Party in the Court of Appeal
Published in Judicial Review (Ahead of Print, 2025)
www.tandfonline.com
Reposted by Heather Green
katejj.bsky.social
The University of Glasgow groundspeople are going to be quite annoyed when they come in to work tomorrow...
Reposted by Heather Green
drbenstanford.bsky.social
This should really be a given, especially for a Government pledging to clean up politics and remedy some of the worst behaviour of the past Governments. It's also one of those things that isn't necessarily a problem today, but it certainly could be under a future authoritarian Government.
Reposted by Heather Green
Reposted by Heather Green
cfoiscot.bsky.social
Journalists have the right & duty to report on local government. The public has a right to read/access their stories to form an opinion. Their rights are protected by Art 10 ECHR. Good to see public interest litigation www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... @hrcscotland.bsky.social @nujscotland.bsky.social
Nottingham Post launches legal challenge over Reform press ban
Council leader Mick Barton has not spoken to journalists from the Nottingham Post since August.
www.bbc.co.uk
Reposted by Heather Green
spotlightcorruption.org
⚠️ Our Democracy in Danger report warns that ministers’ power over the @electoralcommission.org.uk “could easily be abused to undermine our democracy.” The previous govt introduced measures to allow them to set the Commission’s strategy and policy, curtailing the regulator's independence.
Democracy in danger: why the government must restore the Electoral Commission’s full independence - Spotlight on Corruption
Democracy in danger: A fully independent Electoral Commission is critical to ensuring the integrity of UK elections, and maintaining public confidence.
www.spotlightcorruption.org
Reposted by Heather Green
drdavemckenna.bsky.social
I've discovered a new non-extreme, slow-sport that involves hunting down Ordnance Survey Benchmarks. It's like a laid back Pokémon Go I guess.

I case you don't know, OSBs are marks or plates placed on buildings, walls etc to show the elevation above sea level.

They often look like this...
A horizontal line carved into a wall with three lines fanning out downwards from its centre.
Reposted by Heather Green
publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social
The report was mentioned in the Guardian yesterday, worth reading itself by those interested in constitutional matters.

The dramatic fall in the country's international standing & potential consequences, comparing with what's happening in the US.

www.spotlightcorruption.org/wp-content/u...
www.spotlightcorruption.org
Reposted by Heather Green
reformexposed.bsky.social
Reform UK Councillor Andy Osborne was charged this morning with committing an illegal electoral practice contrary to s106(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1983.

His plea hearing is at Westminster Magistrates Court on October 9th.

Here’s more on him: www.huntspost.co.uk/news/2522093...
Calls for Reform UK councillor to resign as 'evil' comment fallout continues
Calls are being made for the Reform UK councillor at Cambridgeshire County Council, Andy Osborn, to resign.
www.huntspost.co.uk
Reposted by Heather Green
ryangoss.bsky.social
What does it mean for someone to be charged with a criminal offence?
My new journal article is out this week in OUP’s Human Rights Law Review on the ECtHR's Engel criteria in the 21st century (1/4)

academic.oup.com/hrlr/article...
#echr #humanrights #humanrightslaw #law
abstract of journal article linked to later in thread
Reposted by Heather Green
votingrules.bsky.social
Confirmation Govt plans to keep & use the power to set a Strategy & Policy Statement for the Electoral Commission, despite vocally opposing this reform during passage of Elections Act 2022
Text of tweet by Lord Rennard on Government's plan to impose a Strategy & Policy Statement on Electoral Commission
Reposted by Heather Green
spotlightcorruption.org
We urge the government to reconsider its position and:
1️⃣ Remove the ministerial power to set the Electoral Commissions strategy and policy
2️⃣ Put the statutory independence of the Electoral Commission clearly into legislation
Reposted by Heather Green
lisaocarroll.bsky.social
Elections in Moldova on Sunday. The diaspora including an estimated 40,000 in the UK will be critical as Russia floods country and diaspora outlets with offers of money in what former deputy PM Nicu Popescu told me was a "brutal vote buying" operation by Kremlin.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...
Moldovan diaspora critical in elections as country battles Russian vote-buying, says former minister
Watchdogs say Russia offering overseas voters cash for evidence of voter fraud in possible ploy to declare election rigged
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Heather Green
daniellalock.bsky.social
My article 'Backdoor Executive Empowerment' is now available open access published by Legal Studies. The paper identifies 6 mechanisms the last UK Government used to obstruct democratic scrutiny of new changes it introduced to expand executive powers 🧵1/5

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Backdoor Executive Empowerment | Legal Studies | Cambridge Core
Backdoor Executive Empowerment
www.cambridge.org
Reposted by Heather Green
globalcit.bsky.social
Explore the new GLOBALCIT Migrant Electoral Rights (MER) Dataset ❗🌐

🌍 165 countries (1960–2020)
📊 488 indicators
🗳️ voting & candidacy rights of non-citizen residents + non-resident citizens
🏛️ Differentiates election type (legislative, executive, referendum) & level

📥: tinyurl.com/yv37nj7m
Migrant Electoral Rights (MER) Dataset - Globalcit
Suffrage is a central element of democracy. Over time, electoral rights have increasingly become available to migrants—both as non-citizen residents and as non-resident citizens. However, existing dat...
tinyurl.com
Reposted by Heather Green
publicsectorlawyer.bsky.social
Why does the Conservative Party want the Electoral Commission to investigate this?

It concerns criminal offences regarding which the EC cannot issue civil sanctions.

And as it happens it was the Conservatives who amended the law to prevent the EC from prosecuting, under the Elections Act 2022.