Category: immigration

Does the Human Rights Act prevent us deporting serious criminals? – Free Movement

Posted May 26th, 2015 in deportation, human rights, immigration, news, reports, statistics, treaties by sally

‘It is very widely believed that the Human Rights Act stops the UK from deporting foreign criminals whence they came. To a limited extent, there is some truth in this. Some appeals against deportation decisions do succeed on human rights grounds. Not many, though, and none succeed because of the Human Rights Act as distinct from the European Convention on Human Rights. Other appeals against deportation succeed under EU law or the Refugee Convention.’

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Free Movement, 26th May 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Prisons built to expel – OUP Blog

Posted May 26th, 2015 in citizenship, deportation, immigration, news, prisons by sally

‘Every few months, a new report announces the breakdown of the British immigration system. In January, the Committee of Public Accounts issued a searing review of the Home Office’s migration policy. Three months earlier, the National Audit Office released a near-identical critique. Each publication invokes a now-familiar folk devil – the ‘foreign criminal’ – ­­and demands better coordination between immigration enforcers and prison managers. Four times a year, we are told that governments that do not deport ‘foreign offenders’ are fundamentally unfit.’

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OUP Blog, 26th May 2015

Source: http://blog.oup.com

Reconsideration of old human rights applications – Free Movement

Posted May 22nd, 2015 in appeals, human rights, immigration, news by sally

‘The Home Office has introduced a new policy on reconsideration of old human rights claims that were refused before 6 April 2015 with no right of appeal: Requests for reconsiderations of human rights or protection based claims refused without right of appeal before 6 April 2015. The policy is important in the very many cases where a human rights application was made by an individual or family and the application was refused with no right of appeal because no removal decision was made. Under the new appeals regime introduced by the Immigration Act 2014 from 6 April 2014, no removal decision is needed for a right of appeal, only refusal of a human rights claim.’
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Free Movement, 21st May 2015

Source: www.freemovement.co.uk

B v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (B) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission – WLR Daily

Posted May 21st, 2015 in appeals, bail, deportation, detention, immigration, law reports by sally

B v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (B) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission [2015] EWCA Civ 445; [2015] WLR (D) 210

‘Where a person’s detention by the Home Secretary, purportedly made pursuant to paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 3 to the Immigration Act 1971 as amended, pending deportation was unlawful, or where a person not currently in detention could not lawfully be detained under that provision, bail could not be granted pursuant to paragraphs 22 and 29 of Schedule 2 to the 1971 Act, as amended.’

WLR Daily, 6th May 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Mandatory orders in immigration judicial review applications – Free Movement

Posted May 20th, 2015 in immigration, judicial review, news, tribunals by sally

‘The issue of when the Upper Tribunal might make a mandatory order requiring the Home Office to act in a specific way was considered in the case of R (on the application of Sultana) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (mandatory order – basic principles) IJR [2015] UKUT 226 (IAC).’

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Free Movement, 20th May 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

‘Impartial’ UKIP drama cleared by Ofcom – BBC News

Posted May 18th, 2015 in complaints, immigration, media, news, ombudsmen, political parties, violent disorder by sally

‘A Channel 4 docudrama that imagined a future where the UK Independence Party won the general election has been cleared by broadcasting watchdog Ofcom.’

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BBC News, 18th May 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Best interests of children in immigration cases – Free Movement

Posted May 15th, 2015 in children, detention, immigration, news by tracey

‘Those working with migrant children have known this all along, but in March we had some official confirmation from a Parliamentary committee: the situation of migrant children in the UK is getting worse, not better.’

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Free Movement, 14th May 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Lithuanian MPs petition Lords Speaker over child custody case – The Guardian

Posted May 13th, 2015 in children, custody, EC law, human rights, immigration, international relations, legal aid, litigants in person, news by tracey

‘A delegation of Lithuanian MPs has written to the House of Lords complaining about the removal of a 12-year-old girl from her mother, alleging that she is being deprived of her cultural inheritance. The letter, sent to the Speaker of the House of Lords, Lady D’Souza, is the second high-profile intervention by a Baltic state in UK care proceedings this year and reflects a growing rift between EU states over practices in custody proceedings.’

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The Guardian, 12th May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (Agyarko) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (Evans) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (Ikuga) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted May 12th, 2015 in appeals, families, human rights, immigration, law reports, regulations by tracey

Regina (Agyarko) v Secretary of State for the Home Departmen; Regina (Evans) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (Ikuga) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: [2015] EWCA Civ 440; [2015] WLR (D) 205

‘Where a party who had overstayed unlawfully and married or formed a relationship with a British citizen sought leave to remain, the “insurmountable obstacles” test as to return under the Immigration Rules was a stringent test and more demanding than a mere test of whether it would be reasonable to expect a couple to continue their family life outside the United Kingdom, although the test was also to be interpreted in a sensible and practical rather than a purely literal way.’

WLR Daily, 6th May 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Home secretary hardens refusal to accept EU resettlement programme – The Guardian

Posted May 12th, 2015 in EC law, immigration, news, quotas, refugees by tracey

‘The home secretary, Theresa May, has hardened Britain’s refusal to accept a mandatory European Union refugee quota system being put forward in Brussels this week in response to the Mediterranean migrant boat crisis.’

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The Guardian, 11th May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

SS (Congo) and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted May 11th, 2015 in families, human rights, immigration, law reports, ministers' powers and duties, proportionality, remuneration by sally

SS (Congo) and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 387; [2015] WLR (D) 199

‘Where an application was made by a person for leave to enter the United Kingdom to join a spouse or family member who was a British citizen or refugee already residing there, but the application did not meet the minimum income or evidence of income requirements under the Immigration Rules for an application for leave to enter, compelling circumstances had to be shown to exist to justify the granting by the Secretary of State under her residual discretion of leave to enter outside the Immigration Rules on the grounds that refusal of entry would disproportionately interfere with the applicant’s article 8 Convention right to respect for family life.’

WLR Daily, 23rd April 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Conservative manifesto commitments on immigration, the EU and human rights – Free Movement

Posted May 11th, 2015 in EC law, freedom of movement, human rights, immigration, news, political parties by sally

‘Standing at the door to No 10, David Cameron stated that he would form a majority government and implement the Conservative Party manifesto “in full”. The moderating influence of the Liberal Democrats has been extinguished. The nationalist isolationism of the Scots and the SNP renders them irrelevant in UK politics for the next five years. Meanwhile, the disaffected UKIP vote wounded Labour, not the Conservatives, piling pressure on the next Labour leader to address UKIP concerns more directly than Ed Miliband. What does all this mean for immigration law over the next five years?’

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Free Movement, 8th May 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

What amounts to a “human rights claim” generating a new right of appeal? – Free Movement

Posted April 30th, 2015 in appeals, human rights, immigration, interpretation, news, tribunals by sally

‘Rights of appeal under the Immigration Act 2014 are only available in refugee cases and if ‘the Secretary of State has decided to refuse a human rights claim made by [the person]’ (amended section 82 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002). This will clearly require a human rights claim to have been made in the first place as well as requiring a refusal of that claim. But what constitutes a human right claim and a decision by the Secretary of State?’

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Free Movement, 29th April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Foreign criminal can stay in Britain because he is an alcoholic – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 28th, 2015 in alcoholism, deportation, human rights, immigration, news, recidivists, tribunals by sally

‘A persistent offender from Libya cannot be deported because he would face severe punishment for drinking in his homeland, immigration court rules.’

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Daily Telegraph, 27th April 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

UK rule change dilemma for Eritreans – BBC News

Posted April 24th, 2015 in asylum, immigration, news, refugees by sally

‘The number of Eritrean refugees arriving in the UK doubled last year to become the highest total from any single country. But could new Home Office guidance mean many others are refused asylum?’

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BBC News, 24th April 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Can you make a new application while awaiting outcome of another application or appeal? – Free Movement

Posted April 23rd, 2015 in appeals, immigration, news, tribunals by sally

‘The word “hopeless” appears five times in the determination of R (on the application of Rashid) v Secretary of State for the Home Department IJR [2015] UKUT 190 (IAC). While the judge remains fairly cool she was clearly irritated with Counsel. Much of the case is devoted to salvaging some sense from the proliferating grounds or traversing territory that is already well known, but there is something new to take away. New to me, at any rate.’

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Free Movement, 23rd April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Mind the gap: immigration rules and human rights are not coterminous – Free Movement

Posted April 22nd, 2015 in human rights, immigration, news, personal injuries, tribunals, visas by sally

‘In a useful case the Upper Tribunal addresses one of the “mind the gap” differences between the Immigration Rules and the requirements of human rights law. There is a growing body of case law that recognises that the two bodies of law are not, contrary to the Home Office position, coterminous. The latest is R (on the application of Chen) v Secretary of State for the Home Department) (Appendix FM – Chikwamba – temporary separation – proportionality) IJR [2015] UKUT 189 (IAC) on, you guessed it, the House of Lords case of Chikwamba and the proportionality of having to travel abroad in order to apply from abroad.’

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Free Movement, 22nd April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Pham (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) – Supreme Court

Posted April 14th, 2015 in appeals, citizenship, EC law, immigration, law reports, ministers' powers and duties, proportionality, Supreme Court by sally

Pham (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) [2015] UKSC 19 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 25th March 2015

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Home Office confirms that EEA(FM) application form is not mandatory – Free Movement

Posted April 13th, 2015 in documents, EC law, freedom of movement, government departments, immigration, news, visas by sally

‘In a useful policy document explaining internal processes within the UK Visas and Immigration department of the Home Office, it is confirmed that applicants for EU free movement documents such as residence certificates, residence cards and family permits do NOT have to use the forms provided by the Home Office.’

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Free Movement, 9th April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

What is a “reasonable period” for immigration detention? – Free Movement

Posted April 10th, 2015 in deportation, detention, immigration, news by tracey

‘In a short but powerful judgment the Court of Appeal has clarified the approach to continued detention on the basis that removal can be effected within a reasonable time. The decision is also important for the analysis of case law concerning detention where the prospects of effecting return depend upon changing circumstances in the proposed destination country.’

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Free Movement, 10th April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk