Make allowances for immigrants who slap their children, says high court judge – The Guardian

‘Police and social workers should make allowances for immigrants who slap or hit their children when investigating allegations of physical abuse, a high court judge has said.’

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The Guardian, 10th June 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Detainees ‘confused’ by legal aid cuts – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 4th, 2015 in detention, immigration, legal aid, news, reports by sally

‘Legal aid cuts in immigration cases have created a climate of confusion and mistrust in detention centres, according to a pressure group’s research.’

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Law Society’s Gazette, 3rd June 2015

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

UK Immigration: illegal working and EU reform – Halsbury’s Law Exchange

Posted June 4th, 2015 in appeals, banking, bills, deportation, employment, immigration, landlord & tenant, news by sally

‘The Queen’s speech, which announces the Government’s agenda for the next five years, would not be the same without some proposals on immigration reform. We were not let down and the plan of attack will be a new Immigration Bill which will focus on illegal workers, overstayers and rogue employers.’

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Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 3rd June 2015

Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk

Migrants and Maritime Law – BBC Law in Action

Posted June 3rd, 2015 in immigration, news, shipping law by sally

‘What does the law say about commercial ship captains’ duty to help those they find in distress at sea? Captain Andy Lewington explains how he, and his 18 man crew, took aboad more than 400 migrants in the seas north of Tripoli earlier this year. And Stephen Fietta a lawyer at Volterra Fietta, explains the legal position.’

Listen

BBC Law in Action, 2nd June 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Indemnity costs in immigration judicial reviews – Free Movement

Posted May 29th, 2015 in costs, immigration, indemnities, judicial review, news by sally

‘The substantive matter in the case of R (on the application of Kaienga) v Secretary of State for the Home Department IJR [2015] UKUT 272 (IAC) was agreed by way of a consent order; however costs had not been agreed between the parties in advance of the hearing. An application was made by the applicant for costs on an indemnity basis as a result of the Home Office’s conduct. UTJ Kopiecek awarded the applicant their costs, but refused to do so on an indemnity basis reiterating that such an order is not designed for punitive purposes.’

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Free Movement, 29th May 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

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

‘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

‘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

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

‘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