The Round-up: Black Spiders and Superhero Jurisdictions – UK Human Rights Blog
‘Hannah Lynes brings us the latest edition of the Human Rights Round-up.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 7th April 2015
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Category: immigration
Pham v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Open Society Justice Initiative intervening) – WLR Daily
‘The question whether a person was not considered as a national by a state under the operation of its law, with the effect that he would be stateless if deprived of British citizenship, was not necessarily to be decided solely by reference to the text of the nationality legislation of the state in question, and reference might also be made to the practice of the government, even if not subject to effective challenge in the courts.’
WLR Daily, 25th March 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Nigerian gay rights activist has her High Court asylum bid rejected – because judge doesn’t believe she is lesbian – The Independent
‘A Nigerian gays right activist who fears imprisonment and death because of her sexuality has had her case for asylum rejected by the High Court – after a judge ruled that she was pretending to be lesbian.
The Independent, 3rd April 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Court has no “superhero” jurisdiction says Home Office in unlawful detention case – Free Movement
‘In the case of Xue v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 825 (Admin) the Home Office claimed that the court had no “superhero” jurisdiction and could not or should interfere with the right of the Secretary of State indefinitely to detain a foreign national. Happily for the woman concerned, who was detained for two years at the Yarl’s Wood detention camp before being released and who during that time underwent a catastrophic decline in mental and physical health, Mrs Justice Laing disagreed. A finding of unlawful detention was made and some very limited damages were awarded covering only the final month of her detention.’
Free Movement, 2nd April 2015
Source: www.freemovement.org.uk
Yarl’s Wood migrant ‘can sue government over prescribed drug’ – BBC News
‘A migrant who claims her psychosis was triggered by medication given to her at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre is to be allowed to sue the government.’
BBC News, 1st April 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Stranded Spouses and Immigration Control – Family Law Week
‘Sulema Jahangir, solicitor with Dawson Cornwell, explains the plight of wives and mothers who are stranded in foreign countries, often separated from their children, and unable to return to England because of immigration restrictions.’
Full story
Family Law Week, 31st March 2015
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Illegal immigrant sex offender wins compensation – Daily Telegraph
‘Naseer Chawki, who was jailed for “revolting” sex crimes on a train, is in line for thousands of pounds after a judge ruled he had been unlawfully detained after completing a jail sentence.’
Daily Telegraph, 31st March 2015
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
PF (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily
PF (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 251; [2015] WLR (D) 149
‘Where a decision of the First-tier or Upper Tribunal was not unanimous and the votes of the tribunal members were equally divided, the power conferred on the presiding member of the tribunal to provide the casting vote was not to be exercised irrespective of the nature and extent of the disagreement between the tribunal members. Disagreement as to the applicable law might in general justify the exercise of the casting vote, but not disagreement on fundamental primary factual issues.’
WLR Daily, 25th March 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
R (on the application of Jamar Brown (Jamaica) (Respondent) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant) – Supreme Court
Supreme Court, 4th March 2015
Canadian domestic abuse victim Sandra Sidey can stay in UK – BBC News
‘A Canadian woman who was told she could not stay in Britain after ending her relationship with a violent partner has won indefinite leave to remain.’
BBC News, 23rd March 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
FAS v Bradford Metropolitan District Council and another – WLR Daily
FAS v Bradford Metropolitan District Council and another [2015] EWHC 622 (Fam); [2015] WLR (D) 128
‘It remained the case that the court would rarely make an adoption order when it would confer no benefits upon the child during its childhood but gave it a right of abode for the rest of its life. The proposition to that effect in In re B (A Minor) (Adoption Order: Nationality) [1999] 2 AC 136, 141–142, decided in the context of section 6 of the Adoption Act 1976 and the need to promote and safeguard the welfare of the child “throughout his childhood”, still applied despite the change in the welfare test effected by the Adoption and Children Act 2002, which now provided that the paramount (as opposed to the first) consideration was the child’s welfare “throughout his life”. Thus, where the court was in effect being asked to use adoption to confer citizenship prospectively upon an adult the courts were reluctant to trespass upon the area of the Home Secretary’s authority entrusted to him by Parliament.’
WLR Daily, 13th March 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Regina (Secretary of State for the Home Department) v Special Immigration Appeals Commission – WLR Daily
‘In review proceedings under sections 2C and 2D of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997, challenging specified decisions of the Home Secretary to exclude an individual from the United Kingdom or refuse applications for naturalisation, the Home Secretary was required to disclose to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission and to the special advocates acting in the closed proceedings such material as had been used by the author of any relevant assessment, relied on by the Home Secretary in reaching the decision, to found or justify the facts or conclusions expressed therein; or if subsequently re-analysed, to disclose such material as was considered sufficient to justify those facts and conclusions and which was in existence at the date of decision.’
WLR Daily, 18th March 2015
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
High Court finds Tier 1 Entrepreneur landline requirement irrational – Free Movement
‘The High Court has found part of the Tier 1 Entrepreneur rules to be irrational in the case of R (on the application of Sabir & Ors) & Anor v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 264 (Admin). Despite succeeding on part of the challenge, though, the case ultimately failed because there were other parts of the rules that the claimant has also been refused under and which the claimant failed to convince the judge were unlawful.’
Free Movement, 23rd March 2015
Source: www.freemovement.org.uk
No convictions over 500 black and Asian deaths in custody – The Guardian
‘More than 500 black and ethnic minority individuals have died in suspicious circumstances while in state detention over the past 24 years, but not a single official has been successfully prosecuted, a report examining institutional racism has revealed.’
The Guardian, 21st March 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Modern slavery bill amendment rejected by MPs – The Guardian
‘MPs have rejected an amendment made by the Lords to the modern slavery bill, which would allow migrant workers to change employer.’
The Guardian, 17th March 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Court of Appeal gives further guidance on Article 8 in immigration cases – UK Human Rights Blog
‘These two appeals concern the assessment of article 8 ECHR claims in immigration cases. It is an important addition to the current cases on which rules apply to applications for leave to enter or remain made before the new Immigration Rules came into force on 9 July 2012. In Singh and Khalid, the Court of Appeal clarified the answer to this question and resolved the conflicting Court of Appeal authority in Edgehill v SSHD [2014] EWCA Civ 402 and Haleemudeen v SSHD [2014] EWCA Civ 558. ‘
UK Human Rights Blog, 13th March 2015
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Legal aid, young people and the review that never happened – LegalVoice
‘The Ministry of Justice has in the last few weeks quietly backed down on the promise of a full review on the effects of legal aid cuts on children and young people.’
LegalVoice, 10th March 2015
Source: www.legalvoice.org.uk
Visitor appeal succeeds on human rights grounds – Free Movement
‘In a very welcome determination that comes a mere two years after the abolition of full rights of appeal for visitors but in the middle of the scything of full rights of appeal for everyone else, President McCloskey has turned his attention to the question of the relevance of compliance with the Immigration Rules to a human rights appeal. The answer is that where a person meets the terms of the Immigration Rules, their appeal will normally fall to be allowed on human rights grounds, assuming that human rights are engaged in some way in the first place.’
Free Movement, 10th March 2015
Source: www.freemovement.org.uk
Number of judicial review applications falls from 15,600 to 4,000 – Litigation Futures
‘The number of judicial review applications lodged at the High Court fell from 15,600 to just 4,062 last year – caused mainly, but not entirely by the transfer of immigration and asylum cases to the Upper Tribunal.’
Litigation Futures, 10th March 2015
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Changes to asylum process and procedure – Free Movement
‘The circumstances in which an asylum claim may be treated as abandoned by an applicant have been extended with effect from 27 February 2015.’
Free Movement, 5th March 2015
Source: www.freemovement.org.uk
