‘Secretary of State for the Home Department v Okafor [2024] EWCA Civ 23 (23 January 2024). The Court of Appeal has held that UT Judge Grubb’s decision to allow the appeal of Mr Okafor, a Nigerian citizen against the refusal of his leave to enter the UK under the EU Settlement Scheme, notwithstanding his previous conviction for serious drug offences and subsequent related disclosure failures when applying for leave to enter, disclosed no error of law that justified or permitted interference. The judge had considered the cumulative effect of all relevant matters and had not erred in concluding that the individual’s overall conduct did not fall within the exception in R v Bouchereau (Case 30-77) [1978] QB 732 such as to justify his exclusion on the basis that it represented a “genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society” under regulation 27(5)(c) of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2016. Moylan, Stuart-Smith and Snowden LJJ dismissed the SSHD’s appeal and upheld UT Judge Grubb’s decision to allow Mr Okafor’s appeal against the cancellation and refusal of his leave to enter the UK. Mr Okafor was married to a Swedish national who had been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK in 2019. He was granted entry clearance under the EUSS in July 2020. On his arrival in the UK in September 2020 with an EUSS family permit, he was refused admission on public policy grounds. His permit was revoked and his leave to enter cancelled under paragraph 321B of the Immigration Rules.’

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EIN Blog, 19th February 2024

Source: www.ein.org.uk