Interesting from the BBC: Converts to Christianity are being unfairly treated by the asylum system, according to a report by a parliamentary group. But how do you prove someone is Christian? The full report by the All Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief is available here:...
The relationship between the ECHR and the EU By Nuala Mole, Senior Lawyer, The AIRE Centre, 9 June 2016 Introduction The European Union (EU) is a Union of 28 states. The Council of Europe is an intergovernmental organisation with 47 Member States, 28 of whom are also Member States of...
Very useful update from my colleague Shu Shin Luh: R (Hossain and Ors) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 1331 (Admin) Mr Justice Cranston this week handed down judgment in Hossain & others v SSHD, the test case (with four representative claimants) on the lawfulness of...
The implications for Scotland of a vote in the EU referendum for the UK to leave the EU By Sarah Craig, Maria Fletcher and Nina Miller-Westoby, School of Law, University of Glasgow, 1 June 2016 Introduction One view of the relevant EU and UK law suggests that the implications for...
The EU’s Borders: Schengen, Frontex and the UK By Bernard Ryan, Professor of Law, University of Leicester, 19 May 2016 Introduction This paper is concerned with the relationship of the UK to the framework of immigration control at EU borders. That framework has two main elements: the absence of immigration...
The UK Referendum on the EU and the Common European Asylum System By Elspeth Guild, Partner, Kingsley Napley, 29 April 2016 Introduction The issues of refugees’ arrival, reception and protection have been particularly evident in the political debate in the UK and elsewhere in the EU over the past six...
Get a quicker decision on your visa application if you’ve already applied by post: what forms you need, the cost and how long it takes There are significant caveats. It costs an additional £400 on top of the normal application fee. The service is only available for applications on these...
Interesting from The Register. The Home Office seems to have commissioned a massive restructuring of its databases to enable simple tracking and search for officials, police and immigration officers. At least it consulted… The public? Parliament? No one? WHAT! Source: UK Home Office is creating mega database by stitching together...
Gedi, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 409 (17 May 2016) is a case where the Home Office took it into their own hands to impose curfew restrictions over and above bail conditions those imposed by the First Tier Tribunal, as...
The implications of UK withdrawal for immigration policy and nationality law: Irish aspects By Bernard Ryan, Professor of Law, University of Leicester, 18 May 2016 Introduction This paper addresses the Irish dimensions to a UK decision to withdraw from the EU, in the immigration and nationality policy spheres. It addresses...
Free Movement and Criminal Law By Valsamis Mitsilegas, Queen Mary University of London 18 May 2016 Introduction One of the claims frequently made by critics of freedom of movement is that free movement of EU citizens is unlimited, even when these citizens have committed criminal offences. The purpose of this...
EU Citizens’ Access to Welfare Benefits: Past, Present and Future By Desmond Rutledge, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers 13 May 2016 Introduction Since the UK joined what is now called the European Union (EU), migrant workers, who are nationals of other EU member states, and their family members, have enjoyed extensive...
EU free movement in practice at home and abroad By Matthew Evans, Director, The AIRE Centre (Advice on Individual Rights in Europe), 10 May 2016 Introduction At its core the EU project remains a common or single market, involving reciprocal commitments so that not only products (goods and services) but...
Free movement of persons and the single market By Catherine Barnard, Trinity College, Cambridge 10 May 2016; Case studies 1, 3 and 4 provided by Laura Devine Solicitors Introduction This note considers the centrality of migration to the EU’s single market. It also considers the relevant EU Treaty provisions and...
Sovereignty and legitimacy: the UK and the EU By Adrian Berry, barrister, Garden Court Chambers and Rowena Moffatt, barrister, Doughty Street Chambers, 29 April 2016 Introduction The relationship between the UK and the EU raises issues about the UK as a sovereign power, and as to the legitimacy of the...
The extension application of a Tier 2 skilled worker whose annual salary was found to be £22.15 per year short of the specified requirement was refused. The First-tier and Upper Tribunal allowed her appeal on the basis that the shortfall was so small it should be disregarded under the de...
The Immigration Act 2014 removed rights of appeal to an independent judge against refusal of many immigration decisions, replacing appeals with a system of internal review within the Home Office. It is called Administrative Review. The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, David Bolt, has just published a report into how...
These Regulations bring into force specified provisions of the Immigration Act 2016. Regulation 2 lists the provisions which come into force on 31st May 2016 and regulation 3 lists the provisions which come into force on 12th July 2016. The new criminal offence of illegal working comes into force on...
In the ensuing dialogue, Committee Experts expressed concern about the possible repeal of the 1998 Human Rights Act as it was feared that the new Bill of Rights would weaken the protection of children’s rights. Experts were very worried about the increase in child poverty, which was up two per...
In the first judgment of its kind since the suspension of the Detained Fast Track on 2 July 2015, the High Court struck down the Home Secretary’s refusal and certification of an asylum claim which was made in the structurally unfair and unjust Detained Fast Track (DFT) and ordered the...
Not in the foreseeable future, suggests Jerome Phelps of Detention Action over at openDemocracy. The Home Office had proposed new fast track procedure rules but have been politely rebuffed by the Tribunal Procedure Committee: The political pressure on the TPC must have been intense. Ministers have repeatedly made clear the...
What were Harmondsworth and Colnbrook Detention Centres have been brought under the same management, and are now called Heathrow Immigration Removal Centres. Nonetheless, as the Independent Monitoring Board’s report shows, detention centres by another name still have their same old problems. The Board’s recommendations focus on treatment of vulnerable people,...
The President of the Upper Tribunal, Mr Justice McCloskey, has allowed on human rights grounds the appeal of the mother and brother of a refugee child from Eritrea. The mother and brother were the appellants and the child in the UK was the sponsor. The appellants had fled Eritrea after...
The Court of Appeal has found that the Exceptional Case Funding regime for legal aid is lawful, overturning the decision of Collins J in the High Court ([2015] EWHC Admin 1965). The issues are distinct to R (on the application of Gudanaviciene & Ors) v The Director of Legal Aid...
The challenge by organisation Britcits to the virtual prohibition on the entry of adult dependant relatives introduced in 2012 has been dismissed: R (on the application of Britcits) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 956 (Admin). Despite the disappointing outcome, though, there is a distinct silver...
Upper Tribunal Judge Ockelton has drawn attention to the potential issues surrounding the evisceration of the tribunal’s statutory remit by the Immigration Act 2014 in a new reported decision, Katsonga v Secretary Of State For The Home Department (“Slip Rule” : FtT’s general powers : Zimbabwe) [2016] UKUT 2298 (IAC)....
Interesting and controversial case on X-rays and age assessment from the Court of Appeal: London Borough of Croydon v Y [2016] EWCA Civ 398 (26 April 2016). Essentially, the Court holds that the claimant would have to agree to an age assessment by means of a dental X-ray in order...
A new Detention Services Order 04/2016 about internet access for detainees has just been published. This is the first time the Home Office has set central guidelines on internet access for immigration detainees. The Order makes clear that all detainee internet usage is monitored and centrally recorded. The Order states that detainees...
The issue of costs in immigration cases continues to vex the courts. It is supposed to be unusual for the higher courts to have to deal with costs issues but in recent years we have seen some very low quality and controversial costs decisions at first instance in the Administrative...
