Last week the Children’s Commissioner for England released a study into the impact of the Coalition Government’s new family immigration rules, introduced in 2012. The
R (on the application of GB by litigation friend, Francesco Jeff) v Oxfordshire County Council (age dispute- relevance of documents) IJR [2015] UKUT 429 (IAC) is an interesting and successful
The High Court has overturned the refusal on character grounds by the Home Office of a British citizenship application by a migrant child. Karon Monaghan
Anyone working with child asylum seekers — lawyers, civil servants, judges — should read UNHCR’s new publication The Heart of the Matter: Assessing Credibility when Children
The Government is closing its ears to the legal community’s demands for access to justice for all. The question is can they do the same
The Court of Appeal has finally grappled with the question of how to apply the best interests of children in an immigration context and given
In the past eighteen months Migrant Legal Project (MLP) has represented a number of Vietnamese minors on remand or serving Detention and Training Orders at
Child abduction is a criminal offence. It requires covert departure from the UK to another country, and from the abductor’s point of view preferably one
The Administrative Court declared that a policy which does not give effect to section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 is not
Fresh off the press is the Government’s Statement of Intent: Family Migration which proposes not just to change but to direct the way in which
The UK Border Agency will start x-raying children again from 29 March 2012 in order to determine their age. This practice is highly controversial. The
The hotly anticipated (er, by EU law geeks and the parties mainly) judgment in McCarthy v United Kingdom (Case C-434/09) is now out. The appeal was
A slightly belated post to highlight another important decision of the Court of Appeal that will have relevance to both immigration and family law practitioners.
The host of the UK Human Rights Blog, 1 Crown Office Row, is a chambers that claims “23 Attorney-General’s Panel counsel in 2010”. Sadly, the
The routine detention of immigrant children by the last Government was a disgrace. Claimed changes to detention policy by the current incumbents and the recent
A new previously undisclosed UKBA policy on children has come to light, brought to you courtesy of the Freedom of Information Act and What Do
Just a quick warning to practitioners. There have been a small number of examples recently of UKBA granting five years’ status to children recognised as
Two more things on this topic. One, I’ve belatedly discovered that UKBA released a draft version of the research report covered previously on this blog.
Back to this old chestnut. I’ve been doing a bit more work on the subject and thought I’d share a minor revelation I had while
I’ve created a new category on the visa age to keep track of the different posts I’ve written on this subject over the last couple
Courtesy of the Freedom of Information Act, I can exclusively report (I’ve never written that before!) that the Home Office has finally released the full
I noticed in the policy feed in the left panel on this blog that there was an item about the International Association of Refugee Law
Last week the Children’s Commissioner for England released a study into the impact of the Coalition Government’s new family immigration rules, introduced in 2012. The report is an emotionally difficult read with some heart breaking quotes but unfortunately I’m not sure that those who should read it will read it;...
R (on the application of GB by litigation friend, Francesco Jeff) v Oxfordshire County Council (age dispute- relevance of documents) IJR [2015] UKUT 429 (IAC) is an interesting and successful judicial review challenge to an age assessment. My colleague Shu Shin Luh was Counsel, instructed by Scott-Moncrieff & Associates. The...
The High Court has overturned the refusal on character grounds by the Home Office of a British citizenship application by a migrant child. Karon Monaghan QC sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court held that the Secretary of State had acted unlawfully in fettering her discretion by applying...
Anyone working with child asylum seekers — lawyers, civil servants, judges — should read UNHCR’s new publication The Heart of the Matter: Assessing Credibility when Children Apply for Asylum in the European Union. It came out a couple of weeks ago but looking for it just now to update the...
The Government is closing its ears to the legal community’s demands for access to justice for all. The question is can they do the same when the call for change comes directly from young people? Published on the eve of International Human Rights Day, and just two weeks after the...
The Court of Appeal has finally grappled with the question of how to apply the best interests of children in an immigration context and given detailed guidance on how judges should approach the exercise. The judgment, in the case of EV (Philippines) & Ors v Secretary of State for the...
In the past eighteen months Migrant Legal Project (MLP) has represented a number of Vietnamese minors on remand or serving Detention and Training Orders at Young Offender Institutes. All had been picked up for criminal offences relating to cannabis cultivation. Forced labour for cannabis cultivation is the most common form...
Child abduction is a criminal offence. It requires covert departure from the UK to another country, and from the abductor’s point of view preferably one that is not in Europe, not a signatory to the Hague Convention and that does not have a bilateral agreement with the UK. The incredibly...
The Administrative Court declared that a policy which does not give effect to section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 is not lawful. The excellent Amanda Weston of Tooks Chambers for the Claimants and Joanne Rothwell of No 5 Chambers for the intervener, Coram Children’s Legal Centre...
Fresh off the press is the Government’s Statement of Intent: Family Migration which proposes not just to change but to direct the way in which the UKBA and Courts decide Article 8 cases. FM has recently discussed whether it is legally permissible to do this but, for the time being...
The UK Border Agency will start x-raying children again from 29 March 2012 in order to determine their age. This practice is highly controversial. The letter announcing the resumption of this procedure can be found here. This brings to mind another example of the application of false quasi-scientific ‘certainty’ to...
The hotly anticipated (er, by EU law geeks and the parties mainly) judgment in McCarthy v United Kingdom (Case C-434/09) is now out. The appeal was dismissed: dual nationals living in a country of their nationality who have never exercised free movement rights cannot rely on the Citizens’ Directive (2004/38)...
A slightly belated post to highlight another important decision of the Court of Appeal that will have relevance to both immigration and family law practitioners. R (FZ) v London Borough of Croydon [2011] EWCA Civ 59 concerns age dispute assessments and has set further guidance on a) how procedurally speaking...
The host of the UK Human Rights Blog, 1 Crown Office Row, is a chambers that claims “23 Attorney-General’s Panel counsel in 2010”. Sadly, the 2nd February article Analysis: Children’s “best interests” and the problem of balance is a rather negative and sadly dismissive perspective on the subject of children’s...
The routine detention of immigrant children by the last Government was a disgrace. Claimed changes to detention policy by the current incumbents and the recent case of R (on the application of Suppiah) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWHC 2 (Admin) (11 January 2011) reveal just...
A new previously undisclosed UKBA policy on children has come to light, brought to you courtesy of the Freedom of Information Act and What Do They Know? The policy is entitled Children and Family Process Instruction and specifically relates to the Criminal Casework Directorate and deportation cases. However, it clearly...
Just a quick warning to practitioners. There have been a small number of examples recently of UKBA granting five years’ status to children recognised as refugees on the basis of their membership of a particular social group based on their age, but in the letter accompanying the status papers warning...
Two more things on this topic. One, I’ve belatedly discovered that UKBA released a draft version of the research report covered previously on this blog. The final version is in fact a more polished piece of work. One can only assume that UKBA deliberately released the less polished version in...
Back to this old chestnut. I’ve been doing a bit more work on the subject and thought I’d share a minor revelation I had while writing an article for one of the immigration law journals. I’ve also learned that there is a judicial review application on this to be heard...
I’ve created a new category on the visa age to keep track of the different posts I’ve written on this subject over the last couple of years. The Home Office have provided further reasons for rejecting the research that found that increasing the spouse visa age would be harmful to...
Courtesy of the Freedom of Information Act, I can exclusively report (I’ve never written that before!) that the Home Office has finally released the full research report it commissioned into the issue of forced marriages and the spouse visa age. I have previously posted on the research summary that had...
I noticed in the policy feed in the left panel on this blog that there was an item about the International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ). I clicked through and found some interesting papers have just been posted on their website from a conference in January 2009. I don’t...
