From its conception in 2007, the Free Movement blog has been about sharing information and ideas. When the blog first went live with an anonymous author and zero readership the ‘About’ page had this to say:

All you need to know about me is that I’m a UK-based immigration lawyer.

This blog is aimed at both lawyers and those with a more personal interest in immigration and asylum. I am aware at the outset that these are two quite different audiences, and it may be that I have to be more focussed in the future.

My intention is that this blog will include a mix of news, immigration law gossip (it’s a small world, appropriately enough), commentary and signposts to events, resources, other websites or developments. I also plan to include some advice and resource pages. The commentary will be written with an agenda: I haven’t got a perfectly formed world view or consistent ideology on the subject of immigration and immigration control, but I do believe in minimum immigration controls and a liberal, progressive approach. One of my hopes for the blog is that it will help me reach a more coherent view.

The purpose of the blog has changed very little in the intervening five years, even though much else has changed. The blog now gets over 60,000 page views per month (it took 18 months to reach the first 60,000!), has reached a grand total of 1,680,000 page views in total and has around 3,000 email, feed and Twitter subscribers who regularly receive updates. Anonymity is long gone, although for reasons of blog history and style Colin has only recently started posting in his own name. The blog now bears the Renaissance Chambers logo because writing material for the blog was becoming too time consuming not to claim some sort of professional credit for that time. Others now contribute content, ideas and debate on the blog, all of which enrich its value and help fulfil its purpose.

The blog constantly evolves, but some of these changes are not always readily apparent. Recent alterations include, in no particular order:

Useful Zambrano posts have been assigned their own category of EU citizenship for easy reference

On the subject of categories, these are a useful way of searching for Free Movement blog content by theme. See the drop down menu for ‘blog topics’ on the far right hand sidebar.

The Closet section has been created and updated with a handful of resources including a list of CJEU residence cases and appeals law cases. The lawyer’s links page of links to practice directions, procedure rules, case law databases, court lists and similar has also been updated. More resources will follow in time.

A Free Movement bookshop for recommended practitioner texts has been created.

The About page has been updated, including contributor guidelines, subscription options, and a cookie policy (bloody EU laws…)

We hope you continue to find the blog helpful. We will continue posting material we think is helpful and to try and improve the service the blog provides. If you have feedback or suggestions, leave a comment or email the editor.