A dispute has arisen between different panels of the Upper Tribunal’s Immigration and Asylum Chamber. The subject is the meaning and interpretation of the words “unduly harsh” at paragraph 399 of the Immigration Rules, which reads: 399. This paragraph applies where paragraph 398 (b) or (c) applies if – (a)...
Desmond Rutledge considers the Advocate General’s Opinion (C-308/14) on the EU Commission’s action against the United Kingdom’s use of the right to reside test. This post was originally published on the Garden Court Chambers Blog. The origins of the Commission’s action against the UK In European Commission v United Kingdom...
Standing at the door to No 10, David Cameron stated that he would form a majority government and implement the Conservative Party manifesto “in full”. The moderating influence of the Liberal Democrats has been extinguished. The nationalist isolationism of the Scots and the SNP renders them irrelevant in UK politics...
In Blakesley v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015] EWCA Civ 141 the Court of Appeal considered whether the UK Government is in breach of its international obligations towards refugees because of the lack of any provision to make back-payments of welfare benefits to those asylum seekers who,...
In January 2014, the Government introduced a number of measures aimed at restricting EEA migrants’ access to income-based JSA. A key change was the introduction of a statutory presumption that entitlement to income-based JSA (‘JSA(IB)’) would be limited to a period of three months (or six months for EEA nationals...
This piece started life as a practice note for welfare benefits cases but the same principles are transferrable to the immigration jurisdiction so we thought it would be helpful to share it here on Free Movement as well. If permission to appeal against a decision of a First-tier Tribunal in...
Personally I managed to get away with only cooking one Christmas dinner this year, which alongside a proper break (other than writing this post) has reduced festive stress levels and helped provide a good end to the year. I’ve settled into Garden Court Chambers in 2014 and have much enjoyed...
Welcome to the November 2014 edition of the Free Movement immigration update podcast. The material for the podcast is drawn from blog posts on Free Movement for the month of November. I start this month by going through some Home Office news and other updates, I move on to 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...
New Social Security Advisory Committee Report voices concerns On 20 November 2014, the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) published its Report on the regulations which remove entitlement to Housing Benefit for certain categories of European Economic Area (EEA) jobseekers. The Committee expresses a number of concerns about the impact of...
When the Grand Chamber handed down its judgment in Dano v Jobcenter Leipzig (C-333/13) on 11 November 2014, it was the subject of much media attention: Germany can deny benefits to jobless EU migrants, court rules (The Guardian), Landmark ECJ ruling boosts David Cameron’s bid to clamp down on EU...
No commentary is really needed, I think. The powerful judgment by Lord Justice Moses finds the residence test ultra vires (beyond the powers granted by Parliament) and unlawfully discriminatory. The judgment includes some choice wording. What follows are the words of the judgment, but with some missed out. You can...
In the case of R (on the application of FI) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 2287 (Admin) the court was asked to review a decision to refuse to register as a British citizen a 14-year-old who had been settled with Indefinite Leave to Enter the...
Page contentsPart 5: OISC schemeSections 68, 69 and 70: immigration and nationality feesSection 71: duty towards childrenPart 7: Administrative mattersSchedules Part 5: OISC scheme Part 5 of the Act makes adjustments to the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC) scheme that will be of little interest to non OISC...
On 19 January 2014, Iain Duncan Smith and Theresa May told the Daily Mail that Britain’s generous welfare system should no longer be a ‘magnet’ for citizens of other EU states and that they would be introducing a number of measures aimed at new migrant jobseekers from the European Economic...
The Department of Work and Pensions has introduced the Minimum Earnings Threshold ‘(MET)’ as part of the decision making process for determining whether EEA nationals who claim income-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA(IB)) have retained the status of a ‘worker’. Here I look at what it is, how it works, its intended...
New rules restricting access to welfare benefits for new EU migrants including a six month statutory presumption for benefits paid to jobseekers. In this post Garden Court Chambers barrister Desmond Rutledge looks at how we got here, what are the new rules and what might follow next.
...It is well known that those who have been granted leave to remain (LTR) in the United Kingdom but who have a ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition attached to their leave (including those who have applied under Appendix FM of the Immigration Rules) would be in breach of that...
The new Immigration Bill (see Ronan’s previous post “Summary of clauses“) is so packed with nastiness that some really unpleasant parts of it – perhaps the whole of it – will make it to the statute book. No mainstream politician with influence will today stand up for the rights of...
In the recent case of Pensionsversicherungsanstalt v Peter Brey [2013] EUECJ C-140/12 (19 September 2013), the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) ruled that welfare benefit legislation which automatically bars benefit to an EEA national from another Member State based on the right to reside requirement is contrary...
Following the All Party Parliamentary Group on Migration’s report published on 10 June 2013 – covered on Free Movement earlier last month – the ‘new’ family migration rules have been debated twice in Parliament. First, within a Westminster Hall debate on 19 June 2013 (Hansard & video footage) and more...
