Regina (MA and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted June 10th, 2013 in asylum, children, EC law, immigration, law reports by sally

Regina (MA and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Case C-648/11); [2013] WLR (D) 217

“On the proper interpretation of the second paragraph of article 6 of Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003, where an unaccompanied minor, who had no family member within the European Union, had made applications for asylum in more than one member state, the member state responsible for examining that application was that in which the minor was present at the time, after having lodged an asylum application there.”

WLR Daily, 6th June 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Halaf v Darzhavna agentsia za bezhantsite pri Ministerskia savet – WLR Daily

Posted June 6th, 2013 in asylum, EC law, immigration, law reports, United Nations by sally

Halaf v Darzhavna agentsia za bezhantsite pri Ministerskia savet (Case C-528/11); [2013] WLR (D) 214

“Article 3(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003, establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the member state responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the member states by a third-country national, permitted a member state, which was not indicated as responsible by the criteria in Chapter III of the Regulation, to examine an application for asylum even though no circumstances existed which established the applicability of the humanitarian clause in article 15 of the Regulation. That possibility was not conditional on the member state responsible under those criteria having failed to respond to a request to take back the asylum seeker concerned. The member state in which the asylum seeker was present was not obliged, during the process of determining the member state responsible, to request the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to present its views where it was apparent from the documents of that office that the member state indicated as responsible by the criteria in Chapter III of Regulation No 343/2003 was in breach of the rules of European Union law on asylum.”

WLR Daily, 30th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (EO and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted May 23rd, 2013 in asylum, detention, immigration, law reports, torture by sally

Regina (EO and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWHC 1236 (Admin); [2013] WLR (D) 190

“In deciding when an immigrant into the United Kingdom should not be detained because they had been tortured the definition of torture in the Secretary of State’s detention policy in force before January 2013 was any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, was intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person had committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based upon discrimination of any kind.”

WLR Daily, 17th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Torture victims win test case over detention in UK immigration centres – The Guardian

Posted May 21st, 2013 in asylum, compensation, detention, immigration, news, torture, victims by sally

“The Home Office has been ordered by the high court to pay compensation to four torture survivors who were unlawfully held in British immigration detention centres.”

Full story

The Guardian, 21st May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The meaning of care and attention – NearlyLegal

“SL v Westminster [2013] UKSC 27 is a very important case concerning the meaning of ‘care and attention’ in the context of s.21, National Assitance Act 1948.”

Full story

NearlyLegal, 20th May 2013

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Home Office calls for evidence in Balance of Competences Review – Home Office

Posted May 20th, 2013 in asylum, consultations, freedom of movement, immigration, news by sally

“The government has today launched calls for evidence on the balance of powers between the UK and the European Union on asylum and immigration, and on the Free Movement of Persons.”

Full story

Home Office, 16th May 2013

Source: www.gov.uk/home-office

Detainees win torture claims test case – BBC News

Posted May 20th, 2013 in asylum, compensation, detention, immigration, news, torture by sally

“Hundreds of people who were tortured before seeking asylum in the UK could seek compensation and release from immigration detention.”

Full story

BBC News, 17th May 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Council wrongly classed asylum seeker children as adults – The Guardian

Posted May 17th, 2013 in asylum, children, costs, immigration, local government, London, news by sally

“A London council has had to pay out more than £1m in costs for wrongly assessing asylum seeker children as adults. These wrong decisions have condemned some children to homelessness, prevented them from going to school and led to some being unlawfully held in adult detention centres.”

Full story

The Guardian, 17th May 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Ahmadi v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted May 13th, 2013 in appeals, asylum, immigration, interpretation, law reports by tracey

Ahmadi v Secretary of State for the Home Department: [2013] EWCA Civ 512; [2013] WLR (D) 170

“Where a notice of immigration decision contained combined notice of both a refusal of an application for variation of leave to remain and a decision that the applicant should be removed by way of directions under section 47 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, the removal decision was invalid.”

WLR Daily, 9th May 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

New migrants will have to wait a year for legal aid – The Guardian

Posted April 8th, 2013 in asylum, budgets, custody, immigration, legal aid, news, prisons by sally

“Foreign nationals are to be denied the right to obtain legal aid for civil cases until they have lived in Britain for at least a year, the justice secretary Chris Grayling will announce this week.”

Full story

The Guardian, 7th April 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

‘Gay? Prove it then – have you read any Oscar Wilde?’: Judges accused of asking lesbian asylum seekers inappropriate questions – The Independent

“Have you ever read Oscar Wilde? Do you use sex toys? Why have you not attended a Pride march? These are just some of the questions that have been asked of lesbian asylum seekers in what one academic says shows shocking levels of ignorance and prejudice among tribunal judges.”

Full story

The Independent, 4th April 2013

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Last week not a good one for Theresa May: not just Abu Qatada – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted April 2nd, 2013 in appeals, asylum, deportation, human rights, immigration, news, terrorism by sally

“Hot on the Home Secretary’s loss of the Abu Qatada appeal, a reverse for her in another deportation case about someone whom the Court of Appeal described as ‘an important and significant member of a group of Islamist extremists in the UK,’ and who was said to have links – direct or indirect – with men involved in the failed July 21 2005 bombing plot.”

Full story

UK Human Rights Blog, 31st March 2013

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Iraq ten years on – Garden Court Chambers Blog

Posted March 25th, 2013 in asylum, barristers, immigration, Iraq, news, victims by sally

“Ten years on from the invasion of Iraq by British and American forces, Jo Wilding recalls her work there, and describes how now as an immigration barrister she meets the victims of the conflict as clients seeking asylum in the UK.”

Full story

Garden Court Chambers Blog,

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

Tamil deportations from UK blocked by London High Court – BBC News

Posted February 28th, 2013 in asylum, deportation, news, torture by sally

“The High Court in London has blocked the deportation of a group of failed Tamil asylum seekers scheduled to be sent back to Sri Lanka on Thursday.”

Full story

BBC News, 28th February 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Al-Byati: Iraqi doctor denies tribunal claims – BBC News

Posted February 27th, 2013 in asylum, crimes against humanity, doctors, Iraq, news, torture, tribunals by sally

“An Iraqi doctor has been accused of committing crimes against humanity as part of Saddam Hussein’s regime, a medical tribunal has heard.”

Full story

BBC News, 26th February 2013

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

UKBA backs down over use of force on children and pregnant women – The Guardian

Posted February 25th, 2013 in asylum, children, detention, news, pregnancy by sally

“The government has backed down on the use of force on children and pregnant women it seeks to remove from the UK.”

Full story

The Guardian, 22nd February 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

D and another v Refugee Applications Commissioner (Ireland) and others – WLR Daily

Posted February 4th, 2013 in appeals, asylum, EC law, immigration, law reports by tracey

D and another v Refugee Applications Commissioner (Ireland) and others: (Case C-175/11);   [2013] WLR (D)  39

“Article 23(3) and (4) of Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 2005 on minimum standards on procedures in member states for granting and withdrawing refugee status (OJ 2005 L326, p 13) did not preclude a member state from examining by way of prioritised or accelerated procedure, in compliance with the basic principles and guarantees set out in Chapter II of that Directive, certain categories of asylum applications defined on the basis of the criterion of the nationality or country of origin of the applicant. Article 39 did not preclude national legislation which allowed an applicant for asylum either to lodge an appeal against the decision of the determining authority before a court or tribunal such as the Refugee Appeals Tribunal (Ireland), and to bring an appeal against the decision of that tribunal before a higher court such as the High Court (Ireland), or to contest the validity of that determining authority’s decision before the High Court, the judgments of which might be the subject of an appeal to the Supreme Court (Ireland).”

WLR Daily, 31st January 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Gay asylum seekers feeling increased pressure to prove sexuality, say experts – The Guardian

Posted February 4th, 2013 in asylum, evidence, homosexuality, human rights, immigration, news by tracey

“Gay asylum seekers are increasingly going to extreme lengths to meet immigration officials’ demands that they prove their sexual identity or else be returned to countries where they face persecution.”

Full story

The Guardian, 3rd February 2013

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (Bushara) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted January 23rd, 2013 in asylum, civil justice, human rights, immigration, Italy, law reports by sally

Regina (Bushara) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWHC 3483 (Admin); [2013] WLR (D) 16

“In assessing whether an individual would be at risk on return to a member state, the fact that the receiving state was itself bound by the same Conventions and Community law as the sending state was to be regarded as obviating the risk unless there was a systemic failure in the receiving state. Unless there had been such a failure, the person was adequately protected: he had his rights against the receiving government and, if necessary, the possibility of recourse to the European Court of Human Rights from the receiving country.”

WLR Daily, 16th January 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Abed El Karem El Kott and others v Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal (ENSZ Menekültügyi Főbiztossága intervening) (Case C-364/11) – WLR Daily

Posted December 21st, 2012 in asylum, EC law, law reports, refugees, United Nations by tracey

Abed El Karem El Kott and others v Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal (ENSZ Menekültügyi Főbiztossága intervening): (Case C-364/11); [2012] WLR (D) 390

“On its proper interpretation, article 12(1)(a) of Council Directive 2004/83/EC of 29 April 2004 on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals or stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise needed international protection, and the content of the protection granted, the cessation of protection or assistance from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the High Commission for Refugees ‘for any reason’ included the situation in which a person who, after actually availing himself of such protection or assistance, had ceased to receive it for a reason beyond his control and independent of his volition. Where the competent authorities of the member state responsible for examining the application for asylum established that the condition relating to the cessation of the protection or assistance provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was satisfied, the fact that that person was ipso facto ‘entitled to the benefits of [the] Directive’ meant that that member state must recognise him as a refugee within the meaning of article 2(c) of the Directive and that person must automatically be granted refugee status, provided always that he was not caught by article 12(1)(b) or (2) and (3) of the Directive.”

Source: www.iclr.co.uk