‘The UK government has urged the country to maintain “social distancing” as the coronavirus death toll rises. How does this work for the more than 83,000 people in Britain’s often overcrowded prisons?’
Each Other, 19th March 2020
Source: eachother.org.uk
‘Judges have dismissed a legal challenge over an alleged systemic failure by a London council to provide adequate secure accommodation for children at risk of being detained in police cells in circumstances where normal local authority accommodation would be unsuitable to meet the risks they pose to the general public.’
Local Government Lawyer, 17th March 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘At the time of this article, according to officials, the criminal justice system continues to operate “as normal”. Whilst it is to be expected that non-essential trials will likely be delayed, certain components of the justice system cannot simply be deferred – crime happens no less in times of pandemic. Police custody is one such area where the wheels will need to continue to turn regardless of COVID-19.’
Law Society's Gazette, 18th March 2020
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Following an Article 2 inquest into the tragic death of Prince Fosu, a vulnerable foreign national detained in an immigration removal centre, a jury has found that Mr Fosu’s death was avoidable and was caused by a number of gross failures on the part of the Home Office and various agencies to provide appropriate care in immigration detention at Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 16th March 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘R (on the application of Jalloh (formerly Jollah)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 4.In a pithy parting shot to the Home Secretary, Lady Hale has given the unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court on the question of whether a person subject to a home curfew under immigration powers had been falsely imprisoned at common law and whether that concept should now be aligned with the concept of deprivation of liberty in article 5 of the ECHR. The Court decided the case against the defendant, as did every court below (the Blog covered the Court of Appeal’s decision here). The defendant had been required to pay the claimant £4,000.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 10th March 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘Inspectors have discovered high levels of self-harm, violence and use of force at an immigration detention centre in Lincolnshire where one detainee had been held for more than two years.’
The Guardian, 10th March 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
A High Court judge has strongly criticised Slater & Gordon (S&G) for a “wholly unacceptable” failure to give him a crucial letter when applying for an urgent injunction in a police misconduct case.
Legal Futures, 4th March 2020
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The appellant, DN, is a Rwandan national who was granted refugee status in the UK pursuant to the 1951 Refugee Convention. DN was subsequently convicted of a number of offences, the most serious of which occurred when he pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful entry of a non-EEA national in the UK. The Secretary of State for the Home Department used the powers under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 to order the deportation of DN. DN’s attempt to assist unlawful immigration to a member state country was a serious offence by way of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Specification of Particularly Serious Crimes) Order 2004. The Secretary of State ordered DN’s deportation and detention pending deportation.’
UKSC Blog, 26th February 2020
Source: ukscblog.com
‘Neglect and a series of gross failures by the Home Office and other agencies contributed to the death of a vulnerable Ghanaian man from hypothermia, dehydration and malnutrition, an inquest jury has found.’
The Guardian, 2nd March 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘In R (MR (Pakistan)) v Secretary of State for Justice & Others, the High Court rejected a claim that the inequality in procedural protections available to vulnerable immigration detainees, which depend significantly on the venue of detention, is irrational. The nature of the decision, which fails to properly evaluate the reasons advanced for the difference, highlights two problems caused by the Supreme Court’s refusal to accept consistency as a ground of review in R (Gallaher Group Ltd) v The Competition and Markets Authority. Firstly, the lack of a clear framework for how irrationality should be applied creates a risk that judges accept tangential or irrelevant justifications for inconsistency. Secondly, by keeping consistency within the irrationality framework without any articulation of how separation of powers concerns fluctuate in different contexts, there is a risk of overly deferential decisions. In MR (Pakistan) both of these risks materialised with seriously deleterious consequences for immigration detainees held in prisons.’
UK Constitutional Law Association, 24th February 2020
Source: ukconstitutionallaw.org
‘The Home Office has received heavy criticism in recent weeks after it emerged people held in immigration detention centres were struggling to access mobile phone reception and could not reach lawyers to challenge their imminent deportation.’
Each Other, 18th February 2020
Source: eachother.org.uk
‘The Home Office has agreed to release information about whether it has deported immigration detainees who did not have access to working phones to contact their lawyers.’
The Guardian, 18th February 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘One can appreciate the desire to bypass the cumbersome mechanics of Parliament to save the country from a potentially deadly virus. But in the fullness of time, the resulting Regulations might well be held up as an excellent advertisement for Parliamentary scrutiny.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 13th February 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘This appeal was about the law on damages for false imprisonment. It required the Supreme Court to consider the meaning of imprisonment at common law and whether this should be aligned with the concept of deprivation of liberty under the European Convention on Human Rights.’
UKSC Blog, 12th February 2020
Source: ukscblog.com
‘A Nigerian rape survivor who was under constant supervision at an immigration detention centre because she was at high risk of self-harm has been cleared of assaulting four guards who restrained her and tried to force her on to a charter flight.’
The Guardian, 11th February 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘A Home Office flight deporting convicted offenders to Jamaica has left the UK, despite a last-minute legal challenge.’
BBC News, 11th February 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Home Office has been accused of holding immigration detainees effectively incommunicado, with a lack of mobile signal preventing them from contacting lawyers or family, days before a mass deportation flight to Jamaica.’
The Guardian, 5th February 2020
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘He arrived in the UK nearly a decade ago after an “uncle” – the term he uses for older men of his nationality – helped him escape the violence, labour exploitation and sexual abuse he was subjected to for most of his childhood. He has since been saved from his exploiters, but faced a different challenge – the battle for protection from the Home Office.’
The Independent, 4th February 2020
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘In AC (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 36, the Court of Appeal gave a trenchant warning that once it ceases to be lawful to detain an individual, the ‘grace period’ allowed within which to make arrangements for release can only be a short period. Moreover, the reasons for which any such grace period is required will be be closely scrutinised by the courts.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 4th February 2020
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘In the Winter edition of our Family Under 10’s Newsletter, Simon Wilkinson provides a case update with regards to the Matter of D, Giorgia Sessi studies the guidance published by the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, whilst Charlotte Wilce lays out a case study regarding the role of CAFCASS in relation to non-subject children.’
Parklane Plowden, 7th January 2020
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
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