Best interests of children in immigration cases – Free Movement

Posted May 15th, 2015 in children, detention, immigration, news by tracey

‘Those working with migrant children have known this all along, but in March we had some official confirmation from a Parliamentary committee: the situation of migrant children in the UK is getting worse, not better.’

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Free Movement, 14th May 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Lithuanian MPs petition Lords Speaker over child custody case – The Guardian

‘A delegation of Lithuanian MPs has written to the House of Lords complaining about the removal of a 12-year-old girl from her mother, alleging that she is being deprived of her cultural inheritance. The letter, sent to the Speaker of the House of Lords, Lady D’Souza, is the second high-profile intervention by a Baltic state in UK care proceedings this year and reflects a growing rift between EU states over practices in custody proceedings.’

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The Guardian, 12th May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Regina (Agyarko) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (Evans) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (Ikuga) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

Posted May 12th, 2015 in appeals, families, human rights, immigration, law reports, regulations by tracey

Regina (Agyarko) v Secretary of State for the Home Departmen; Regina (Evans) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; Regina (Ikuga) v Secretary of State for the Home Department: [2015] EWCA Civ 440; [2015] WLR (D) 205

‘Where a party who had overstayed unlawfully and married or formed a relationship with a British citizen sought leave to remain, the “insurmountable obstacles” test as to return under the Immigration Rules was a stringent test and more demanding than a mere test of whether it would be reasonable to expect a couple to continue their family life outside the United Kingdom, although the test was also to be interpreted in a sensible and practical rather than a purely literal way.’

WLR Daily, 6th May 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Home secretary hardens refusal to accept EU resettlement programme – The Guardian

Posted May 12th, 2015 in EC law, immigration, news, quotas, refugees by tracey

‘The home secretary, Theresa May, has hardened Britain’s refusal to accept a mandatory European Union refugee quota system being put forward in Brussels this week in response to the Mediterranean migrant boat crisis.’

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The Guardian, 11th May 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

SS (Congo) and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department – WLR Daily

SS (Congo) and others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 387; [2015] WLR (D) 199

‘Where an application was made by a person for leave to enter the United Kingdom to join a spouse or family member who was a British citizen or refugee already residing there, but the application did not meet the minimum income or evidence of income requirements under the Immigration Rules for an application for leave to enter, compelling circumstances had to be shown to exist to justify the granting by the Secretary of State under her residual discretion of leave to enter outside the Immigration Rules on the grounds that refusal of entry would disproportionately interfere with the applicant’s article 8 Convention right to respect for family life.’

WLR Daily, 23rd April 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Conservative manifesto commitments on immigration, the EU and human rights – Free Movement

‘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 for the next five years. Meanwhile, the disaffected UKIP vote wounded Labour, not the Conservatives, piling pressure on the next Labour leader to address UKIP concerns more directly than Ed Miliband. What does all this mean for immigration law over the next five years?’

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Free Movement, 8th May 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

What amounts to a “human rights claim” generating a new right of appeal? – Free Movement

Posted April 30th, 2015 in appeals, human rights, immigration, interpretation, news, tribunals by sally

‘Rights of appeal under the Immigration Act 2014 are only available in refugee cases and if ‘the Secretary of State has decided to refuse a human rights claim made by [the person]’ (amended section 82 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002). This will clearly require a human rights claim to have been made in the first place as well as requiring a refusal of that claim. But what constitutes a human right claim and a decision by the Secretary of State?’

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Free Movement, 29th April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Foreign criminal can stay in Britain because he is an alcoholic – Daily Telegraph

Posted April 28th, 2015 in alcoholism, deportation, human rights, immigration, news, recidivists, tribunals by sally

‘A persistent offender from Libya cannot be deported because he would face severe punishment for drinking in his homeland, immigration court rules.’

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Daily Telegraph, 27th April 2015

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

UK rule change dilemma for Eritreans – BBC News

Posted April 24th, 2015 in asylum, immigration, news, refugees by sally

‘The number of Eritrean refugees arriving in the UK doubled last year to become the highest total from any single country. But could new Home Office guidance mean many others are refused asylum?’

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BBC News, 24th April 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Can you make a new application while awaiting outcome of another application or appeal? – Free Movement

Posted April 23rd, 2015 in appeals, immigration, news, tribunals by sally

‘The word “hopeless” appears five times in the determination of R (on the application of Rashid) v Secretary of State for the Home Department IJR [2015] UKUT 190 (IAC). While the judge remains fairly cool she was clearly irritated with Counsel. Much of the case is devoted to salvaging some sense from the proliferating grounds or traversing territory that is already well known, but there is something new to take away. New to me, at any rate.’

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Free Movement, 23rd April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Mind the gap: immigration rules and human rights are not coterminous – Free Movement

Posted April 22nd, 2015 in human rights, immigration, news, personal injuries, tribunals, visas by sally

‘In a useful case the Upper Tribunal addresses one of the “mind the gap” differences between the Immigration Rules and the requirements of human rights law. There is a growing body of case law that recognises that the two bodies of law are not, contrary to the Home Office position, coterminous. The latest is R (on the application of Chen) v Secretary of State for the Home Department) (Appendix FM – Chikwamba – temporary separation – proportionality) IJR [2015] UKUT 189 (IAC) on, you guessed it, the House of Lords case of Chikwamba and the proportionality of having to travel abroad in order to apply from abroad.’

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Free Movement, 22nd April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Pham (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) – Supreme Court

Pham (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent) [2015] UKSC 19 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 25th March 2015

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

Home Office confirms that EEA(FM) application form is not mandatory – Free Movement

‘In a useful policy document explaining internal processes within the UK Visas and Immigration department of the Home Office, it is confirmed that applicants for EU free movement documents such as residence certificates, residence cards and family permits do NOT have to use the forms provided by the Home Office.’

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Free Movement, 9th April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

What is a “reasonable period” for immigration detention? – Free Movement

Posted April 10th, 2015 in deportation, detention, immigration, news by tracey

‘In a short but powerful judgment the Court of Appeal has clarified the approach to continued detention on the basis that removal can be effected within a reasonable time. The decision is also important for the analysis of case law concerning detention where the prospects of effecting return depend upon changing circumstances in the proposed destination country.’

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Free Movement, 10th April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

The Round-up: Black Spiders and Superhero Jurisdictions – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted April 10th, 2015 in asylum, citizenship, homosexuality, immigration, mental health, news by tracey

‘Hannah Lynes brings us the latest edition of the Human Rights Round-up.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 7th April 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Pham v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Open Society Justice Initiative intervening) – WLR Daily

Pham v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Open Society Justice Initiative intervening) [2015] UKSC 19; [2015] WLR (D) 166

‘The question whether a person was not considered as a national by a state under the operation of its law, with the effect that he would be stateless if deprived of British citizenship, was not necessarily to be decided solely by reference to the text of the nationality legislation of the state in question, and reference might also be made to the practice of the government, even if not subject to effective challenge in the courts.’

WLR Daily, 25th March 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Nigerian gay rights activist has her High Court asylum bid rejected – because judge doesn’t believe she is lesbian – The Independent

‘A Nigerian gays right activist who fears imprisonment and death because of her sexuality has had her case for asylum rejected by the High Court – after a judge ruled that she was pretending to be lesbian.

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The Independent, 3rd April 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Court has no “superhero” jurisdiction says Home Office in unlawful detention case – Free Movement

Posted April 2nd, 2015 in detention, expert witnesses, immigration, mental health, news by sally

‘In the case of Xue v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 825 (Admin) the Home Office claimed that the court had no “superhero” jurisdiction and could not or should interfere with the right of the Secretary of State indefinitely to detain a foreign national. Happily for the woman concerned, who was detained for two years at the Yarl’s Wood detention camp before being released and who during that time underwent a catastrophic decline in mental and physical health, Mrs Justice Laing disagreed. A finding of unlawful detention was made and some very limited damages were awarded covering only the final month of her detention.’

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Free Movement, 2nd April 2015

Source: www.freemovement.org.uk

Yarl’s Wood migrant ‘can sue government over prescribed drug’ – BBC News

‘A migrant who claims her psychosis was triggered by medication given to her at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre is to be allowed to sue the government.’

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BBC News, 1st April 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Stranded Spouses and Immigration Control – Family Law Week

‘Sulema Jahangir, solicitor with Dawson Cornwell, explains the plight of wives and mothers who are stranded in foreign countries, often separated from their children, and unable to return to England because of immigration restrictions.’

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Family Law Week, 31st March 2015

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk