Key legislation Flashcards
Immigration Act 1971
Continues to provide the framework of immigration control
All persons without a right of abode are subject to immigration control (s1)
The Secretary of State must lay down the rules to be followed (s1(4))
Defines who has a right of abode (amended by other legislation) (s2)
Provides that entry/stay is regulated by the grant of leave to enter or remain for either a limited or indefinite period (s3), and that leave continues whilst an application is awaiting decision (s3C)
Provides for regulation and control of entry into and stay in the UK by the Secretary of State through powers (delegated to Entry Clearance Officers and Immigration Officers and under-secretaries at the Home Office) to grant (s4):
Entry clearance
Leave to enter
Leave to remain/further leave to remain
Make a decision to remove
Make a decision to deport
Make a decision to revoke a deportation order
Provides for when a person may become liable for deportation (s3(5))
Gives the power to remove only to certain countries or territories – specified in paragraph 8 of Schedule 2
Defines various terms including illegal entrant (s33)
Provides for the power to examine passengers and detain passengers (Schedule 2)
Provides for the grant of bail (Schedule 2)
British Nationality Act 1981
Redefined nationality and citizenship and limited ‘right of abode’ to newly created ‘British citizens’ (replacing Citizens of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth with six new categories of nationality and citizenship). While the Act may at first glance appear indecipherable, patience will be rewarded:
s1 defines acquisition by birth or adoption
s2 defines acquisition by descent
s3 sets out the provisions for the registration of minors born outside the UK
s6 and Schedule 1 set out the criteria for acquisition by naturalisation
s4 to s4C sets out other registration provisions
s11 defines who acquired citizenship on commencement of the Act
s14 defines a ‘British citizen by descent’ and, in effect, also ‘otherwise than by descent’. The distinction is important, as will be seen in Chapter 12: British Nationality Law.
s40 deprivation of citizenship
Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997
Created SIAC for security-sensitive appeals
Human Rights Act 1998
Incorporates the European Convention of Human Rights into UK
Provides for a domestic remedy (rather than having to go to the court in Strasbourg) for those asserting that a public official has breached their human rights protected under the ECHR
Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
Largely superseded, but still relevant in certain important respects:
amends IA 1971 to provide for entry clearance to have effect as leave to enter (s3)
provides powers of administrative removal for persons (s10)
provides for the registration of immigration advisors through the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC), including the introduction of related criminal offences and enforcement powers
provides for the support and dispersal of asylum seekers
provides for suspicious marriages to be reported by registrars
creates new offences relating to facilitating/harbouring illegal entrants and increases powers of arrest and power to search premises and persons
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
sets out rights of appeal to the immigration tribunal
provides for certain asylum and human rights claims to be certified as clearly unfounded. The right to challenge such decisions is to be exercised from abroad only (commonly referred to as non-suspensive appeals because the removal process is not suspended to allow the appeal to take place) (s94)
provides for establishment of accommodation centres and removal centres (ss16-42)
allows for revocation of indefinite leave to remain (s76)
grounds of appeal (s84)
limitations on appeal rights (ss88-99)
gives domestic life to Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention (s72)
provisions for juxtaposed controls with EEA countries
a new Part 5, commencing on 28 July 2014, provides certain considerations as to the public interest that judges must have regard to when assessing an Article 8 claim
The appeals provisions have been heavily amended, leaving only those who have made asylum or human rights claims with a right of appeal.
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) Act 2004
Current provisions include:
immigration criminal offences aimed particularly at asylum seekers, including arriving without an immigration document (s2), not co-operating with removal (s35) and trafficking (s4)
statutory negative presumptions about the assessment of credibility in asylum cases (s8)
a regime for returning asylum seekers to safe third countries
various regulation-making powers, including to partially designate countries or groups for ‘non-suspensive’ appeals
powers for electronic monitoring, or ‘tagging’, as a form of reporting restriction for those on immigration bail
Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006
The major change introduced in this legislation was the abolition of appeal rights against entry clearance decisions for students and employment categories, which came into effect under the Points Based System (s4). Most other changes were relatively minor:
introduces a new regime of civil penalty notices and fines for employers who employ immigrants without permission to work as well as a new criminal offence to replace s8 1996 Act (s15 to 26)
various provisions relating to information sharing and other enforcement powers (s27 to 42)
removes registration as a British citizen as of right by introducing a good character requirement (s58)
UK Borders Act 2007
The changes instituted under the Act generally have little impact on day to day casework:
the exception to this are the provisions on automatic deportations, subject to a human rights exemption and other exemptions
provision for biometric immigration documents
provision for imposing conditions on reporting and residence on those granted limited leave
enhanced powers of detention for Immigration Officers
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
Creates a unified tribunal structure consisting of the First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal. Each is divided into different speciality ‘chambers’.
Immigration appeals were belatedly merged into the unified tribunal structure as of 2010 by the 2009 Act (below). An Immigration and Asylum Chamber was created in both the First-tier and Upper Tribunals.
The right of appeal to the Court of Appeal is restricted by a second appeals test
Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
Sections 130-137 of this Act provide for a special immigration status for individuals who cannot be removed to their country of origin because of human rights concerns, but who have committed crimes falling under s72 NIAA 2002 or are excluded from refugee status by virtue of Article 1F of the Refugee Convention. Spouses, civil partners and children may also be subjected to the same status. The status can prohibit the person from working, subject them to heavy reporting and residence conditions and leaves them on a reduced welfare support package. It has not been introduced yet.
Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009
New citizenship provisions were enacted, but the then coalition government stated that these provisions will never be commenced.
Abolished Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and merged immigration adjudication into the unified tribunal structure.
Power to transfer fresh claim judicial reviews to the Upper Tribunal (a process which reached its culmination on 1 November 2013 from when almost all immigration JRs are heard in the Upper Tribunal)
Powers to restrict what studies a person can undertake in the UK
Most importantly, a new duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children: section 55
Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012
Largely removes immigration matters from funding under legal aid
Excludes migrants from the rehabilitation-of-offenders provisions
Crime and Courts Act 2013
Allows for decisions to refuse an extension and to remove to be made at the same time
Removes right of appeal for family visitors
Restricts in-country appeal rights for those facing deportation on national security grounds
Immigration Act 2014
Streamlines the decision-making process for removing migrants who do not have permission to be in the UK
Restricts appeal rights to those who have made asylum or human rights claims
The ‘hostile environment’ for irregular migrants. Provisions to prevent private landlords, banks and the DVLA providing their services to irregular migrants
Restrictions on bail applications
Rules for registering marriages
