Illegal Migration Bill — Clause 37 — Suspensive claims: interpretation — 27 Mar 2023 at 22:00

“where there are, in law and in practice-

“decide whether to accept or reject the claim.”

“evidence that there is a real risk”.

“evidence on the balance of probabilities”.

“contain compelling evidence of such ground”

“set out the grounds for appeal”.

“whether to allow or refuse the appeal”.

“there are reasonable grounds to believe that the claim is not bound to fail.”

“there is compelling evidence that”.

“or if the risk of serious and irreversible harm faced by the person is such that the claim ought to be considered despite it having been made after the end of the claim period”.

“unless the Upper Tribunal considers that an oral hearing is necessary to secure that justice is done in the particular case”.

“to ensure compliance with interim measures indicated by the European Court of Human Rights as they relate to the removal of persons from the United Kingdom under this Act.”

“within six months of this Act coming into force, secure a resolution from both Houses of Parliament on a target for the number of people entering the United Kingdom each year over the next three years using safe and legal routes, and further resolutions for future years no later than 18 months before the relevant years begin.”

“securing the resolution mentioned in subsection (1)”.

“is greater or less than 10% of”.

“under section [Safe and legal routes: regulations]”.

“It maximises the protection of human rights without trespassing on parliamentary sovereignty.”

“the remedial action will not retrospectively make unlawful an act which was a lawful act-lawful since sanctioned by statute.”-[Official Report, House of Lords, 3 November 1997; Vol. 582, c. 1229.]

“the importance which the Government attaches to Parliamentary sovereignty”.

“reasonably to be attributed to Parliament”

“the Courts are thus not empowered to construe legislation compatibly with the convention at all costs”

“would amount to an asylum ban-extinguishing the right to seek refugee protection in the United Kingdom for those who arrive irregularly, no matter how…compelling their claim may be”.

“the principle of parliamentary sovereignty has been recognised as fundamental in this country not because the judges invented it but because it has for centuries been accepted as such by judges and others officially concerned in the operation of our constitutional system. The judges did not by themselves establish the principle and they cannot, by themselves, change it.”

“little more than pay lip service”-[Official Report, 13 March 2023; Vol. 729, c. 640]

“Nothing in the Bill commits the Government to opening new safe and legal routes or increasing the numbers.”

“essential that Members of Parliament…prevent legislation that is incompatible with the UK’s international obligations being passed”.

“interim measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights, and their binding nature, are integral to ensuring that member states fully and effectively fulfil their human rights obligations”.

“real risk of serious and irreversible harm”

“New legislation should expressly disapply the operative provisions of the 1998 Act, specifying...section 3 (interpretation of legislation), section 4 (declaration of incompatibility), section 6 (acts of public authorities) and section 10 (power to take remedial action)”.

“Without legislative provision to this effect, it is inevitable that claimants will challenge the Home Secretary’s understanding of the legislation, inviting the courts either to interpret the legislation to read down her duty to remove persons from the UK (or reading in new procedural requirements) or to declare the legislation incompatible with Convention rights and thus authorising ministers to change it by executive order and ensuring that political pressure would be brought to bear to that end.”

“The real vice of the document, therefore consists in its lack of precision. I should be unable to advise with any certainty as to what result would be arrived at in any given case, even if the judges were applying the principles of English law. It completely passes the wit of man to guess what results would be arrived at by a tribunal composed of elected persons who need not even be lawyers, drawn from various European states possessing completely different systems of law, and whose deliberations take place behind closed doors.”

“There is no magical single solution to dealing with irregular migration. Detailed, evidence-driven, fully costed and fully tested policy initiatives are by far most likely to achieve sustainable incremental change that deters journeys such as dangerous Channel crossings.”

“notwithstanding any…decision…of the European Court”.

“the supervisory jurisdiction of the European Court”.

“Binding force and execution of judgments”,

“not to hinder in any way the effective exercise”

“The rise has been exponential, and we think that is in the main due to the fact that Albanian criminal gangs have gained a foothold in the north of France and have begun facilitating very large numbers of migrants… Whatever sort of criminality you can think of…there are Albanian criminal gangs dominating”-

“whether it is drug smuggling, human trafficking, guns or prostitution.”

“are not actually interested in seeing their asylum claim through… We typically put them in a hotel for a couple of days, and then they will disappear”

“Individuals would not be removed if they are medically unfit to fly, or will face persecution in the destination country.”

“There will be safeguards to ensure that all sections of the community can participate and work together successfully in the operation of these institutions and that all sections of the community are protected, including…the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)…which neither the Assembly nor public bodies can infringe”.

“In the centre of our movement”-

“stands the idea of a Charter of Human Rights, guarded by freedom and sustained by law.”

“the old tolerant and generous practice of free entry…to which this country has so long adhered”.

“no one puts their children in a boat

unless the water is safer than the land”,

“no one leaves home unless

home is the mouth of a shark.”

“Most people fleeing war and persecution are simply unable to access the required passports and visas. There are no safe and ‘legal’ routes available to them.”

“the effect of this Bill…undermines the very purpose for which the 1951 Refugee Convention was established”,

“the Secretary of State must take into account the following factors-

“any support and services (including in particular medical services) provided by that government”.

“A claim for suspension of removal must be made within seven days of a notice of removal, which may present challenges for people who are traumatised or otherwise in vulnerable situations, do not speak English, or lack adequate legal advice.”

“The Secretary of State may add a State to the list”-

“only if satisfied that…there is in general in that State no serious risk of persecution of nationals of that State”.

“In 2007, the UK Border Agency created the”-

“Case Resolution Directorate…to conclude approximately 400,000-450,000 unresolved legacy records.”

“Such was the inefficiency of this operation that at one point over 150 boxes of post, including correspondence from applicants, MPs and their legal representatives, lay unopened in a room in Liverpool.”

“(a) a protection claim, (b) a human rights claim, or (c) a claim to be a victim of slavery or a victim of human trafficking.”-(Alison Thewliss.)

Debate in Parliament |