Legislation
The Refugee or Person in need of International Protection (Qualification) Regulations 2006, SI 2006/2525, laid before Parliament on 18 September 2006 and coming into force on 9 October 2006, transpose the Qualification Directive EC/2004/83 into domestic law.
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Case Law
EctHR
Moser v Austria, 12643/02, 21 September 2006: the transfer of custody of a child from his mother to a social worker because of the mother's precarious financial and immigration status constituted a disproportionate interference with family life contrary to Art 8 ECHR: Read more
AIT
KX (Mixed marriages Roma-Albanian: Januzi applied) Serbia and Montenegro (Kosovo) CG [2006] UKAIT 00072, 20 September 2006: where there is a visible difference in skin colour and the Roma partner speaks no or accented Albanian, a mixed marriage or relationship puts both parties at risk
ES (Ashkaelians/ mixed Ashkaelian ethnicity) Serbia and Montenegro (Kosovo) CG [2006] UKAIT 00071, 18 September 2006: these groups do not generally face a real risk of persecution
WK (Article 8: expulsion cases) PalestinianTerritories [2006] AIT 00070, 23 August 2006: review of post-Razgar and Ullah case law on expulsion
AK (long term third party support) Bangladesh [2006] UKAIT 00069, 5 September 2006: the offer of long-term third party support by those who are not parents or children of the appellant requires more detailed evidence and more thorough assessment than short-term support
SK ('adoption' not recognised UK) India [2006] UKAIT 00068, 1 September 2006: the restrictions on adoptionand de facto adoption in the immigration rules are not contrary to article 8 ECHR, disproportionate or irrational
SK (Proof of indirect racial discrimination) India [2006] UKAIT 00067: guidance on the approach to proving race discrimination in immigration cases
KA (adequacy of maintenance) Pakistan [2006] UKAIT 00065: measurement of adequacy is objective, by reference to benefits received by those on income support
RS and FD (Appeals without grounds) Jamaica [2006] UKAIT 00064: submission of appeals without grounds can properly lead to determination without a hearing under Rule 15(2)(c).
SIAC
Y v Secretary of State for the Home Department [SC/36/2005] 24 August 2006, SIAC
This judgement looks at the risks of Article 3 ill-treatment on return to Algeria for someone held to be a risk to national security and therefore not entitled to the non-refoulement protection of the Refugee Convention. Although acquitted in the 'ricin' trial, SIAC proceeded on the basis that there was a conspiracy and that Y, although perhaps not a party to it, was aware of it and was trusted by the conspirators not to tell anyone. They assessed the risk to him on return on the basis that he had been a FIS activist and local leader before 1992, supported the GIA until the mid-90s, was a GSPC supporter and then a DHDS member at quite a high level. He had been tortured in 1994; in June 1997 he was convicted in his absence of organising an armed group and sentenced to life imprisonment, and in February 1998 he was convicted in absentia of a further similar offence and sentenced to death (para 165-6) (although in an extradition request from the Algerian authorities in June 2003, they indicated that he would be entitled to a retrial.
SIAC reviewed the human rights material and concluded that, despite the inability of the British government to obtain diplomatic assurances against ill-treatment backed by independent monitoring of returnees, Y's removal to Algeria would not breach his ECHR rights in view of the progress made by the Algerian authorities in human rights, and in particular the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation and the Ordinance implementing its measures.
Home Office Policy
Revised instructions for dealing with injunctions in removal cases have been published and are on the Home Office website under 'Law and Policy' 'Operating Standards'. Process Communication No 27/2006 points out that if someone subject to removal claims that an injunction has been obtained to stop the removal, the onus is on IND staff to confirm the existence of the injunction and to stop removal. The document also points out that where removal is planned, representatives should be given contact numbers for the local enforcement office (LEO) and the 24-hour command and control centre (whose emergency number is given in the bulletin). Click Here to find out more
In August 2006 the Home Office set out its policy on Iraqi claims lodged between April 1991 and 20 March 2003, in Iraq policy bulletin 2/2006, 1 August 2006, replacing the February 2006 Bulletin 1. The new bulletin gives effect to the Court of Appeal judgement in Rashid [2005] EWCA Civ 744 and the Administrative Court judgement in R (A), (H) and (AH) [2006] EWHC 526 (Admin), and should be read by everyone with Iraqi clients: Click Here to read the new bulletin
The short-lived policy suspending removals to Lebanon has ended: see Lebanon policy bulletin 2/2006, issued on 15 September 2006, replacing Bulletin 1. More
Courses and Seminars
Free one-day conference run by the DCA: Human Rights and Human Lives: Adopting a human rights approach to service delivery and public safety. Monday 30th October 2006, Central Hall, London. Booking details
HJT Training: accreditation revision, at Garden Court Chambers, 6.10.06 Course Details
