In the first week of April 2012 Ms Theresa May the Home Secretary said that immigration rules would be changed this summer to ensure that article 8 ECHR “right of private and family life” can only be applied to avoid deportation in very “rare and exceptional cases”.
The U.K’s most senior immigration judge has delivered a ruling in a landmark case which appears to reinforce human rights of migrants facing deportation from the UK.
Mr. Justice Blake, the president of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber, said a “settled migrant” could not be removed from the country unless there were “very serious reasons” to do so.
Factors to be taken into account include migrants having lived in the UK from a young age, or having a child or partner here, which can strengthen a foreign national criminals claim to stay in the UK.
The judge has flagged up his ruling as a “reported determination”, which means that it will used by other judges to decide similar cases.
Mr Justice Blake’s decision came in the case of a foreign national criminal known as Shabaz Masih who was convicted of drug dealing and burglary and sentenced to 50 months imprisonment for possessing class A drugs with intent to supply and for burglary. Just before he was sentenced he had a child with a British woman and her son was born in March 2009. As his sentence was more than 12 months he was served with notice of automatic deportation which he appealed against. Masih was successful in appealing against the decision to deport him and article 8 ECHR which protects the right to a private and family life. The Home Office has since lodged a further appeal.
According to Mr Justice Blake Massey had “put crime… behind him” and had been free of drugs since been released.
A Home Office spokesman said “too often article 8 has been used by criminals to dodge deportation and by this summer the government would have place new immigration laws which will end this abuse.”
