JUSTICE briefed Parliament on the Illegal Migration Bill ahead of its seconding reading and committee stages in the Commons.
JUSTICE has significant concerns with this legislation which has been introduced with little consultation or scrutiny and has been subject to a very short Parliamentary timetable. The legislation has substantial implications for the UK’s asylum system and the UK’s commitment to its international legal obligations (including under the European Convention on Human Rights).
- There are strong arguments that the Bill breaches our international law obligations, including the Refugee convention and Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects individuals from unlawful detention. The legislation would also undermine legal protections for victims of trafficking/ modern slavery which are protected by Article 4 ECHR and the Council of Europe Trafficking Convention (‘ECAT’).
- The Bill seeks to prevent individuals from holding the Government accountable for its decisions by restricting judicial review and introducing a new fast-track suspensive claims procedure.
- The Bill hands significant power to the executive – it gives the Home Secretary the power to make regulations that could breach our international law obligations under the ECHR, to define what a reasonable period of detention is and to define what constitutes ‘serious and irreversible harm’.
- It would also apply retrospectively which is both deeply unfair and undermines legal certainty – the duty to remove applies retrospectively to anyone arriving in the UK irregularly applies to anyone who arrives on or after 7 March. The Bill also gives the power to the Secretary of State to revoke leave for modern slavery victims granted under previous immigration legislation.
House of Commons Second Reading
Read our Briefing (March 2023)
House of Commons Committee Stage
Read our Briefing (March 2023)
House of Commons Report Stage
Read our Briefing (April 2023)
House of Lords Second Reading
Read our Briefing (May 2023)
House of Lords Committee Stage
Read our Briefing (May 2023)
Retrospectivity Amendments
House of Lords Report Stage
Read our Briefing (June 2023)
Amendments on Retrospectivity