Legal aid cuts and the Immigration Act 2014
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Transcript of Legal aid cuts and the Immigration Act 2014
Immigration detention
The impact of legal aid cuts and the Immigration Act 2014
Presentation by Colin Yeo
About me
• Editor of Free Movement blog (www.freemovement.org.uk)
• Barrister at Garden Court Chambers
• Specialise in immigration work
• Background in the charity advice sector
Legal aid key points• Funding for non asylum appeals
abolished, including deportation cases
• Funding for early stages of judicial review now 'at risk', meaning lawyers highly reluctant
• But judicial review funding is still available if permission granted
• Private funding of initial stages may be needed
• Conditional Fee Arrangements (CFAs) may be possible
Immigration Act key points
• Restricted rights and grounds of appeal
• Out of country deportation appeals
• Restrictions on repeat bail applications
• Simplified removal process
• Additional safeguards for families and children
Funding
• No legal aid for appeals outside asylum cases
• This means no legal aid for family and/or private life deportation cases
• New project at BID will offer some pro bono representation
Funding II• There is still legal aid for:
• tribunal bail applications
• judicial review including unlawful detention cases
• BUT legal aid payments are only made if permission for judicial review is granted
• ‘At risk’ funding for lawyers means many are now reluctant to take risk of working for free
Funding III• Detainees often lack the
resources (whether financial, emotional, intellectual) to help themselves
• Helping detainees to gather evidence through friends and family is critical
• Private funding for initial stages
• Conditional Fee Arrangements may be possible
Immigration Act 2014• Rights of appeal
• Reduced from 17 to 3
• No right of appeal unless refugee or human rights decision
• e.g. not on basis that immigration rules not satisfied or EC law would be breached
• Only remedy there is judicial review
Immigration Act 2014 II
• Out of country appeals
• Where case is certified as involving a person liable to deportation
• If SSHD considers no breach of Human Rights Act 1998 if person removed. Proposed test: “P would not, before the appeals process is exhausted, face a real risk of serious irreversible harm if removed to the country or territory to which P is proposed to be removed”
Immigration Act 2014 III• Means of challenge to out of
country certificates
• Out of country appeals hard to fight effectively
• Judicial review of certificate is possible - but subject to funding constraints earlier discussed
• Attempt to show there would be a breach of human right of deportee or their family if person removed
Immigration Act 2014 IV
• Immigration bail
• No bail w/o consent of SSHD if removal directions are within 14 days
• Bail must be refused if repeat application within 28 days unless “unless the person demonstrates to the Tribunal that there has been a material change in circumstances”
Immigration Act 2014 V
• Streamlined and simplified removal power for those without leave and their families
• Some safeguards for children and families, e.g. child detention
• Some positive citizenship improvements
Questions?