Under orders of the UK High Court, immigrants and refugees will no longer be allowed to challenge deportation orders.
Changes in the legislative system under the Judicial Review Bill (JRB) will “restore the balance of power between the executive, legislature and the courts”, as announced in the Queen’s Speech on 11 May.
While previously, under a Supreme Court ruling, tribunal decisions were allowed to be put forward before the court, the JRB will overturn the decision.
According to the government, around 700 such appeals are pursued every year.
“A Cart Judicial Review is a case where a claimant, whose claim has been rejected by the First-tier Tribunal and had permission to appeal refused by the First-tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal, brings a challenge against the Upper Tribunal in the High Court”, the Queen’s Speech said.
It added that the government is still investigating how many of these cases result in a successful outcome for the claimant.
While there are concerns that stripping migrants of the right to challenge deportation by means of judicial review could leave “wrong” decisions by the Home Office unchallenged, the Queen said that the JRB's purpose is to “protect the judiciary from being drawn into political questions”.
Immigration routes for refugees, workers, and visitors travelling to the UK have been considerably changed following the country’s withdrawal from the European Union. Border control and curbing illegal immigration were among the pivotal parts of the Brexit campaign prior to the 2016 referendum.
Commenting on the UK’s position on relocating unaccompanied children in refugee camps on the Aegean Islands, Chris Philip, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for immigration compliance and courts, said in January that allowing refugees from safe European countries to resettle in Britain created a “pull factor” for them to travel to Europe.
In March, Home Secretary Priti Patel said that the British immigration system was “overwhelmed” due to over 35,000 asylum claims in the year ending March 2020, with most of those applicants coming from Iran, Albania, and Iraq.
As a result, the government moved to introduce tougher age assessment tests "to stop adult migrants pretending to be children” from coming into the UK.
Britain’s rigorous immigration checks have been echoed in proposals made by former EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, who is said may enter the French presidential race next year.
This week, Barnier suggested in a TV interview that he wants to suspend immigration to France for three-five years and toughen checks on the EU’s external borders.
He argued that there are links between immigration flows and terrorist networks trying to infiltrate them. He then added that not all immigrants are terrorists or delinquents.
“There is a risk of an explosion, particularly on the topic of immigration. We need to introduce a moratorium on immigration. We need to take time to evaluate, check and if necessary, change our immigration policies”, Barnier warned.
In another interview, Barnier suggested that France should lead talks with Schengen area states to introduce stricter controls on the EU’s external borders.
According to Eurostat, 2.7 million immigrants entered the EU from non-EU countries in 2019.
The European Union, operating under the Dublin system for the past couple of decades, has been plagued by an immigration crisis since 2015, with high numbers of refugees from Syria, North Africa, and other areas seeking shelter in Europe.
The crisis has stretched the limits of the system and highlighted the issue of immigration as a key factor in swaying public opinion in Europe.
The current immigration system is therefore now sought to be replaced by the EU to “discourage abuse and prevent secondary movements of asylum applicants within the EU”.
The Dublin III Regulation (no longer applied in the UK) establishes the criteria and mechanisms for determining which member state is responsible for examining an asylum claim made in the EU.
