ASULON EUROPE

Immigration and asylum cases, challenges to decisions by government or public bodies can now be heard in four new courts

Sir Anthony May, President of the Queen's Bench Division Frances Gibb 

London is the legal capital and many big disputes can only be heard in its courts. But from this month hundreds of immigration and asylum cases and challenges to decisions by government or public bodies will be devolved to the regions as four Administrative Court centres open in Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds and Manchester.

Two High Court judges, Mr Justice Beatson and Mr Justice Langstaff, will be responsible for liaising with the centres. The judge behind the change - and now in charge - is Sir Anthony May, President of the Queen's Bench Division. The reform, he says, will ease the hugely overburdened Administrative Court in London, as it struggles with the caseload that required extra judges for its 8,000 asylum and immigration cases a year.

The move is not just a pragmatic one. "It is also that it is right, in itself, for these cases to be heard locally," May says. "The important thing is that claimants based in the regions will be able to have their cases dealt with at the centre that they regard as most convenient, instructing - if they wish - lawyers also based in the region." Many public authorities, which are potentially defendants in such claims, also favour the move.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article6060351.ece

Refugee Council News Review

The latest asylum statistics were published, Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohammed returned to the UK, the EC proposed a new EU wide asylum agency and the Home Secretary was ordered by the High Court to return a deported refugee to the UK.

The latest asylum statistics for the last three months of 2008 show that the removal of those people who have had their asylum claims rejected is down by 16% compared to 2007.

30% of those applying for asylum were granted refugee status or humanitarian protection. 25% of appeals were successful.

In response to the latest figures, Jonathan Ellis from the Refugee Council said: "These figures demonstrate a very worrying trend: poor decision-making leading to people having their claims refused but who can't be sent home. Many are left homeless and destitute, without any welfare support or permission to work to support themselves."

"This enforced destitution must end. The answer, of course, is in better decision-making - still nearly a quarter of appeals are successful, which shows how poor initial decisions still are."

Full Refugee Council press release: Refugee Council response to asylum statistics out today 

BBC News: East European worker influx slows 

Guardian: Number of eastern European migrants falls 40% as UK recession bites

A judge at the High Court last Friday ruled that all refused asylum seekers should be entitled to healthcare, marking a major breakthrough in the campaign to restore healthcare to all asylum seekers regardless of where they are in the process.

The court heard the case of A, a Palestinian man who had been refused asylum but was unable to return home and was, in fact, stateless. He has chronic liver disease but in 2006 his hospital treatment was stopped on the basis that he was unable to pay for it. This was in accordance with regulations introduced in April 2004 that denied refused asylum seekers, and other ‘overseas visitors', from accessing secondary healthcare unless they were able to pay for it. Since then, asylum seekers at the end of the process have either been refused hospital treatment, or been chased by debt collectors and threatened with bailiffs to pay for their treatment, which includes maternity care and treatment for chronic diseases including cancer and HIV.

The judge ruled that refused asylum seekers counted as ‘ordinarily resident', and therefore should be entitled to healthcare along with other UK residents. He immediately gave the Department of Health leave to appeal, but for now all asylum seekers will be entitled to hospital treatment until the case has been finally resolved.

http://www.refugeecouncil.org.uk/news/news/2008/April/20080417.htm

RAPPORT 4 :

« Citizenship : tool or reward ? The role of citizenship policy in the process
of integration »

Elena Jurado (Policy Network, février 2008)

http://www.asulon.eu/pages/citizenship.pdf

RAPPORT 1 :

« Beyond Naturalisation : Citizenship policy in an age  of super mobility »

Jill Rutter, Maria Latorre and Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah

(Institute for Public Policy Research, mars 2008)

http://www.asulon.eu/pages/beyond_naturalisation.pdf

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