TNAG-2156-FCO40-3076-International-Covenant-on-Civil-and-Political-Rights-(ICCPR)-1990 — Page 39

172. The Government reserves the right to continue to apply such immigration legislation governing entry into, stay in and departure from the United Kingdom as it may deem necessary from time to time and, accordingly, its acceptance of article 12, paragraph 4, and of the other provisions of the Covenant is subject to the provisions of any such legislation as regards persons not at the time having the right under the law of the United Kingdom to enter and remain in the country. The United Kingdom also reserves a similar right in regard to each of its dependent territories.

173. The position at the time of the second periodic report was as follows. The British Nationality Act 1981 had replaced the status of citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC), created by the British Nationality Act 1948, by three separate citizenships:

(a) British citizenship: for those closely connected with the United Kingdom; acquired mainly by birth in the United Kingdom of a parent who is a British citizen or settled there;

(b) British Dependent Territories citizenship (BDTC): connected with the dependencies;

for persons

(c) British Overseas citizenship (BOC): for those CUKCs not having the above connections with the United Kingdom or dependencies;

the 1981 Act had also preserved the status of:

(d) British subject: mainly persons born before 1949 who did not subsequently become a CUKC or a citizen of a Commonwealth country; and

(e) British Protected Person (BPP):

protectorates or former trust territories;

persons connected with former

subsequently, however, a new category of citizenship was created on 1 July 1987 by the Hong Kong (British Nationality) Order 1986:

(f) British Nationals (Overseas) (BNO): persons who are BDTCs solely by connection with Hong Kong, who may then apply to register as BNOS before 1 July 1997.

174. Those in categories (b)-(f) do not have the right of abode and are subject to immigration control. The replacement of the status of CUKC by a new citizenship was intended to reflect more accurately the strength of the connection with the United Kingdom or the dependent territories.

175. Since the second periodic report, the Immigration Act 1988 has introduced two changes which are relevant to article 12. The first concerns entry by persons claiming the right of abode. The Immigration Act 1971, as amended by the British Nationality Act 1981, did not require certain categories of people to prove their claim to the right of abode by means of a certificate of entitlement or a British passport confirming that right. This was not a matter of concern while the numbers involved were small and their claims could