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be confirmed by other means on arrival. However, the numbers who sought to exploit these provisions indicated that this provided an avenue for the potential abuse of the control that could not be ignored. The Government decided to close this loophole by providing, in section 3 of the Immigration Act 1988, that anyone claiming a right of abode in the United Kingdom must establish that claim either by producing a certificate of entitlement or a British passport confirming his or her right of abode. There is no right of appeal before removal against any decision that such a person requires leave to enter if he arrives without either document. This is consistent with the general approach adopted under the 1971 Act and the Immigration Rules that those seeking to settle in the United Kingdom should establish their entitlement to do so before they set out. There is, of course, a right of appeal abroad against refusal of a certificate of entitlement.

176. The second development relates to polygamous marriages. With effect from 1 August 1988, a woman with a right of abode by virtue of a marriage which is polygamous may not exercise that right if another wife of the same husband has preceded her to the United Kingdom, or has been granted a certificate of entitlement granting right of abode, or has a prior application pending. This restriction has been imposed because polygamy is regarded as unacceptable in the United Kingdom. It places a polygamous husband in the same position as a monogamous one in that, once a man has been joined by a wife, he may not bring in another unless the first dies or the marriage is terminated. Before this reform, only about 120 wives of polygamous marriages were being admitted each year.

Exit

177. There is no statute law and very little case law in the United Kingdom on the grant and refusal of passports. Refusal of passport facilities is confined in practice to certain clearly defined classes of individuals:

(a) Minors whose journey is known to be contrary to a court order, to the wishes of a parent or other person or authority awarded custody or care and control, or to the provisions of section 25 (1) of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 (as amended by section 42 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963), or section 56 of the Adoption Act 1976;

(b) Persons for whose arrest a warrant has been issued in the United Kingdom, or persons who are wanted by the United Kingdom police on suspicion of a serious crime;

(c) In very rare instances, persons whose past or proposed activities are so demonstrably undesirable that the grant or continued possession of passport facilities would be contrary to the public interest;

(d) United Kingdom nationals repatriated from abroad at public expense, until they have repaid the cost of repatriation.

178. These classes define the limits within which passports are refused, although in practice not everyone within them is denied passport facilities. Decisions under (c) above are always made personally by the Secretary of State. He may at his discretion withdraw British passport facilities which he has granted. The exercise of the discretion of the Secretary of State to