TNAG-2156-FCO40-3076-International-Covenant-on-Civil-and-Political-Rights-(ICCPR)-1990 — Page 74

CCPR/C/58/Add.6 page 42

182. Once the provisions are in force, it will be open to a court in England and Wales, after convicting a person for a defined "football-related offence", to impose a restriction order. The effect of the order will be to require him (or less probably her) to report to a police station in England and Wales when a designated football match is taking place elsewhere. Failure to report when required is to be a criminal offence. There is also provision to impose a restriction order following conviction outside England and Wales for an offence corresponding to a football-related offence. The court will not be able to impose a restriction order unless it is satisfied that this will help to prevent violence or disorder at or in connection with a designated football match. Orders will last for two years or, if the person is sentenced to immediate imprisonment, five years.

183. The Government considers that this restriction on foreign travel is justified by recent incidents of football hooliganism by people from England and Wales visiting other countries. The restriction does not, however, amount to a general prohibition on foreign travel by the persons concerned.

Article 13

Deportation

Since

184. The United Kingdom covered this article fully in its first report. its second report, there have been two developments. The first development, brought about by section 5 of the Immigration Act 1988, is that persons facing deportation on the basis that they have breached their conditions of stay and have been in the country for less than seven years, now have a right of appeal on the ground that, on the facts of the case, there is in law no power to make the deportation order for the reasons stated in the notice of decision. They may no longer appeal on the basis that the discretion of the Secretary of State to make the deportation order, taking account of compassionate circumstances and other factors in the Immigration Rules, ought to have been exercised differently. (They may however appeal on the ground of entitlement to asylum.)

185. Before the Immigration Act 1988, the majority of appeals against deportation were argued on the ground that the discretion of the Secretary of State had been wrongly exercised. Through the use of the appeals system, some appellants were able to extend their time in the United Kingdom, whereas on the facts of the case deportation was clearly justified. Persons who have been in the United Kingdom for seven years or more retain the full right of appeal and the Home Secretary has made certain additional exemptions, including cases where a claim for asylum has been refused.

186. The Government accepts that, where a person has been in the country long enough to establish real ties, it is right to allow these ties to be properly reviewed before a decision to deport is confirmed. The Government does not, however, accept that the same rights shall be available to those who have been in the country for only a relatively brief period. The qualification on the right of appeal for those who have been in the country for less than seven years does not apply to those being deported on the ground that their deportation is conducive to the public good (see sect. 3 (5) (b) of the Immigration Act 1971). They retain their full rights of appeal to the Immigration Appeal Tribunal.