TNAG-2156-FCO40-3076-International-Covenant-on-Civil-and-Political-Rights-(ICCPR)-1990 — Page 76

CCPR/C/58/Add.6 Page 44

190. The safeguard for all potential deportees is the right to appeal and, if this right is exercised, the case is referred to the Deportation Section, which takes over the handling of all aspects of the case in the normal way. Staff in the Deportation Section and the Immigration Service have the same instructions and guidance for dealing with deportation cases and there are frequent discussions between the organizations to ensure consistency. If it is necessary to make a deportation order, the submission is prepared by the Deportation Section and submitted, via the Minister of State responsible for immigration, to the Home Secretary for his personal consideration.

191. The lawfulness of the Home Secretary's decision to delegate certain of his deportation powers to members of the Immigration Service has been endorsed by the Immigration Appeal Tribunal, but is now the subject of a further challenge on judicial review.

192. The Second development is that responsibility for the independent appellate authorities passed from the Home Office to the Lord Chancellor's Department in 1987, which further emphasized their independence.

Illegal entry

a

193. Where directions are given for a person's removal as an illegal entrant, the Immigration Act 1971 provides that that person may appeal on the facts of the case, but only from outside the United Kingdom, except in certain limited circumstances (see para. 194 below). An illegal entrant is, by definition, person to whom an immigration officer would have been bound to refuse entry had the full facts been known at the time entry was obtained, and it is therefore right that his right of appeal should be on a par with that for persons who have been refused leave to enter the United Kingdom. Illegal entrants may, however, seek judicial review of an immigration officer's decision to treat them as such.

194. Where a person is an illegal entrant by virtue of entering in breach of a deportation order, he or she may appeal while they remain in the United Kingdom on the ground that they are not the person named in that order.

195. In considering whether an illegal entrant should be removed, immigration officers take all relevant factors, including compassionate circumstances, into account before reaching a decision. The number of persons removed under illegal entry powers in 1988 results from the procedural changes set out in paragraph 189 above, which allowed a greater number of illegal entrants, including overstayers and others in breach of their conditions of entry, to be dealt with.

Removal under illegal entry powers

1986

1987

1988

Number of illegal entrants removed or who left the United Kingdom voluntarily

1 142

1 566

2 196