Right To Remain News – Updates on the Illegal Migration Act and the government faces legal action.

In May of this year, we published a deep delve into our opinion of the then Illegal Migration Bill and the potential of its passing to create wider systemic collapse. You can read this in our previous article, The so-called “Illegal” Migration Bill, so far.

Sections in force

The following sections of the IMA have been commenced:

·         Section 12 — ‘Period for which persons may be detained’

·         Sections 30–37 — ‘Entry, Settlement, and Citizenship’

·         Sections 52 -‘Judges of First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal’

·         Sections 63–69 — General provisions (including definitions, and also sets out which sections of the Act have been commenced, etc)

Period for which persons may be detained

Amidst the vast sections of the IMA that are centred upon detention and have not been enforced, Section 12 of the Act was enforced on 28 September 2023.

The Public Law Project (PLP) has released a report, in collaboration with Haringey Migrant Support Centre, on the lack of access to legal aid in 2023. As a result of the problems identified by the report, the PLP took the first step in bringing the legal proceedings against the Lord Chancellor, Alex Chalk KC.

For more information about what Legal Aid is, you can read our Toolkit page here.

The PLP have argued that the Lord Chancellor is in breach of his duty to make legal aid available for immigration and asylum related issues. They claim that access to legal aid is so poor that people are being denied access to justice as a result.

Daniel Rourke, the lead lawyer for the PLP, said: “We are compelled to bring our research to the Lord Chancellor’s attention and demand that he takes urgent action. We will reluctantly prepare legal proceedings if he continues to breach his statutory and constitutional duties.”