Theresa May seeks changes to use of human rights law over deportation

 

Home Secretary Theresa May today issued a warning to judges that their powers to block the deportation of foreign criminals on human rights grounds must be curbed.

Mrs May said she would be seeking the backing Parliament for new guidelines for the courts spelling out how the courts should apply the European Convention on Human Rights in such cases.

In particular, she said she would be making clear that the right to a family life enshrined in Article 8 of the convention - used by some foreign criminals to appeal against removal from the country - was not absolute.

She complained the judges were not taking account of the wider public interest in the way the convention enabled them to.

And she warned that if they ignored the will of Parliament, she would bring in new legislation to ensure that it was enforced.

“This is not an absolute right. So in the interests of the economy or of controlling migration or of public order - those sort of issues - the state has a right to qualify this right to a family life,” she told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.

“What I am going to do is actually set out the rules that say this is what Parliament, this is what the public believe is how you balance the public interest against the individual's interest.

“We are going to ask Parliament to vote on this to say very clearly what constitutes the right to a family life.

“I would expect that judges will look at what Parliament will say and that they will take into account what Parliament has said. If they don't then we will have to look at other measures and that could include primary legislation.”

Mrs May also confirmed that the Government would be bringing in a new "financial independence" rule imposing minimum income requirements for people seeking to bring foreign spouses or children into the country.

For a non-EU spouse, they will have to earn at least £18,600 a year and if they have a child they will need £22,400, rising by £2,400 for each additional child.

"I think it is important that if people are bringing people into the UK to create a family here in the UK that we say that you should be able to support yourselves and not be reliant on the state," Mrs May said.

In addition, she said that from next year migrants seeking to settle in the UK will have to pass a "Britishness" test.

"We will be requiring people to be able to speak English to a certain level, to be able to understand English, and also to do a 'Life in the UK' test so that we know that they are going to be able to integrate and become part of British society here," she said.

Mrs May said that the Home Office was also looking at contingency arrangements in case the the eurozone crisis triggered a flood of immigrants into Britain.

"So far we are not seeing any trends in any increased movements, despite obviously significant problems already economically in a number of eurozone countries," she said.

"But I think that it is right that, as a Government, across the board we look at the contingency arrangements that might be needed."

PA

Independent Comment
blog comments powered by Disqus
Top stories
News in pictures
World news in pictures
UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
More stories
       
Independent
Travel Shop
Lake Como and the Bernina Express
Seven nights half-board from £749pp Find out more
Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian coast
Seven nights half-board from only £859pp Find out more
Prague city break
Three nights from only £199pp Find out more
 
Independent Dating
and  

By clicking 'Search' you
are agreeing to our
Terms of Use.

iJobs Job Widget
iJobs General

FX Options Front Office Java / C# Developer

£500 - £600 per day: Orgtel: FX Options Front Office Java / C# Developer - Ba...

Project Manager - Front Office - Regulatory IT

£600 - £700 per day: Orgtel: Project Manager - Front Office - Regulatory IT C...

Lighting Design Engineer

£33000 - £35000 Per Annum: The Green Recruitment Company: The Green Recruitmen...

Are you an Primary NQT looking for your first role in Essex?

£21000 - £22000 per annum: Randstad Education Chelmsford: NQTs required now fo...

Day In a Page

Babies behind bars: A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail

Babies behind bars

A Palestinian fertility doctor has become an unlikely hero by helping women conceive – even though their husbands are in jail
Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm for under 25s

Sonic youth: The high-pitched sound alarm

Is Mosquito, the alarm only under-25s can hear, a blessing or a bane?
The art of living in small spaces: Architects are learning how to make less, more

The art of living in small spaces

Space in cities at a premium so architects are learning how to make less, more...
Zombie nation: Our enduring fascination with a world full of death and destruction

Zombie nation: Our fascination with death and destruction

A new season of shows on Radio 4 is inspired by dark tales of future dystopias. Meanwhile, zombies are marauding in the multiplexes...
Martin Stephen: 'Ofsted says comprehensives are failing the most able but teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

'Teaching bright children isn't rocket science'

It doesn't take a selective system to nurture the best minds, says a former head of St Paul's boys' school.
The retail empires strike back: Can new technology lure us back to the high street?

Can technology lure us back to the high street?

The high street has been bruised and battered by online firms but in-store technology is helping to enliven the retail experience...
The 10 Best new smartphones

The 10 Best new smartphones

Photos, films, music, apps and browsing - the latest mobiles can do it all
Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

Jenson Button: Downbeat driver cannot wait to put season behind him

McLaren man admits 'failed gamble' with car has left him pinning hopes on 2014 campaign
James Lawton: Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe

James Lawton

Firmer fist will be required to win Champions Trophy final battle with stouter foe
'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong': The true effect of the badger cull

The true effect of the badger cull

'To farm I have to rape the countryside. It’s got to be wrong'
Theatre review: Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's The Cripple of Inishmaan

First night: The Cripple of Inishmaan

Daniel Radcliffe gives an admirably honest performance in Michael Grandage's comedy
Girls Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

Guides drop religious reference but pledge to self and the Queen

After 103 years, organisation changes oath to welcome 'all girls, of all faiths, and none'
Steve Tongue: Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago

Steve Tongue

Joe Kinnear was one of the boys and a breath of fresh air... 21 years ago
Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Bradley Wiggins' exit

Chris Froome: Free from 'pain in neck' after Wiggins' exit

Sky's lead rider says he is in fantastic form for the Tour and happy pecking order debate is over
Hannah England: I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess

Hannah England: Keeping Track

I've got the right times – now to focus on the chess