Government and Parliament Fees for entry clearance for marriage or for settlement go up on 1 April to a whopping £500 under the Consular Fees Order 2007, SI 2007/649. Student entry clearance will cost £99. Fees for the issue of passports are also increased under the Order. The Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) (Amendment) Regulations […]
Government & Legislation Last Week On 6 March 2007 the Gypsy and Traveller Task Group on Site Provision and Enforcement presented Ministers with its interim report. It advised that enforcement against unauthorised sites remains a "blunt weapon" and "can only be used successfully if there is sufficient provision of authorised sites". For a copy of […]
Cases Restrictive Covenants Thomas v Farr plc [2007] EWCA Civ 118 The Court of Appeal reviewed the authorities on non-competition clauses and upheld the enforceability of a clause in a contract of employment of a managing director of a firm of insurance brokers, prohibiting him from competing with the company for 12 months after the […]
News From the 12 March 2007 the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) will be operating a revised policy for handling Judicial Review challenges made after removal directions have been served. IND will give at least 72 hours notice of removal, including two full working days. The last 24 hours of the 72 hours will include […]
Government & Legislation Last Week March 1 2007 was a busy day for developments in relation to gypsies and travellers. The junior minister, Meg Munn MP, gave a speech at a conference on Gypsies and Travelers held by the Royal Town Planning Institute. For a copy click here Her department published Preparing Regional Spatial Strategy […]
Government & Legislation Last Week On Tuesday 20 February 2007, Professor John Hills delivered his report on the future of social housing sector: Ends and Means – The future roles of social housing in England. For the full report or a summary click here The Secretary of State welcomed the report as not ending discussion […]
News Home Office ministers are refusing to abandon their policy of threatening to take the children of rejected asylum seekers into care despite a critical internal report saying it has failed to encourage them to leave the country. Immigration minister Liam Byrne refused, on 21 February, to rule out extending the controversial policy that can […]
Government and Legislation Last Week On Tuesday 13 February 2007 the Secretary of State for Communities set out her detailed vision for the development of housing policy for the next 5 to 10 years. For a copy of her speech, The Future of Housing Policy, click here On 14 February 2007 the Disability Rights Commission […]
Cases CM (Kenya) v Secretary of State for the Home Department An immigration tribunal had erred in law in finding that it was not unduly harsh to return an asylum seeker to Nairobi, as it had failed to give sufficient reasons for rejecting an expert report that suggested that the asylum seeker would be in […]
Maya Sikand, a member of the Garden Court Chambers crime team will be speaking at this years Criminal Bar Association spring conference.
Ian Macdonald QC scored a notable victory for the right to demonstrate and display banners outside Parliament
Last Week’s Housing Cases Watchman v Ipswich BC [2007] All ER (D) 109 (Feb), 8 February 2007. Despite a history of rent arrears and other debt, Mrs Watchman took out a mortgage to buy her home. The instalments were higher than the rent. When the rate of repayments increased and her husband lost her job, […]
(Click on case title to be transferred to a transcript of the Case) News Immigration and Nationality Directorate | Minister pledges fast but fair asylum system – New asylum teams for West London and the South EastCommission on International Religious Freedom reported that asylum seekers in the U.S are still being abused, the federal immigration […]
Government & Legislation last week The statistics for landlord’s possession claims, dealt with by the county courts in the last quarter of 2006, were released on Friday 2 February 2007. The number of claims issued was down 20%. The statisticians note that this was the first period to which the Rent Arrears Pre-Action Protocol applied […]
CASES Burden of proof Madarassay v Nomura International [2007] EWCA Civ 33 The Court of Appeal holds that is not enough for a Claimant to shift the burden of proof for her simply to establish a difference in status (ie gender) and a difference in the treatment. A difference in status and a difference in […]
Garden Court runs an ongoing programme of seminars and training based at Chambers. We also host seminars by other social justice organisations.
Government & Legislation Last week Monday 22 January 2007 saw another wave of "anti-social behaviour" initiatives from the Government’s Respect Action Team. For a copy of the new Respect Handbook, click hereFor the latest statistics on injunctions, possession orders and demotion orders, click here For the list of 40 local authorities allocated an additional £6m […]
News On 21 January 2007, it was reported that the Secretary of State, John Reid MP, stated that the Home Office could be split into two departments under recommendations made by him. One department would deal with security issues and the other with justice under the plans, which are set be to put to the […]
Cases Statutory grievance procedure Bradford MDC v Pratt UKEAT/0391/06/ZThe modified procedure requires the step one letter to set out both the grievance and "the basis" for it. The EAT held that the purpose of step one of the modified grievance procedure is for an employee to set out in his statement not only the grievance […]
News Reports from unannounced inspections on four immigration short-term holding facilities (Colnbrook near Heathrow Airport, Reliance House and John Lennon Airport, Liverpool and Sandford House, Solihull) noted that detainees spent unacceptably long periods locked in single rooms; there was a lack of information and independent advice for people facing imminent removal; staff lacked information about […]
