The Human Rights Act 1998 was implemented in October of 2000. Since then legal provision and any decision made in respect of an individual’s entitlement to enter or remain in the United Kingdom has had to be compatible with the requirements of each of the rights set out in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR).

 

Similarly, immigration law which predated the Human Rights Act has been placed under a legal microscope to ensure that it is human rights compliant.
 
Most importantly anyone whose application for permission to enter or to remain in the UK is refused has been able, since the Human Rights Act was implemented, to appeal against the decision refusing his or her application on the basis that the decision breaches his or her human rights. This has led to a substantial body of case law from the senior courts in the United Kingdom.
 
The basis of all of this law are judgments of the European Court of Human Rights - but as the principles in these judgments are examined and re-examined constantly by the UK Courts, the law changes dramatically each year.
 
The area most affected is an individual's right to respect for his or her family and private life, article 8. The concept of private life is wide. Unlike Article 3 of the Convention, which protects individuals from torture or inhuman or degrading treatment, violations by public bodies such as the Home Office, of the right protected by Article 8 are permitted, but only if the violation can be shown to be both in the pursuit of the interests specified in Article 8 (2) and proportionate to that interest.
 
The frequency of the changes in the law concerning proportionality as is applied to particular kinds of immigration cases means that the success or failure of each case will often depend upon the care with which arguments are advanced, and more directly upon the way in which the ever-increasing body of case law is deployed by a legal representative.

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MKSuri specialises in Human rights cases and advocacy in the Immigration Courts. Contact us if you need help with your applications or immigration appeals for more advise.