Post by Editor on Feb 17, 2013 19:02:27 GMT
Judges 'sabotaged' MPs' bid to deport rapists and thugs... but Theresa May vows to crush judges' revolt by rushing through tough new laws
Warned judges not to defy new laws on deporting foreign criminals
'It is not for judges to be legislators', says Home Secretary
By SIMON WALTERS and GLEN OWEN
PUBLISHED: 23:05, 16 February 2013 | UPDATED: 11:44, 17 February 2013
Angry: The Home Secretary has vowed to crush the judges' revolt
Innocent people will be subjected to rape and violent attacks by foreign thugs because judges have sabotaged a bid by Parliament to deport them, Theresa May warned last night.
In an unprecedented public attack, the Home Secretary accused judges of tearing up the British constitution by flouting a decision by MPs to stop foreign criminals using the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to avoid being thrown out.
Using highly emotive language, Mrs May claimed there would be more muggings on Britain’s streets because judges let foreign law-breakers stay here. And she vowed to crush the judges’ revolt by rushing through tough new laws.
Her onslaught follows a long-running row over foreign criminals and immigration cheats who use the ECHR’s ‘right to a family life’ provision to avoid being booted out.
A change in the rules to stop foreigners accused of serious crimes using the ECHR to avoid deportation was approved unanimously by the Commons last year. But immigration judges ignored the decision, claiming it did not affect them.
Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, an angry Mrs May said: ‘Time and time again, we are treated to the spectacle of people who have been found guilty of rape or serious assault being given the right to stay in this country.’
Some judges ‘have got it into their heads’ that the ECHR Article Eight ‘right to family life’ could not be curbed, she said. Once Parliament had told them they were wrong and approved the rule change stating that it did not apply to serious criminals, judges should have toed the line.
More...
The rioters we can't kick out: 18 months after mayhem that shocked Britain, just 15 out of 200 convicted foreigners have been deported
Theresa May is looking thin tweets Vaz (Not a comment you're likely to hear about him!)
THERESA MAY: It's MY job to deport foreigners who commit serious crime - and I'll fight any judge who stands in my way
‘Unfortunately, some judges evidently do not regard a debate in Parliament on new immigration rules as evidence that Parliament wants to see those new rules implemented.’
In a stern lecture on who rules Britain – MPs or judges – Mrs May said: ‘For almost all of the long history of disputes between judges and Parliament, it has been common ground that Parliament is the ultimate law-maker, and that it is not for the judges to be legislators.
'It is essential to democracy that the elected representatives of the people make the laws that govern this country – and not the judges. Yet some judges seem to believe they can ignore Parliament’s wishes. A minority think it is their role to determine whether or not foreigners who commit serious crimes shall be deported.’
Stern: The new laws will spell out in clear terms that violent foreign criminals must be sent home
Mrs May warned them not to attempt to defy the new laws, which will spell out in clear terms that violent foreign criminals must be sent home.
‘Once primary legislation has been enacted, it is surely inconceivable that judges will maintain that it is they, rather than Parliament, who are entitled to decide how to balance the foreigner’s right to family life against our nation’s right to protect itself,’ she said.
The new law would be too late to stop some violent attacks which would have been prevented had the judges done as she told them, Mrs May added.
'It is essential to democracy that the elected representatives of the people make the laws that govern this country'
Theresa May
‘The inevitable delays in passing primary legislation will mean there will be many more foreign criminals who avoid deportation on the basis that they have a family here,’ she said. ‘There will also be more victims of violent crimes committed by foreigners who should have been, and could have been, deported.’
Her comments are a slap in the face for Immigration and Asylum Tribunal president Sir Nicholas Blake, who co-founded Matrix, the chambers where Cherie Blair works.
Last February, the Appeal Court quashed a ruling in which Mr Justice Blake had allowed Rocky Gurung, from Nepal, to remain in the UK despite being jailed for manslaughter for being part of a gang that beat a man before throwing his body into the Thames.
The judge upheld Gurung’s claim that deporting him to Nepal would breach his ‘right to family life’, even though he was single, had no children and lived with his parents.
But the Appeal Court judges said the judgment was an ‘error’ and looked like a ‘search for reasons for not deporting him’.
'IT IS NOT FOR JUDGES TO BE LEGISLATORS': HOME SECRETARY'S PUBLIC ATTACK ON REBEL JUDGES
By Theresa May
Unless there are very exceptional circumstances, foreigners who have committed serious crimes in this country, or who have attempted to cheat the immigration system, should be deported from Britain.
Parliament wants that to happen, the public wants that to happen, and I want that to happen. But, too often, it is not happening. Time and time again we are treated to the spectacle of people who have been found guilty of rape or serious assault being given the right to stay in this country.
It is not in the national interest that this situation continues. What is going on? The short answer is that some of our judges appear to have got it into their heads that Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights, the ‘right to family life’, is an absolute, unqualified right.
Fight: The right to family life is not an absolute right, it is a qualified right, says the Home Secretary
This means that if a foreign criminal can show that he has a family in this country, they take the view he has a right to remain here, regardless of the gravity of the offences.
That interpretation is wrong. The Convention is quite plain: the right to family life is not an absolute right, like the right not to be tortured. It is a qualified right, and it can be restricted when that is required, for example, to protect public safety, or for the prevention of crime.
I thought that possibly the problem for the judges was that our Parliament had not explicitly stated how the right to family life could be restricted.
So in June last year I ensured that the House of Commons was able to debate my amendments to the immigration rules.
Those amendments stated that in the usual case, any foreign national who was convicted of a serious crime should be deported, regardless of whether or not the criminal had a family in the UK.
After a vigorous debate, the Commons adopted the changes unanimously. There was no division because there was no one in the Commons who opposed them.
I made it clear that I would introduce primary legislation should the Commons’ acceptance of my amendments not be sufficient to persuade judges to change the way they interpreted Article Eight. But I hoped that the outcome of the debate would be enough.
Unfortunately, some judges evidently do not regard a debate in Parliament on new immigration rules, followed by the unanimous adoption of those rules, as evidence that Parliament actually wants to see those new rules implemented.
As a justification for ignoring the new rules, one immigration judge recently stated that ‘the procedure adopted in relation to the introduction of the new rules provided a weak form of Parliamentary scrutiny. Parliament has not altered the legal duty of the judge determining appeals to decide on proportionality for him or herself’.
Some judges seem to believe that they can ignore Parliament's wishes if they think that the procedures for parliamentary scrutiny have been 'weak'
Just think for a moment what this judge is claiming. He is asserting that he can ignore the unanimous adoption by the Commons of new immigration rules on the grounds that he thinks this is a ‘weak form of parliamentary scrutiny’.
I find it difficult to see how that can be squared with the central idea of our constitution, which is that Parliament makes the law, and judges interpret what that law is and make sure the executive complies with it.
For almost all of the long history of disputes between judges and Parliament, it has been common ground that Parliament is the ultimate law-maker, and that it is not for the judges to be legislators. It is essential to democracy that the elected representatives of the people make the laws that govern this country – and not the judges.
Yet some judges seem to believe that they can ignore Parliament’s wishes if they think that the procedures for parliamentary scrutiny have been ‘weak’. That appears actually to mean that they can ignore Parliament when they think it came to the wrong conclusion.
Vigorously debated: Parliament wants to see the new rules implemented, says the Home Secretary
Most judges, especially in our higher courts, do not take this attitude. One High Court judge, for example, has explicitly recognised that the new rules are ‘unquestionably valid laws, democratically enacted under a procedure which is necessary for the efficient practical functioning of Parliament’.
The majority of judges share his view. BUT a minority think that it is their role to determine, for instance, whether or not foreigners who commit serious crimes shall be deported. They are able to frustrate Government policy and prevent the deportation of criminals.
It is now clear that only explicit parliamentary legislation will convince them that the law is what Parliament says it is, not what they think it should be.
I am therefore determined to introduce primary legislation that will specify that foreign nationals who commit serious crimes shall, except in extraordinary circumstances, be deported. Once this primary legislation has been enacted, it is surely inconceivable that judges in this country will maintain that it is they, rather than Parliament, who are entitled to decide how to balance the foreigner’s right to family life against our nation’s right to protect itself.
It is depressing that the steps we have already taken should have been insufficient to produce that result. The inevitable delays inherent in passing primary legislation will mean that there will be many more foreign criminals who successfully avoid deportation on the basis that they have a family here.
There will also be more victims of violent crimes committed by foreigners in this country – foreigners who should have been, and could have been, deported.
This is not a dispute about respect for human rights, which I certainly agree is an essential part of any decent legal system. It is about how to balance rights against each other: in particular, the individual’s right to family life, the right of the individual to be free from violent crime, and the right of society to protect itself against foreign criminals.
One of the most distressing results of judges taking it on themselves to determine how that balance should be struck, in defiance of Parliament’s wishes, has been the damage done to the notion of human rights: in the popular imagination, ‘human rights’ are wrongly, but perhaps understandably, becoming synonymous with legal dodges that allow criminals to escape proper punishment and to continue to prey on the public.
I am a great admirer of most of the judges in Britain.
I absolutely accept that the power of Ministers should be reviewed and restrained by independent judges who are appointed, not elected, and who are not accountable to the electorate for their decisions.
But the law in this country is made by the elected representatives of the people in Parliament. And our democracy is subverted when judges decide to take on that role for themselves.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279842/Theresa-May-Home-Secretary-vows-crush-judges-revolt-rushing-tough-new-laws.html#ixzz2LBVGSMip
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Warned judges not to defy new laws on deporting foreign criminals
'It is not for judges to be legislators', says Home Secretary
By SIMON WALTERS and GLEN OWEN
PUBLISHED: 23:05, 16 February 2013 | UPDATED: 11:44, 17 February 2013
Angry: The Home Secretary has vowed to crush the judges' revolt
Innocent people will be subjected to rape and violent attacks by foreign thugs because judges have sabotaged a bid by Parliament to deport them, Theresa May warned last night.
In an unprecedented public attack, the Home Secretary accused judges of tearing up the British constitution by flouting a decision by MPs to stop foreign criminals using the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to avoid being thrown out.
Using highly emotive language, Mrs May claimed there would be more muggings on Britain’s streets because judges let foreign law-breakers stay here. And she vowed to crush the judges’ revolt by rushing through tough new laws.
Her onslaught follows a long-running row over foreign criminals and immigration cheats who use the ECHR’s ‘right to a family life’ provision to avoid being booted out.
A change in the rules to stop foreigners accused of serious crimes using the ECHR to avoid deportation was approved unanimously by the Commons last year. But immigration judges ignored the decision, claiming it did not affect them.
Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, an angry Mrs May said: ‘Time and time again, we are treated to the spectacle of people who have been found guilty of rape or serious assault being given the right to stay in this country.’
Some judges ‘have got it into their heads’ that the ECHR Article Eight ‘right to family life’ could not be curbed, she said. Once Parliament had told them they were wrong and approved the rule change stating that it did not apply to serious criminals, judges should have toed the line.
More...
The rioters we can't kick out: 18 months after mayhem that shocked Britain, just 15 out of 200 convicted foreigners have been deported
Theresa May is looking thin tweets Vaz (Not a comment you're likely to hear about him!)
THERESA MAY: It's MY job to deport foreigners who commit serious crime - and I'll fight any judge who stands in my way
‘Unfortunately, some judges evidently do not regard a debate in Parliament on new immigration rules as evidence that Parliament wants to see those new rules implemented.’
In a stern lecture on who rules Britain – MPs or judges – Mrs May said: ‘For almost all of the long history of disputes between judges and Parliament, it has been common ground that Parliament is the ultimate law-maker, and that it is not for the judges to be legislators.
'It is essential to democracy that the elected representatives of the people make the laws that govern this country – and not the judges. Yet some judges seem to believe they can ignore Parliament’s wishes. A minority think it is their role to determine whether or not foreigners who commit serious crimes shall be deported.’
Stern: The new laws will spell out in clear terms that violent foreign criminals must be sent home
Mrs May warned them not to attempt to defy the new laws, which will spell out in clear terms that violent foreign criminals must be sent home.
‘Once primary legislation has been enacted, it is surely inconceivable that judges will maintain that it is they, rather than Parliament, who are entitled to decide how to balance the foreigner’s right to family life against our nation’s right to protect itself,’ she said.
The new law would be too late to stop some violent attacks which would have been prevented had the judges done as she told them, Mrs May added.
'It is essential to democracy that the elected representatives of the people make the laws that govern this country'
Theresa May
‘The inevitable delays in passing primary legislation will mean there will be many more foreign criminals who avoid deportation on the basis that they have a family here,’ she said. ‘There will also be more victims of violent crimes committed by foreigners who should have been, and could have been, deported.’
Her comments are a slap in the face for Immigration and Asylum Tribunal president Sir Nicholas Blake, who co-founded Matrix, the chambers where Cherie Blair works.
Last February, the Appeal Court quashed a ruling in which Mr Justice Blake had allowed Rocky Gurung, from Nepal, to remain in the UK despite being jailed for manslaughter for being part of a gang that beat a man before throwing his body into the Thames.
The judge upheld Gurung’s claim that deporting him to Nepal would breach his ‘right to family life’, even though he was single, had no children and lived with his parents.
But the Appeal Court judges said the judgment was an ‘error’ and looked like a ‘search for reasons for not deporting him’.
'IT IS NOT FOR JUDGES TO BE LEGISLATORS': HOME SECRETARY'S PUBLIC ATTACK ON REBEL JUDGES
By Theresa May
Unless there are very exceptional circumstances, foreigners who have committed serious crimes in this country, or who have attempted to cheat the immigration system, should be deported from Britain.
Parliament wants that to happen, the public wants that to happen, and I want that to happen. But, too often, it is not happening. Time and time again we are treated to the spectacle of people who have been found guilty of rape or serious assault being given the right to stay in this country.
It is not in the national interest that this situation continues. What is going on? The short answer is that some of our judges appear to have got it into their heads that Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights, the ‘right to family life’, is an absolute, unqualified right.
Fight: The right to family life is not an absolute right, it is a qualified right, says the Home Secretary
This means that if a foreign criminal can show that he has a family in this country, they take the view he has a right to remain here, regardless of the gravity of the offences.
That interpretation is wrong. The Convention is quite plain: the right to family life is not an absolute right, like the right not to be tortured. It is a qualified right, and it can be restricted when that is required, for example, to protect public safety, or for the prevention of crime.
I thought that possibly the problem for the judges was that our Parliament had not explicitly stated how the right to family life could be restricted.
So in June last year I ensured that the House of Commons was able to debate my amendments to the immigration rules.
Those amendments stated that in the usual case, any foreign national who was convicted of a serious crime should be deported, regardless of whether or not the criminal had a family in the UK.
After a vigorous debate, the Commons adopted the changes unanimously. There was no division because there was no one in the Commons who opposed them.
I made it clear that I would introduce primary legislation should the Commons’ acceptance of my amendments not be sufficient to persuade judges to change the way they interpreted Article Eight. But I hoped that the outcome of the debate would be enough.
Unfortunately, some judges evidently do not regard a debate in Parliament on new immigration rules, followed by the unanimous adoption of those rules, as evidence that Parliament actually wants to see those new rules implemented.
As a justification for ignoring the new rules, one immigration judge recently stated that ‘the procedure adopted in relation to the introduction of the new rules provided a weak form of Parliamentary scrutiny. Parliament has not altered the legal duty of the judge determining appeals to decide on proportionality for him or herself’.
Some judges seem to believe that they can ignore Parliament's wishes if they think that the procedures for parliamentary scrutiny have been 'weak'
Just think for a moment what this judge is claiming. He is asserting that he can ignore the unanimous adoption by the Commons of new immigration rules on the grounds that he thinks this is a ‘weak form of parliamentary scrutiny’.
I find it difficult to see how that can be squared with the central idea of our constitution, which is that Parliament makes the law, and judges interpret what that law is and make sure the executive complies with it.
For almost all of the long history of disputes between judges and Parliament, it has been common ground that Parliament is the ultimate law-maker, and that it is not for the judges to be legislators. It is essential to democracy that the elected representatives of the people make the laws that govern this country – and not the judges.
Yet some judges seem to believe that they can ignore Parliament’s wishes if they think that the procedures for parliamentary scrutiny have been ‘weak’. That appears actually to mean that they can ignore Parliament when they think it came to the wrong conclusion.
Vigorously debated: Parliament wants to see the new rules implemented, says the Home Secretary
Most judges, especially in our higher courts, do not take this attitude. One High Court judge, for example, has explicitly recognised that the new rules are ‘unquestionably valid laws, democratically enacted under a procedure which is necessary for the efficient practical functioning of Parliament’.
The majority of judges share his view. BUT a minority think that it is their role to determine, for instance, whether or not foreigners who commit serious crimes shall be deported. They are able to frustrate Government policy and prevent the deportation of criminals.
It is now clear that only explicit parliamentary legislation will convince them that the law is what Parliament says it is, not what they think it should be.
I am therefore determined to introduce primary legislation that will specify that foreign nationals who commit serious crimes shall, except in extraordinary circumstances, be deported. Once this primary legislation has been enacted, it is surely inconceivable that judges in this country will maintain that it is they, rather than Parliament, who are entitled to decide how to balance the foreigner’s right to family life against our nation’s right to protect itself.
It is depressing that the steps we have already taken should have been insufficient to produce that result. The inevitable delays inherent in passing primary legislation will mean that there will be many more foreign criminals who successfully avoid deportation on the basis that they have a family here.
There will also be more victims of violent crimes committed by foreigners in this country – foreigners who should have been, and could have been, deported.
This is not a dispute about respect for human rights, which I certainly agree is an essential part of any decent legal system. It is about how to balance rights against each other: in particular, the individual’s right to family life, the right of the individual to be free from violent crime, and the right of society to protect itself against foreign criminals.
One of the most distressing results of judges taking it on themselves to determine how that balance should be struck, in defiance of Parliament’s wishes, has been the damage done to the notion of human rights: in the popular imagination, ‘human rights’ are wrongly, but perhaps understandably, becoming synonymous with legal dodges that allow criminals to escape proper punishment and to continue to prey on the public.
I am a great admirer of most of the judges in Britain.
I absolutely accept that the power of Ministers should be reviewed and restrained by independent judges who are appointed, not elected, and who are not accountable to the electorate for their decisions.
But the law in this country is made by the elected representatives of the people in Parliament. And our democracy is subverted when judges decide to take on that role for themselves.
Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279842/Theresa-May-Home-Secretary-vows-crush-judges-revolt-rushing-tough-new-laws.html#ixzz2LBVGSMip
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