MPs told bill’s clause is an ‘abomination’

The proposal to stop judges reviewing asylum decisions in the
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) Bill was
attacked as an “abomination” by the Immigration Law Practitioners’
Association last week.

“To deprive immigration decisions of judicial scrutiny is draconian
and a constitutional abomination”, said the association’s Laurie
Fransman in evidence to the House of Commons select committee on
constitutional affairs.

Nick Oakeshott, of the Refugee Legal Centre, told the committee
that the move could conflict with the UK’s obligations under the
European Convention on Human Rights.

Chairperson of the Bar Council Stephen Irwin said lawyers and
others who worked with asylum cases felt strongly about the clause.
He warned it could seal off asylum work from mainstream legal
practice.