Deportation of criminals
Deportation of criminals
Under Section 32 UK Borders Act 2007, a person may be deported if they are not a British Citizen and have been convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months - unless an exception under section 33 applies.
32 Automatic deportation
(1)In this section "foreign criminal" means a person-
(a)who is not a British citizen,
(b)who is convicted in the United Kingdom of an offence, and
(c)to whom Condition 1 or 2 applies.
(2)Condition 1 is that the person is sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months.
(3)Condition 2 is that-
(a)the offence is specified by order of the Secretary of State under section 72(4)(a) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (c. 41) (serious criminal), and
(b)the person is sentenced to a period of imprisonment.
(4)For the purpose of section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971 (c. 77), the deportation of a foreign criminal is conducive to the public good.
(5)The Secretary of State must make a deportation order in respect of a foreign criminal (subject to section 33).
(6)The Secretary of State may not revoke a deportation order made in accordance with subsection (5) unless-
(a)he thinks that an exception under section 33 applies,
(b)the application for revocation is made while the foreign criminal is outside the United Kingdom, or
(c)section 34(4) applies.
(7)Subsection (5) does not create a private right of action in respect of consequences of non-compliance by the Secretary of State.
33 Exceptions
(1)Section 32(4) and (5)-
(a)do not apply where an exception in this section applies (subject to subsection (7) below), and
(b)are subject to sections 7 and 8 of the Immigration Act 1971 (Commonwealth citizens, Irish citizens, crew and other exemptions).
(2)Exception 1 is where removal of the foreign criminal in pursuance of the deportation order would breach-
(a)a person's Convention rights, or
(b)the United Kingdom's obligations under the Refugee Convention.
(3)Exception 2 is where the Secretary of State thinks that the foreign criminal was under the age of 18 on the date of conviction.
(4)Exception 3 is where the removal of the foreign criminal from the United Kingdom in pursuance of a deportation order would breach rights of the foreign criminal under the [F1EU] treaties.
(5)Exception 4 is where the foreign criminal-
(a)is the subject of a certificate under section 2 or 70 of the Extradition Act 2003 (c. 41),
(b)is in custody pursuant to arrest under section 5 of that Act,
(c)is the subject of a provisional warrant under section 73 of that Act,
(d)is the subject of an authority to proceed under section 7 of the Extradition Act 1989 (c. 33) or an order under paragraph 4(2) of Schedule 1 to that Act, or
(e)is the subject of a provisional warrant under section 8 of that Act or of a warrant under paragraph 5(1)(b) of Schedule 1 to that Act.
(6)Exception 5 is where any of the following has effect in respect of the foreign criminal-
(a)a hospital order or guardianship order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (c. 20),
(b)a hospital direction under section 45A of that Act,
(c)a transfer direction under section 47 of that Act,
(d)a compulsion order under section 57A of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 46),
(e)a guardianship order under section 58 of that Act,
(f)a hospital direction under section 59A of that Act,
(g)a transfer for treatment direction under section 136 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 (asp 13), or
(h)an order or direction under a provision which corresponds to a provision specified in paragraphs (a) to (g) and which has effect in relation to Northern Ireland.
(6A)Exception 6 is where the Secretary of State thinks that the application of section 32(4) and (5) would contravene the United Kingdom's obligations under the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (done at Warsaw on 16th May 2005).
(6B)Exception 7 is where-
(a)the foreign criminal is a relevant person, and
(b)the offence for which the foreign criminal was convicted as mentioned in section 32(1)(b) consisted of or included conduct that took place before IP completion day.
(6C)For the purposes of subsection (6B), a foreign criminal is a "relevant person"-
(a)if the foreign criminal is in the United Kingdom (whether or not they have entered within the meaning of section 11(1) of the Immigration Act 1971) having arrived with entry clearance granted by virtue of relevant entry clearance immigration rules,
(b)if the foreign criminal has leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom granted by virtue of residence scheme immigration rules,
(c)if the foreign criminal may be granted leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom as a person who has a right to enter the United Kingdom by virtue of-
(i)Article 32(1)(b) of the EU withdrawal agreement,
(ii)Article 31(1)(b) of the EEA EFTA separation agreement, or
(iii)Article 26a(1)(b) of the Swiss citizens' rights agreement,
whether or not the foreign criminal has been granted such leave, or
(d)if the foreign criminal may enter the United Kingdom by virtue of regulations made under section 8 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (frontier workers), whether or not the foreign criminal has entered by virtue of those regulations.
(6D)In this section-
"EEA EFTA separation agreement" and "Swiss citizens' rights agreement" have the same meanings as in the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 (see section 39(1) of that Act);
"relevant entry clearance immigration rules" and "residence scheme immigration rules" have the meanings given by section 17 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020.]
(7)The application of an exception-
(a)does not prevent the making of a deportation order;
(b)results in it being assumed neither that deportation of the person concerned is conducive to the public good nor that it is not conducive to the public good;
but section 32(4) applies despite the application of Exception 1 or 4.
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