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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions >> Myckoo, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] EWHC 2778 (Admin) (30 October 2008) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2008/2778.html Cite as: [2008] EWHC 2778 (Admin) |
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QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Strand London WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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THE QUEEN ON THE APPLICATION OF CARL MYCKOO | Claimant | |
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SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT | Defendant |
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Jeremy Johnson (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) appeared on behalf of the Defendant
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"As a result of Mrs Williams' depressive illness [that is a reference to the claimant's mother [wife]], Talian's (sic) epilepsy and behaviour disorder and the absence of the support of the father of the family, the whole family are functioning at a very low level and are almost bordering on practical and emotional collapse. Talian needs to go to school in a year's time and with the way the family is running at present her attendance at school would be highly unlikely. I think this family needs a continuous and comprehensive package of support, both medical and social, for the foreseeable future. I believe a good part of this package should be provided by the father of the family. Thus I believe the support of the family's father is a very important item in the future well-being and stability of this family."
The other correspondence from the professionals draws attention to the extent of the epilepsy and the effect that this was having upon the life of Taliah and her family.
"The Secretary of State has given careful consideration as to whether your deportation would result in a breach of Article 8 of the ECHR and therefore jeopardise your right to family life."
Reference is then made to the condition of Taliah and her epilepsy, and to information that is available to the Home Office at that point about facilities for providing care in Jamaica. Consideration is also given to other aspects of Taliah and the family life.
"I don't accept, on the evidence before me, that there is any reason why the Appellant cannot return to Jamaica with his wife and family. I bear in mind that Mrs Williams was aware of the Appellant's tenuous status when she entered into a relationship with him and made plans for a family. Whilst it may be that at the moment the couple have nowhere to live in Jamaica nor any job there, I find those are not compassionate circumstances against deportation, nor do I find significant that Mrs Stephenson would be potentially left behind in the UK."
I should add that Mrs Stevenson is the grandmother to whom I referred earlier.
"18... but I do not accept either are compelling arguments against the right of the state to control the entry of non-nationals given that Article 8 does not impose on any state a general obligation to respect the choice of a couples residence. Any interference would be in accordance with the law and would have legitimate aims. I must take into account the fact the Appellant and his wife were conscious at the beginning of their relationship that he had no status to remain here, which militates against the findings that an order excluding the Appellant violates Article 8."
"20... Alternatively, I find it is open to Mrs Williams not to accompany the Appellant with the children as she chooses. Alternatively, the Appellant can make an out of country application to join his wife and children in the UK."
It is submitted that that last sentence is out of date for reasons I will come to shortly.
"2... The Adjudicator took into account that the appellant would return to Jamaica without a job or home and accepted there would be a measure of hardship for Mrs Williams (the appellant's wife) and his daughter Taliah who suffers from epilepsy. He recognised that the medical facilities in Jamaica might be less good than in the United Kingdom."
And addresses the circumstances before making no order for reconsideration.
"... he has played a major part in caring for the family and this has enabled Ms Williams to get a job and financially support them all. Mr Myckoo has taken their little boy to school, collected him, cared for both children during school holidays and has attended meetings in school about Taliah.
Taliah is on daily medication and is way behind her chronological age in her learning."
And she develops that.
"This is a hard case; but there is nothing of substance in the evidence now relied upon which was not considered by the adjudicator when he rejected the claimant's appeal. The reports considered by him, in particular of Dr Partovi - Tabar of 29th September 2003, make it plain that the consequences of his decision for the claimant's family, and in particular Talian (sic), would be severe; but nevertheless, he dismissed the appeal, as he was entitled to do.
Likewise, the defendant refused entitled to refuse to treat the new representations as a 'fresh claim' under paragraph 353."
There is then reference to this claim, unlike many others, not being an abuse of process.
"The submissions will amount to a fresh claim if they are significantly different from the material that has previously been considered. The submissions will only be significantly different if the content:
(i) had not already been considered; and
(ii) taken together with the previously considered material, created a realistic prospect of success, notwithstanding its rejection."
"5... should the immigration appellate authorities take account of the impact of [an applicant's] proposed removal upon all those sharing family life with him or only its impact upon him personally (taking account of the impact on other family members only indirectly ie. only insofar as this would in turn have an effect upon him)?"
"4... To insist that an appeal to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal consider only the effect upon other family members as it affects the appellant, and that a judicial review brought by other family members considers only the effect upon the appellant as it affects them, is not only artificial and impracticable. It also risks missing the central point about family life, which is that the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts. The right to respect for the family life of one necessarily encompasses the right to respect for the family life of others, normally a spouse or minor children, with whom that family life is enjoyed."
"27... It seems likely that under the policy previously in force (which the tribunal obviously had in mind) the appellant could have hoped to make a successful application for the revocation of the deportation order after at the most ten years' absence from the United Kingdom, whereas under the current policy he could expect to be excluded from this country permanently."
That is a consideration that is new today, and seems to me is without merit, because, as counsel for the defendant pointed out, the difference between possibly 10 years and permanent exclusion, in the context of a girl who is already 9 years old, is not one which could be expected to carry much, if any, weight with a fresh decision.
"25... I think Miss Knights was also right in saying that the tribunal failed to give adequate consideration to the position of L and the interference that the appellant's deportation would have on her private and family rights, a point which I touched on earlier. That is not something for which the tribunal can really be criticised, however. Although its attention was drawn to the decision of this court in AB (Jamaica)... in which Sedley L.J. pointed out that the rights of the spouse of a person facing removal were as fully engaged as those of the appellant, it did not have the benefit of the recent decision of the House of Lords in Beoku-Betts... in which their Lordships confirmed that in cases of this kind account must be taken of the effect of removal on the family unit as a whole."
There are further observations to similar effect.
"(3) Removal or exclusion of one family member from a state where other members of the family are lawfully resident will not necessarily infringe Art 8 provided that there are no insurmountable obstacles to the family living together in the country of origin of the family member excluded, even where this involves a degree of hardship for some or all members of the family."