A judge has made a ruling stating that significant portions of the UK government’s Illegal Migration Act are in breach of human rights laws in Northern Ireland. Mr Justice Humphreys said several elements of the act, designed to enable the UK government to detain and deport asylum seekers that it regards as having arrived illegally in the country, were in breach of both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Windsor Framework. The latter is a post-Brexit deal that formalised the UK’s commitment to Good Friday Agreement human rights provisions in Northern Ireland.
Although primarily a trade agreement, the Windsor Framework also contains a human rights element that upholds the Good Friday Agreement’s human rights commitments. The Good Friday deal was brokered in 1998 and led to the end of three decades of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and an Iranian 16-year-old asylum seeker living in the country brought the legal challenge.
Dr Tony McGleenan KC, who represented the UK government in the case, said that they were considering an appeal. Representatives of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission welcomed the ruling, stating that they were concerned about the act’s impact on asylum seekers in the country. Phoenix Law, which represented the Iranian asylum seeker, said the ruling was significant and ensured Good Friday Agreement rights applied to all in the community, including asylum seekers.
A UK government spokesperson said that illegal migration was a priority and that the Illegal Migration Act would contribute to efforts to prevent loss of life, exploitation by criminal gangs and the dangerous crossings of migrants in small boats
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