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Immigration Law

Bail/Detention Matters

Nationwide Solicitors provide advice and expert opinion on all aspect of detention, Bail, Port Removal, illegal entry, administrative removal, deportation, criminal offences enforcement procedures and appeals including temporary admission, temporary release and restriction orders.

Bail the Right to Liberty - This briefing by Bail for Immigration Detainees

Freedom from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment is a fundamental human right, legally enforceable throughout the UK by virtue of the Human Rights Act 1998.

However the number of asylum seekers in detention increases steadily. Families/individuals are incarcerated every day by immigration officials under various immigration acts from 1971 to 2002, which supersede UK civil laws.

All detainees have the right to make bail and can and should consult us at Nationwide Solicitors to make an urgent bail application.

The law offers you Protection

When the Immigration Service detains you, it may seem as if the system offers you no protection and bail applications are sometimes frustrating. But there is some protection for you in the law.

The Right to Liberty is a basic human right.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (the UNHCR) says that the detention of asylum seekers "is undesirable".

Presumption in favour of liberty

The Guidance Notes on Bail for Adjudicators say that the adjudicator should assume you should be free unless the Immigration Service can show that your detention is necessary. This idea is called the presumption in favour of liberty.

The Home Office wrote guidelines for Immigration Officers telling them what to think about when deciding to detain someone.

Immigration Officers should follow these guidelines, which remind them that there is a presumption in favour of liberty.

Governments do have the power to detain some people, but only if they can show that detention is necessary.

In the UK, the law gives the Immigration Service the power to detain some people, but bail applications in the Immigration Courts allow you to challenge this detention.

Even if the Immigration Service has the power to detain you, the Immigration Service must show that your detention is necessary otherwise you must be released.

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To show that your detention is necessary, the Immigration Service must:

· Show that there are "strong grounds for believing you will not comply with conditions of temporary admission or temporary release".

· Show that there is no alternative to detention

· Have evidence to show that what they are saying is correct if you challenge what they are saying.

If the Immigration Service cannot do these things, the adjudicator should release you.

In your bail application, you need to show that the Immigration Service has weak or no reasons for detaining you.

The main thing that the adjudicator will think about is whether or not he/she believes that you will stay in contact with the authorities if released. If he/she thinks you will stay in contact, he/she should release you.

If you are detained - You have the Right to Regular Bail Applications
The right to regular bail applications gives you some protection against the Immigration Service's power to detain you.

You can control how often your detention is reviewed by choosing when to make a bail application.

The Immigration Service must show at every bail application that detention is necessary.

If you are not released at your first bail application, keep making bail applications so that there are regular reviews of the decision to detain you. If bail is refused the first time, it does not mean that it will always be refused in future.

If something changes in your case that you think will make your bail application make a bail application as soon as possible.

If nothing changes on your case, but you have been detained 28 days or more your last bail application, you can make a new bail application. The adjudicator in your new bail application must look at your arguments and decide if it is still right to detain you in the light of the extra time you have spent in detention.

There is no limit on the number of bail applications that you can make, but there are sometimes reasons to wait between bail applications.

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When we at Nationwide Solicitors are preparing Applications for Release this includes information on
* understanding your rights and making decisions about your case for release
* instructing us as your representative more effectively to make bail applications for your release
* finding out more detailed reasons for your detention from the Immigration Service
* collecting information and documents that could support applications for release
* exercising your rights

We at Nationwide Solicitors believe that people should be represented by Solicitors in bail applications even if there's not enough public funding for representation in regular bail applications. It is necessary to emphasis that a legal representative is the best person to prepare and present bail applications for successful release.

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If you would like to obtain legal advice on an immigration matter then please contact our Immigration solicitors on 020 8983 8944 or by email on info@nwsolicitors.com.

Immigration Law

Bail/Detention Matters

Nationwide Solicitors provide advice and expert opinion on all aspect of detention, Bail, Port Removal, illegal entry, administrative removal, deportation, criminal offences enforcement procedures and appeals including temporary admission, temporary release and restriction orders.

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