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1 Mitre Court Buildings invites you to a Quiz Night to raise funds for disaster relief in Haiti

(entry £5/person)

To enter or join a team, please call the clerks on 020 7452 8900, or email clerks@1mcb.com

23/09/2009

Paul Richmond to return to full time practice

1 Mitre Court Buildings is pleased to announce that Paul Richmond will be returning to the immigration team in January 2010.

 

Paul has spent the last year reading for an LL.M in International Human Rights Law at the University of Essex. In addition to furthering his legal studies, Paul has used his absence from Chambers as an opportunity to continue his impressive commitment to international pro bono work. Projects that he has undertaken include having:

 

◦ Advised a group of Zimbabwean lawyers on the liability of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe for aiding and abetting crimes against humanity;

◦ Updated the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights manual entitled "Human Rights in the Administration of Justice";

◦ Monitored the trial of 7 Gambian journalists before the Banjul High Court on charges of ‘sedition and defamation'.

 

In October 2009, Paul is scheduled to act as rapporteur on a high-level judicial system needs assessment mission that is being sent to Kenya by the International Bar Association and the International Legal Assistance Consortium. He will then return to full-time practice in early November 2009.

 

If you would like to discuss Paul's availability to undertake immigration work then please contact Michelle Hughton on: michelle.hughton@1mcb.com or 0207 452 8900.

15/09/2009

MA (Pakistan) [2009] EWCA Civ 953

Simon Canter has recently had success in this important Court of Appeal authority which clarifies the extent to which the House of Lords' case of Chikwamba applies in Article 8 cases.

 

MA had been a student in the UK and had married a British citizen during his time here. He fell out with his father in Pakistan to the extent that he was concerned for his safety in his home country. His leave as a student was cancelled by the Home Office after he dropped out of college and started working. He appealed against this decision on the basis that he had developed a family life in the UK with his wife.

 

Before the AIT the IJ had dismissed the appeal despite finding that if MA returned to Pakistan and made a 281 (spouse) application he would be likely to be granted Entry Clearance. The IJ made this decision despite citing the House of Lords' decision in Chikwamba [2008] UKHL 40 in his determination.

 

Sullivan LJ overturned the decision, noting that the general approach recommended in Chikwamba [of not insisting on return to apply for entry clearance] was not confined to cases involving children and "also applies to family cases more generally" (paragraph 7 of the judgment). This comment will be helpful if the Home Office attempt to enforce return to re-apply for Entry Clearance on the basis that there are no children involved.

 

The judgment also makes it clear that the lingering "insurmountable obstacles" test ought not to be applied (see EB (Kosovo) UKHL 41 and VW (Uganda) [2009] EWCA 5).