R v Governor of Ashford Remand Centre, ex parte Bouzagou
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 22 June 1983 |
| Date | 22 June 1983 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Lawton and Dillon LJJ
Nicholas Blake for the appellant.
Alan Moses for the respondent.
Cases referred to in the judgment:
Khawaja (and Khera) v Secretary of State for the Home DepartmentUNKWLR [1983] 1 All ER 765, [1983] 2 WLR 321, [1982, Appendix] Imm AR 139, HL.
Lim Chin Aik v The QueenELR [1963] AC 160, PC.
R v Governor of Pentonville Prison, ex parte AzamELR [1974] AC 18, HL.
Illegal entrant Directions for removal Original permitted entry for one month Overstayed then went to Republic of Ireland Returned thence via Liverpool where there was no immigration officer Conviction for attempted theft followed by order for detention pending removal Whether he had entered unlawfully Immigration Act 1971 s. 33(1), Schedule 2 para 16(2) Immigration (Control of Entry Through Republic of Ireland) (Amendment) Order 1979 (S.I. 1979/730).
The applicant, a citizen of Morocco, was admitted for one month on 20 April 1977. His application for an extension, made after the expiry of his permitted stay, was refused on 15 August 1977. He later left for the Republic of Ireland where he married a citizen of that country. After the breakdown of the marriage he came by ship to Liverpool, where there was no immigration officer to deal with passengers from the Republic. According to him he was interviewed and admitted by an official in plain clothes. After conviction for attempted theft an order under Schedule 2 paragraph 16(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 for his detention pending removal was issued. The present appeal arose from the refusal by the Divisional Court to grant him a writ of habeas corpus against the respondent.
Held: (i) The appellant was prohibited from entering the United Kingdom unless he was given leave in writing by an immigration officer.
(ii) He had not been given such leave and his entry was unlawful.
Lawton LJ: This is an appeal by Mr Ahmed Bouzagou against a refusal by Woolf J, made on 30 March 1983, to grant him a Writ of Habeas Corpus against the Governor of the Ashford Remand Centre, where the applicant has been detained since 15 February 1983 awaiting directions for his removal from the United Kingdom pursuant to the provisions of Schedule 2, paragraph 16(2) of the Immigration Act 1971. Those directions to the Governor were given on the ground that the applicant was an illegal entrant into the United Kingdom. The applicant has submitted that he was not an illegal entrant; alternatively, that even if he were he did not know he was, and the respondent has not suggested that he did know. Surprisingly, the point which has arisen for decision in this case has never before, as far as the researches of counsel go, come before the courts.
Mr Bouzagou, who is about 29 years of age, entered the United Kingdom on 20 April 1977. He is a Moroccan citizen. On entry he was given one month's leave to stay in the United Kingdom. He did not go after one month. It follows, and he must have known it followed, that his continued stay here was illegal. Some time after the month had expired he applied to the Immigration Department of the Home Office for an extension of time to stay in the United Kingdom, giving as his reason that he wished to start as a student at a language school in Cambridge. It is clear from the investigations which have been carried out by the Home Office that he almost certainly had no such intention. He continued to stay in the United Kingdom for some time. His application for an extension of time was refused on 15 August 1977. Some time after that date, which has not clearly been established, he left the United Kingdom and went to stay in the Republic of Ireland. Whilst there he married an Irish girl. He had two children by her. The marriage broke down. A court in the Republic of Ireland made an order prohibiting him from cohabiting with his wife. On 13 January 1983 he left the Republic by boat which arrived at Liverpool. According to him, his object in coming to the United Kingdom was to renew his Moroccan passport at the Moroccan Embassy in London. He had to come, so he says, because there was not a Moroccan Embassy in Dublin.
From this point onwards it is difficult to say where the truth lies so far as his assertions are concerned. The evidence in the case consists of an affidavit sworn by his solicitor. It is an affidavit of information and belief. The information came from the applicant. The applicant has since been interrogated by an Immigration Officer, who has sworn a long affidavit, from which it is clear that the applicant has considerable difficulty in giving reliable information about what he has been doing and his reasons for doing it. In those circumstances I propose to be somewhat selective about subsequent events.
There is no doubt, however, that he did arrive by boat at Liverpool from Dublin on 13 January 1983. On the landing stage at Liverpool there is a notice under the Immigration Act telling those who have no right to stay in the United Kingdom what they should do. Unfortunately, it is a notice which has not been brought up to date as the result of the issuing of a Statutory Instrument in 1979, to which I shall refer later. It is a fact, which is admitted on behalf of the respondent, that at Liverpool there is no Immigration...
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