Immigration law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Immigration law - Essay Example However, the blurring of the distinction between the need to legislate for immigration on the one hand and protection from terrorism on the other is further perpetuated by the patchwork of piecemeal immigration legislation in the UK, which is further compounded by the legal rights of asylum seekers. On the other side of the legal spectrum, the implementation of the Human Rights Act in 1998 (HRA) enshrines the fundamental rights and freedoms of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law. From an immigration policy perspective, the most important rights relied on in immigration cases have been the Article 5 right, which prohibits detention without trial and the right not to be subjected to degrading treatment under Article 3. Additionally, Article 14 guarantees rights under the ECHR. On the one hand, these fundamental freedoms are essential to the function of the UK as a democracy. On the other hand, the reliance on the ECHR rights through the HRA 1998 arguably undermines immigration rules and legislation, which enables the UK immigration system to be exploited1. However, it is precisely this paradox within the law that enables the changing Governmental policy from circumventing both entrenched immigration and asylum rules and human rights protection on grounds of â€Å"national security†2. This is particularly evidenced by the implementation of the controversial Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2003 (ACTSA), which permits derogation from the ECHR. The contradictory nature of UK immigration policy and compliance with human rights highlights the inherent flaw in enacting knee jerk legislative responses to socio-economic issues. This further highlighted by the dichotomy in protection afforded by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) 1950 and the Convention on the Status of Refugees 1951