Supreme Court ruling on precariousness in Article 8 Immigration cases

The Supreme Court gave judgment today in an appeal in which Lisa Giovannetti QC represented the Home Secretary.

The Supreme Court was considering the interpretation of section 117B(5) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, which sets out the approach to immigration claims based on the "private life" aspect of Article 8 ECHR, and provides that little should be given to an applicant's private life if it was established in the UK at a time when his or her immigration status was precarious.  The Court unanimously agreed with the Home Office's argument that a "bright line" approach should be adopted: Everyone who, not being a UK citizen, is present in the UK and who has leave to reside here other than to do so indefinitely, has a precarious immigration status for the purposes of section 117B (5).