REVIEW BY TRIBUNAL OF DETERMINATION OF ADJUDICATION (Hansard, 15 May 1969)

§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Merlyn Rees)
I beg to move, That this House doth agree with the Lords in the said Amendment.

§ Mr. Speaker
It would be convenient I think to discuss, at the same time, Lords Amendments Nos. 2, in page 5, line 24, leave out "(a)", and 3, in page 5, leave out lines 29 to 33 and insert— and (b) if leave to appeal under this section is by virtue of the rules required in a case where the adjudicator has dismissed an appeal under the said section 2(1)(a) the authority having power under the rules to grant leave shall grant it if satisfied that the person who was the appellant before the adjudicator held an entry certificate at the time of the refusal which was the subject of the appeal.

§ Mr. Rees
We are sorry that the hon. Member for Colchester (Mr. Buck) is unwell. We were expecting him to be dealing with this matter.
The first two Amendments are paving Amendments for No. 3. The purpose of that one is to ensure that a holder of an entry certificate is not necessarily entitled to appeal to the Tribunal without leave when there is a dispute over the validity of the entry certificate. In its present form, the Clause provides that the holder is entitled to appeal without leave. But there could be a dispute as to whether the Commonwealth citizen concerned was, in fact, the holder of an entry certificate. The immigration service might allege that the certificate on which he relied was no longer valid, had been issued to someone else or was a forgery.
In such a dispute, it would be uncertain whether or not the Commonwealth citizen needed to obtain leave to appeal. If he did not apply to the adjudicator for leave, it would also be uncertain whether he could be removed from the country under paragraph 4 of Schedule 2 before his 1788 case came before the Tribunal.—[Interruption.]

§ Mr. Speaker
Order. It is difficult for an hon. Member to address the House against a background of many debates.

§ Mr. Rees
To avoid this uncertainty, the Amendments alter Clause 7(2) so that the Commonwealth citizen who claims to hold an entry certificate may, nevertheless, be required to obtain leave to appeal but the adjudicator or Tribunal will be bound to grant leave if satisfied that he holds an entry certificate.