§ Lord Tebbitasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 16 October (WA 135), whether the United Kingdom remains sovereign in respect of its immigration policy. [HL5430]
§ Baroness Scotland of AsthalThe United Kingdom's sovereignty over its immigration policy remains unchanged following the European Court of Justice (ECJ) case of Akrich.
Following the European Court of Justice case of Surinder Singh, which was delivered in 1992, the non-EEA family member of a British national, who has worked in another member state, may claim a right to enter and remain in the UK under EC law instead of the UK's Immigration Rules. In the European Court of Justice case of Akrich, the court was asked to determine whether a member state could refuse to apply the Surinder Singh judgment to a British citizen 253WA who had deliberately moved to another member state with the express intention of creating an initial right of residence in the UK for their third country national spouse.
The European Court of Justice ruling in the case of Akrich supports the UK's view that third country nationals who are illegally in the UK, and marry British citizens, should not be able to use EC law to remain here. It will allow the UK to continue to be able to apply its national immigration legislation in such cases.