It is unlawful for a person who is not a qualified person to provide immigration advice or services. One route to being a qualified person is to be registered by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner (‘OISC’). The OISC also has powers to investigate and prosecute people suspected of providing such services unlawfully.
Two companies controlled by the Appellant had been registered with the OISC to provide immigration advice and services. But in 2014 both companies’ applications for renewed registrations were refused. There is a statutory right of appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal, which the Appellant in fact exercised, though unsuccessfully. The Employment Tribunal rightly concluded that the FTT route of challenge amounted to an ‘appeal or proceedings in the nature of appeal’ within the meaning of section 120(7) Equality Act 2010; and that its availability therefore meant that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction to entertain discrimination complaints about this conduct. Michalak v General Medical Council [2018] ICR 49 considered.
Some two and a half years later the OISC commenced an investigation into whether the Appellant was unlawfully providing immigration advice or services in circumstances where he was not a qualified person (he contended that the arrangements under which he was then operating meant that he was). This included inviting him to investigation interviews and obtaining a search warrant. The Tribunal held that it could not entertain proposed complaints that this was discriminatory conduct, as this conduct was not within the scope of section 53 of the 2010 Act at all. The Tribunal was right to so conclude.
Citations:
[2020] UKEAT 0271 – 19 – 0611, [2021] ICR 452
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment, Discrimination
Updated: 12 November 2022; Ref: scu.661658
