Chief Adjudication Officer v Wolke; Remelien v Secretary of State for Social Security: HL 13 Nov 1997

The claimant was an EC national who had become resident here but was not seeking work, since she cared for her children. The Secretary of State said that since she was not seeking work, she was not entitled to remain and should make arrangements to leave the UK.
Held: The letter asking a claimant to make arrangements to return to his or her own European state was not sufficient of itself to remove his right to claim benefits.

Judges:

Lord Hoffmann

Citations:

Gazette 17-Dec-1997, Times 01-Dec-1997, [1997] UKHL 50, [1998] 1 All ER 129, [1997] 1 WLR 1640, [1998] 1 FLR 444, [1998] 1 FCR 119, [1998] Fam Law 193

Links:

House of Lords, Bailii

Statutes:

Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 21(3)(b), Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 175, Immigration (European Economic Area) Order 1994

Citing:

CitedRegina v Immigration Appeal Tribunal, ex parte Antonissen ECJ 26-Feb-1991
ECJ The free movement of workers enshrined in Article 48 of the Treaty entails the right for nationals of Member States to move freely within the territory of the other Member States and to stay there for the . .
CitedRegina v Stanislaus Pieck ECJ 3-Jul-1980
Any formality for the purpose of granting leave, coupled with a passport or an identity card check at the frontier, was contrary to article 3(2) of Directive 68/360 E.E.C. which prohibited Member States from demanding an entry visa or equivalent . .
CitedCentre Public D’Aide Sociale De Courcelles v Lebon ECJ 18-Jun-1987
A right to equal treatment with regard to social and tax advantages accorded by article 7(2) of Regulation No. 1612/68 E.E.C. applied only to workers and not to nationals of Member States who move in search of employment. The latter were entitled . .
CitedRegina v Secretary of State for Home Department Ex Parte Vitale; Regina v Same Ex Parte Do Amaral QBD 18-Apr-1995
A European Union citizen’s right to stay in UK is not unqualified, he must expect to have to seek or find work. The decision of the Home Secretary could be judicially reviewed and ‘in the course of his appeal before the Social Security Appeal . .

Cited by:

CitedLondon Borough of Barnet v Ismail and Another CA 6-Apr-2006
The court considered the entitlement to housing support of nationals of other EEA states receiving Income Support here despite their being still subject to immigration control.
Held: Such EEA nationals were eligible for housing benefit. The . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Benefits, Immigration, European

Updated: 19 May 2022; Ref: scu.79052