RA (S117C: ‘Unduly Harsh’; Offence: Seriousness) Iraq: UTIAC 4 Mar 2019

(1) In KO (Nigeria) and Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] UKSC 53, the approval by the Supreme Court of the test of ‘unduly harsh’ in section 117C(5) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, formulated by the Upper Tribunal in MK (Sierra Leone) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] UKUT 223 (IAC), does not mean that the test includes the way in which the Upper Tribunal applied its formulation to the facts of the case before it.
(2) The way in which a court or tribunal should approach section 117C remains as set out in the judgment of Jackson LJ in NA (Pakistan) and Another v Secretary of State [2016] EWCA Civ 662.
(3) Section 117C(6) applies to both categories of foreign criminals described by Lord Carnwath in paragraph 20 of KO (Nigeria); namely, those who have not been sentenced to imprisonment of 4 years or more, and those who have. Determining the seriousness of the particular offence will normally be by reference to the length of sentence imposed and what the sentencing judge had to say about seriousness and mitigation; but the ultimate decision is for the court or tribunal deciding the deportation case.
(4) Rehabilitation will not ordinarily bear material weight in favour of a foreign criminal.

Citations:

[2019] UKUT 123 (IAC)

Links:

Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Immigration

Updated: 04 July 2022; Ref: scu.637764