The Aliens Order of 1919 empowered the Secretary of State to make a deportation order against an alien if he deemed it to be conducive to the public good. The Home Secretary had expressed no concluded view that the critical allegations, namely taking women to a foreign country for the purpose of exploiting them and deriving money from their prostitution, were true. It was contended that the Home Secretary could not lawfully make the order without holding an enquiry.
Held: The Home Secretary is not bound to hear representations on behalf of a proposed deportee, even though, in practice he may do so. It was not for the court to pronounce whether the making of the order was or was not for the public good and further that: ‘in dealing with a regulation such as that with which we are now concerned the value of the order would be considerably impaired if it could be made only after holding an inquiry, because it might very well be that the person against whom it was intended to make a deportation order would, the moment he had notice of that intention, take care not to present himself and would take steps to evade apprehension. I therefore come to the conclusion that the Home Secretary is not a judicial officer for this purpose, but an executive officer bound to act for the public good, and it is left to his judgment whether upon the facts before him it is desirable that he should make a deportation order.’
Judges:
Earl of Reading CJ
Citations:
[1920] 3 KB 72, [1920] All ER 157
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Governor of Brixton Prison, ex parte Soblen CA 1963
Lord Denning MR discussed a decision to deport the applicant. The validity of the Minister’s act: ‘depends on the purpose with which the act is done.: ‘If it was done for an authorised purpose, it was lawful. If it was done professedly for an . .
Cited – Schmidt and Another v Secretary of State for Home Affairs CA 19-Dec-1968
The plaintiffs had come to England to study at a college run by the Church of Scientology, and now complained that their student visas had not been extended so as to allow them to complete their studies. They said that the decision had been made for . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Immigration, Administrative
Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.516249