UK Immigration Cap Unlawful, Declared UK High Court

20 Dec 2010

A legal challenge by the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrantand the English Community Care Association was upheld with judges ruling that ministers had "sidestepped" parliamentary scrutiny. And, this was deemed unlawful by UK High Court. Lord Justice Sullivan and Justice Burton concluded that the British home minister Theresa May had undertaken the step without the approval of parliament.

The same has been announced on 17^th December 2010.

In response to the judgment, Immigration Minister Damian Green said:

'Today's judgment will have no impact on the permanent limit on non-European workers the government will introduce next April.

'This ruling is about process, not policy - the policy of having a limit has not been found to be unlawful.

'The court's ruling rests on a technicality. We will set this right in the next few days to ensure we can continue to operate an interim limit.

'We remain firmly committed to reducing net migration to the tens of thousands, and will continue to do everything in our power to prevent a rush of applications before our more permanent measures are in place.'

However, the English Community Care Association said the cap was implemented without regard for how it would affect care providers. Vacancies could not be filled by British staff. There is insufficient demand for these jobs among the UK Citizens and residents.

The immigration cap has been highly controversial, even within the UK Government.