Committees

Legislative Scrutiny: Illegal Migration Bill

Inquiry

The Joint Committee on Human Rights is conducting legislative scrutiny of the Illegal Migration Bill as the Bill engages numerous rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) which are given effect in domestic law by the Human Rights Act 1998 (“the HRA”).

The Illegal Migration Bill was introduced in the House of Commons on 7 March 2023 and had its Second Reading debate on 13 March.  Upon introduction of the Bill the Home Secretary, the Rt Hon Suella Braverman KC MP, made a statement required under the HRA that she was unable to certify that the provisions of the Bill are compatible with Convention rights but nevertheless wishes the House to proceed with the Bill (this is known as a section 19 (1) (b) statement).

The Government has said that purpose of the Bill is to “create a scheme whereby anyone arriving illegally in the UK will be promptly removed to their home country or to a safe third country to have any asylum claim processed”. The Government has also said the Bill will:

  • deter illegal entry into the UK;
  • break the business model of the people smugglers and save lives;
  • promptly remove those with no legal right to remain in the UK; and
  • make provision for setting an annual cap on the number of people to be admitted to the UK for resettlement through safe and legal asylum routes.

Read our call for evidence.

This inquiry is no longer accepting evidence

The deadline for submissions was 11:00pm on 6 April 2023.

Upcoming events

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No upcoming events scheduled

Past events

Wednesday 29 March 2023
3:15pm Private
3:30pm Public
Legislative Scrutiny: Illegal Migration Bill - Oral evidence 29 March 2023
3:30pm
  • Sir Stephen Laws (Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange)
  • Professor Cathryn Costello (Andrew W Mellon Professor of International Refugee and Migration Law at University of Oxford)
  • Dr Peter Walsh (Senior Researcher at Migration Observatory)
4:15pm
  • Vicky Tennant (Representative to the United Kingdom at UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR))
  • Elizabeth Ruddick (Senior Legal Protection Associate, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) at UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR))
Room 16, Palace of Westminster
Wednesday 22 March 2023
2:45pm Private
3:00pm Public
Legislative Scrutiny: Illegal Migration Bill - Oral evidence 22 March 2023
3:00pm
  • Jon Featonby (Chief Policy Analyst at Refugee Council)
  • Colin Yeo (Barrister at Garden Court Chambers)
  • Dr Jean-Pierre Gauci (Senior Research Fellow in Public International Law at British Institute of International and Comparative Law)
  • Christina Marriott (Executive Director of Strategy and Communications at British Red Cross)
Room 2, Palace of Westminster

Contact us

We receive a significant number of emails each day. All requests and invitations are considered but we do not respond directly to everyone. Please be aware, the committee does not look at individual cases or specific complaints.

  • Email: jchr@parliament.uk
  • Address: Joint Committee on Human Rights, Houses of Parliament. London. SW1A 0AA