The UK Supreme Court [official website] ruled [judgment, PDF] Wednesday that the government’s policy of deporting foreign nationals who have committed crimes before their appeals are heard is unlawful. Section 3(5)(a) of the 1971 Act provides that a person who is not a British citizen is liable for deportation from the UK if the Home Secretary deems their deportation to be conducive to the public good. The “deport first, appeal later” policy allows the UK government to deport foreigners without giving them the right to launch an appeal against deportation while they are in the country.

UK immigration policies have been controversial. Last month an advisor to the EU Court of Justice concluded that the UK Home Office wrongly denied residency [JURIST report] to the Algerian husband of a dual British-Spanish citizen. In February the UK Supreme Court upheld [JURIST report] immigration rules that require British citizens have a certain level of income to bring their foreign spouses into Britain.