The UK Court of Appeal approved new legal powers on Thursday that will allow authorities to prosecute asylum seekers who arrive in the country after being rescued at sea.
After appeals by three Sudanese men who are due to stand trial for immigration offences this year, senior judges considered provisions in the Nationality and Borders Act, which came into force in 2022.
Parts of the Act sought to close a perceived loophole in the law, which meant migrants crossing the English Channel could not be prosecuted with entry offences if they did not reach UK land by themselves.
Two of the men are alleged to have assisted unlawful immigration by steering dinghies containing other migrants across the Channel, while the third is charged with trying to arrive in the UK in a dinghy.
They challenged preliminary rulings made by Mr Justice Cavanagh at Canterbury Crown Court, with their lawyers saying the judge had incorrectly interpreted the new laws.
The appeals centred on whether parts of the new act have changed the law to allow the prosecution of migrants who are intercepted or rescued at sea.
UK coastguard responds to migrant emergency in English Channel - in pictures
Before the new act, migrants who were intercepted by the authorities or rescued while still at sea could not be charged with knowingly entering the UK without leave.
Lawyers representing the man charged with trying to arrive in the UK said a new offence of knowingly arriving in the country without valid entry clearance could not be committed by a person intending to seek asylum, because entry clearance is not available to asylum seekers.
They said it was also not possible to make a claim for asylum from outside the UK, while an application for entry must be made from outside the country.
Migrant children rescued in French waters - in pictures
Lawyers for the other two men said that, for an offence of facilitating the illegal entry of another person to be committed, the defendant would have to be aware that the conduct of the other person was criminal.
But on Thursday, the Lord Chief Justice Lord Ian Burnett rejected the appeals and upheld Mr Cavanagh’s interpretation of the new laws.
Sitting with Mr Justice David Holgate and Mr Justice Simon Bryan, he concluded that the new law “applies to a person who requires entry clearance under the immigration rules and who knowingly arrives in the UK without such clearance, even if he or she intends to claim asylum on arrival”.
“That is also the position in relation to an attempt to commit such an offence," Mr Burnett said.
Afghan migrant documents dangerous journey across Channel - video
The judge also said that, in order for a facilitation offence to be committed, the “conduct facilitated need not be criminal at all”.
“It need only be a breach of immigration law,” he said.
The legislation was introduced last year to clamp down on the large number of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
Home Office figures suggest more than 2,000 migrants have crossed the Channel already this year.
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
Winners
Best Men's Player of the Year: Kylian Mbappe (PSG)
Maradona Award for Best Goal Scorer of the Year: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
TikTok Fans’ Player of the Year: Robert Lewandowski
Top Goal Scorer of All Time: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Best Women's Player of the Year: Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
Best Men's Club of the Year: Chelsea
Best Women's Club of the Year: Barcelona
Best Defender of the Year: Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus/Italy)
Best Goalkeeper of the Year: Gianluigi Donnarumma (PSG/Italy)
Best Coach of the Year: Roberto Mancini (Italy)
Best National Team of the Year: Italy
Best Agent of the Year: Federico Pastorello
Best Sporting Director of the Year: Txiki Begiristain (Manchester City)
Player Career Award: Ronaldinho
Al Jazira's foreign quartet for 2017/18
Romarinho, Brazil
Lassana Diarra, France
Sardor Rashidov, Uzbekistan
Mbark Boussoufa, Morocco
Hotel Data Cloud profile
Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
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Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
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Other must-tries
Tomato and walnut salad
A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.
Badrijani nigvzit
A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.
Pkhali
This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.
if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
What is the FNC?
The Federal National Council is one of five federal authorities established by the UAE constitution. It held its first session on December 2, 1972, a year to the day after Federation.
It has 40 members, eight of whom are women. The members represent the UAE population through each of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have eight members each, Sharjah and Ras al Khaimah six, and Ajman, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain have four.
They bring Emirati issues to the council for debate and put those concerns to ministers summoned for questioning.
The FNC’s main functions include passing, amending or rejecting federal draft laws, discussing international treaties and agreements, and offering recommendations on general subjects raised during sessions.
Federal draft laws must first pass through the FNC for recommendations when members can amend the laws to suit the needs of citizens. The draft laws are then forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration and approval.
Since 2006, half of the members have been elected by UAE citizens to serve four-year terms and the other half are appointed by the Ruler’s Courts of the seven emirates.
In the 2015 elections, 78 of the 252 candidates were women. Women also represented 48 per cent of all voters and 67 per cent of the voters were under the age of 40.
