The Court of Appeal has ruled that asylum seekers who arrive illegally in the UK after being rescued at sea can be prosecuted lawfully under new legal powers introduced in the Nationality and Borders Act last year.
The provisions were challenged by three Sudanese men who are due to stand trial for immigration offences later this year.
Two of the men are alleged to have assisted unlawful immigration by steering dinghies across the Channel, while the third is charged with attempting to arrive in the UK in a dinghy.
Their lawyers argued that the judge had incorrectly interpreted the new laws.
Previously, migrants who were intercepted or rescued at sea could not be charged with knowingly entering the UK without leave.
However, 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,” said the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett, sitting with Mr Justice Holgate and Mr Justice Bryan.
The legislation was introduced last year to close a perceived loophole in the law that prevented migrants crossing the English Channel from being prosecuted with entry offences if they did not reach UK land by themselves.
The law was challenged by the three Sudanese men ahead of their trials, with their lawyers arguing that parts of the new act had changed the law to allow the prosecution of migrants who are intercepted or rescued at sea.
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.
