Immigration and Asylum Law Sub-Committee
Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill
The Law Society of Scotland considered the Borders, Citizenship
and Immigration Bill and made a number of comments to the House of
Lords, in the form of suggested amendments.
The Immigration and Asylum Law Sub-Committee noted that the
Bill transfers asylum and immigration appeals away from the Court
of Session to the Upper Tribunal. The sub-committee raised concerns
that this proposal would pre-empt the civil justice review
conducted by Lord Gill, as well as the Scottish Administrative
Justice Steer Group's final report.
The sub-committee was also concerned about the provision in
the Bill which allows the secretary of state to designate an
immigration officer or any other official of the secretary of
state's department as a general customs official. Immigration
officers and other officials designated under this section would
need a high level of training, competence, and familiarity with tax
law in order to fulfil their duties. The sub-committee suggested
that regulations may be necessary to ensure that any designated
officials received appropriate education and training.
In addition, the Society suggested an amendment to ensure that
legal professional privilege was protected when customs information
was disclosed.