“The case was concerned with the lawfulness of one of the key planks of the so-called ‘hostile environment’ designed to combat illegal immigration into the United Kingdom. It involved a Judicial Review challenge to the ‘Right to Rent Scheme’, which originally introduced civil penalties for private landlords who failed to satisfy themselves of the immigration status of prospective tenants and later imposed swinging criminal sanctions on those who failed to terminate the tenancy of any individual whom they knew or believed to be disqualified under the scheme. A Judge of the Queen’s Bench Division granted a declaration of incompatibility with the European Convention and the subsequent appeal by the Home Secretary prompted the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) to review the European and domestic jurisprudence on what amounts to discrimination and when it can be justified …”
ADDED Wednesday 13th January 2021
