71.Section 15, which came into force on Royal Assent, replaces section 6 of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993. Under section 6 of the 1993 Act, a person who had made a claim for asylum could not be removed from, or required to leave, the United Kingdom until he had been notified of the decision on his claim. This will continue to be the case. However, subsection (2) allows removal directions to be given or a deportation order to be made during this period (although they do not take effect until the person concerned has been notified of the decision on his asylum claim).
72.The question of setting removal directions or making a deportation order only arises if it is decided that the person concerned is not a refugee. The effect of the new section is that once the Secretary of State has decided to refuse the application for asylum, removal directions can be given – or a deportation order obtained – and notice of both decisions can be given to the person concerned at the same time thereby, where relevant, triggering a right of appeal. (Where the person concerned is an illegal entrant, it is the removal directions which give rise to the right of appeal to the Immigration Appellate Authority.)
73.This section applies with retrospective effect to any removal directions given or deportation orders made in respect of someone protected from removal since the 1993 Act came into force on 26 July 1993.
Schedule 14: Consequential amendments Section 15: Protection of claimants from removal or deportation