Commentary on Sections Part 5: Deportation of criminals Section 32: Automatic deportation
102.This section provides that the Secretary of State must make a deportation order in respect of a “foreign criminal” unless certain exceptions apply.
103.Subsection (1) defines “foreign criminal” for the purposes of the new automatic deportation process. A “foreign criminal” in this context means a non-British Citizen who has been convicted in the United Kingdom of an offence and to whom Condition 1 or 2 applies. Condition 1 is that he is sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months (subsection (2)). Condition 2 is that he is sentenced to a period of imprisonment for an offence specified in an order made under section 72(4) of the Nationality, Asylum and Immigration Act 2002 (subsection (3)).
104.Subsection (4) provides that the deportation of a foreign criminal is conducive to the public good for the purposes of section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971.
105.Subsection (6) prohibits the Secretary of State from revoking a deportation order made under the automatic procedure unless he thinks that an exception applies (see section 33 below), the application for revocation is made while the foreign criminal is outside the United Kingdom or section 34(4) applies.
106.Subsection (7) confirms that the requirement on the Secretary of State to make an “automatic” deportation order under subsection (5) does not create a private right of action in respect of the consequences of non-compliance.
107.This section gives effect to the commitment given in the Home Secretary’s statement of 23 May 2006 to create a direct link between deportation and the commission of a crime of the appropriate level of severity; and reduces the scope for challenging “automatic” deportation decisions through the appeals system. The existing legal framework (see Annex A) will continue to be available to deal with those who are exempt from the automatic procedure, those convicted of criminal offences who fall below the threshold for automatic deportation and other residual categories of case where it may be appropriate to exercise the “conducive to the public good” power to deport, for example national security cases and war criminals.
108.The section creates a new statutory framework for the "automatic" deportation of certain non-British citizens convicted in the United Kingdom of a qualifying offence. Under the provision, the Secretary of State will be required to make a deportation order unless he thinks that removal would breach a person’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights or the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Refugee Convention or one of the other exceptions in section 33 applies.