Immigration has been a controversial area of public policy since the Commonwealth Immigration Act ended most primary immigration in 1962. This study looks at the work of practitioners in the court-system that hears appeals from immigrants against decisions made by the British government.
Author(s): Max Travers
Year: 1999
Language: English
Pages: 208
THE BRITISH IMMIGRATION COURTS......Page 2
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 7
Introduction......Page 8
A short history of immigration control in Britain......Page 16
The sociology of racial and ethnic relations......Page 23
A problem in the literature: the gap between the perspective of theorists and everyday experience......Page 33
Bridging the gap between theory and the everyday world......Page 35
My objectives in studying the immigration courts......Page 40
Understanding the private world of the courtroom......Page 44
Understanding the private world of the civil service......Page 50
Understanding the private world of politicians......Page 53
Understanding the world of the appellant......Page 54
Some missing perspectives......Page 55
Four stages of decision making......Page 58
The legal framework of decison making......Page 60
The courtroom community......Page 65
The history of the rule......Page 76
The primary purpose rule in action......Page 83
Some methodological issues......Page 96
Decision making in primary purpose appeals......Page 97
The significance of the primary purpose rule......Page 102
The 1951 Convention and British law......Page 106
Six asylum appeals......Page 112
Some features of decision making in asylum appeals......Page 124
Is there a ‘culture of refusal’ in deciding asylum appeals?......Page 133
The civil service perspective......Page 138
The problem of a backlog......Page 141
The making of the 1996 Asylum and Immigration Act......Page 142
The making of the 1996 procedural rules......Page 150
The effect on organisations......Page 155
The 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act......Page 158
The intractable character of an administrative problem......Page 160
The history of immigration as a political issue......Page 164
Politicians, pressure groups and campaigners......Page 166
The content of political debate......Page 170
Proposals by pressure groups and academics......Page 178
Immigration control and public opinion......Page 180
Conclusion......Page 184
Bibliography......Page 190
Index......Page 202
