The Refugee's Defence

In the summer of 2011 the Court of Appeal quashed the conviction of an appellant who had entered the United Kingdom on false identity documents and had as a result been charged and convicted by her plea of an offence under section 25(1) of the Identity Cards Act 2006. The Crown Prosecution Service had, rightly, conceded the appeal. The reason? It was because the appellant had not been advised of the defence under section 31(1) of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. Moreover, on the facts as known, had such a defence been relied upon, it would have been likely to succeed.

Such a case may come as a surprise. More surprising, and perhaps troubling, is that the case of this young woman is not an isolated one. This article discusses two topics that arise out of it: first, the neglected defence and the width of its ambit; and secondly, the test that appears to have arisen when the Court of Appeal considers such cases.