Deportation Order

Section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007 defines a 'foreign criminal' as a person 'who is not a British citizen or an Irish citizen', 'who is convicted in the United Kingdom of an offence', and to whom Condition 1 or 2 applies. Condition 1 'is that the person is sentenced to a period of imprisonment of at least 12 months'; Condition 2 applies where the offence is specified by the Secretary of State under section 72(4)(a) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and the person is sentenced to imprisonment. Where a person is a foreign criminal, the deportation of that person 'is conducive to the public good' for the purposes of section 3(5)(a) of the Immigration Act 1971, and 'The Secretary of State must make a deportation order in respect of a foreign criminal (subject to section 33).' A deportation order made under this automatic regime can only be revoked where an exception under section 33 applies, the application for revocation is made while the person is outside the UK, or a further specified provision applies; subsection (5) 'does not create a private right of action in respect of consequences of non-compliance by the Secretary of State.'

Section 33 sets out the exceptions that disapply the automatic duty to deport. Exception 1 is where removal of the foreign criminal 'would breach ... a person's Convention rights, or ... the United Kingdom's obligations under the Refugee Convention.' Exception 2 applies where the Secretary of State considers the foreign criminal was under 18 at the date of conviction, and further exceptions cover matters such as extradition. Deportation under the automatic regime therefore operates as a duty on the Secretary of State once the statutory conditions are met, displaced only where one of the listed exceptions is made out.