ABSTRACT
The applicant was born in St Kitts and had lived there most of his life. He arrived in the UK on 21 January 1993 in possession of cocaine with a street value of about GBP 120,000. He was arrested, charged, remanded in custody and subsequently prosecuted for being knowingly involved in the fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of controlled drugs of class A. He pleaded guilty on 19 April 1993 and was sentenced on 10 May 1993 to six years’ imprisonment. In August 1994, while serving his prison sentence, the applicant was diagnosed as HIV positive and as suffering from AIDS. On 20 January 1996, immediately prior to his release on licence, on 24 January, the immigration authorities gave directions for his removal to St Kitts. The applicant applied to remain in the UK on compassionate grounds since his removal to St Kitts would entail the loss of the medical treatment which he was currently receiving, thereby shortening his life expectancy. The request was refused on 25 January 1996 by the Chief Immigration Officer. His application for leave to apply for judicial review was rejected and the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal. The applicant complained that his proposed removal to St Kitts would be in violation of A 2, A 3 and A 8 and that he had been denied an effective remedy to challenge the removal order in breach of A 13. Comm found by majority (11-7) V 3 if the applicant were to be removed to St Kitts, unanimously unnecessary to examine 2, no separate issue under 8, by majority (13-5) NV 13.
