ABSTRACT
Examiners usually set essay questions in this area, although a problem question on the effect of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on asylum and immigration law is becoming more common. The emphasis is usually on the degree to which a balance is struck between the interest of the State in national security and the individual’s basic freedom to enter, move about within and leave the UK. Students should be aware that this is an area in which there have been repeated and relatively major changes recently; for example, the former power to make an exclusion order from the UK or Northern Ireland lapsed in 1998 and is not included in the new permanent Terrorism Act 2000, and wide-reaching changes to the asylum process, including to rights of appeal, are in the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act (NIAA) 2002.
