Identifying the Stateless in the United Kingdom • 467 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 HRA (n 17) art 8. ibid art 6; Bianchini (n 8) 21–22. Miller (n 166); Interview with Pierre Makhlouf, Legal Director, Bail for Immigration Detainees (London, 24 February 2016). ‘Up to One Quarter of Detainees Have Never Had Legal Representation’ (Bail for Immigration Detainees, 15 March 2016) <https://www.biduk.org/posts/83> accessed 23 November 2019. Bianchini (n 8) 22. Stateless Person 5 (n 110); Stateless Person 6 (n 116); Stateless Person 7 (n 110); Stateless Person 8 (n 110); Stateless Person 9 (n 161); Stateless Person 11 (n 40). Solicitor 1 (n 120); Miller (n 166). There are currently nine immigration removal centres in the UK. GOV.UK, ‘Find an Immigration Removal Centre’ <https://www.gov.uk/immigration-removal-centre> accessed 8 March 2020. Deportation is a statutory power of the Secretary of State. People who are not UK citizens are liable to deportation if the Secretary of State deems deportation to be conducive to the public good. The UK Borders Act 2007 provides for the automatic deportation of foreign criminals. The Secretary of State must make a deportation order unless specific exceptions apply (eg, where deportation would contravene the UK’s obligations under the Refugee Convention and/or human rights conventions). Terry McGuinness, ‘Deportation of Foreign National Offenders’ (Commons Briefing Papers CBP-8062, House of Commons Library, 1 August 2017) 5–7 <https://commonslibrary. parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8062/> accessed 10 March 2020. Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/ijrl/article/32/3/440/6065591 by guest on 04 July 2025 applications may be accessible under ‘exceptional funding’ for those cases that would not normally be paid for by the Legal Aid Agency. According to the HRA, the argument for funding a statelessness claim is based on a person’s inability to exercise his or her right to private life (article 8)174 as lack of counsel would amount to denial of access to justice in breach of article 6, stressing the unlawfulness of measures taken by a public authority which are ‘incompatible with a Convention right’.175 For judicial review, free legal assistance is available to challenge the unlawful denial of leave to remain as a stateless person. In addition to the limitations discussed above, another major problem is the limited accessibility to ‘qualified’ solicitors who are willing to undertake immigration detention work and have the necessary experience to properly navigate the complexity of statelessness cases.176 Previous investigations point out that up to a quarter of detainees never obtain legal representation.177 Furthermore, there is concern about the quality of the legal advice provided.178 In this regard, most interviewees said they had received legal advice at some point, but mentioned a severe lack of accuracy and thoroughness in the presentation of important facts concerning their cases.179 Regarding the possibility of representing stateless applicants under exceptional funding, some solicitors admitted their stretched capacity or unwillingness to engage in such cases – the significant work and effort involved do not pay off if funding is refused.180 Additionally, there are physical obstacles that prevent the preparation of a case and the retention of counsel for detainees. Due to the geographical segregation of immigration detention centres, legal aid lawyers must travel long distances to meet with the client, and this is often unmanageable.181 Even worse, foreign nationals who have finished serving a criminal sentence can be detained in prisons under immigration powers while attempts are made to carry out their deportation.182 Foreign nationals in prisons are subject to Prison Rules which forbid the use of mobile phones and internet and the