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R v Asfaw (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees intervening)

Hearings

England & Wales

21 May 2008 [2008] UKHL 31; [2008] AC 1061; [2008] 2 WLR 1178; [2008] 3 All ER 775, HL(E)

Subject Matter

IMMIGRATION — Asylum — Illegal entrant — Appellant arriving in United Kingdom en route to seek asylum elsewhere — Apprehended attempting to leave United Kingdom by presenting false documents to airline — Prosecution for use of false documents and dishonest attempt to obtain travel services from airline — Whether offences on account of her “illegal entry or presence” — Whether protected from prosecution — Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, s 31 — Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (1951) and (1967), art 31(1)

[2008] AC 1061; [2008] 2 WLR 1178

Appellate History

R v Asfaw (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees intervening) [2006] EWCA Crim 707, CA

Decision of the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) reversed

R v Asfaw (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees intervening) [2008] UKHL 31; [2008] AC 1061; [2008] 2 WLR 1178; [2008] 3 All ER 775, HL(E)

Commentary

Blackstones Criminal Practice 2025
Statutory Defence under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, s. 31 B22.82

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