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Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill
4:45 pm
Mr Richard Bacon (South Norfolk, Conservative)
Not yet. Bearing in mind the Minister's boss, quoting a flatmate can only add to the weight of one's views.
Mr. Miller's opinion is this:
''I am sure that the Administrative Court judges are keen to get rid of unmeritorious immigration cases. Surely the sensible course is to have a special fast track admin court procedure on say immigration points of law where permission can be dealt with in a couple of days.''
It has been suggested that the answer is to reform the procedures, not completely to undermine the rule of law. In the absence of such reform, Mr. Miller adds that his instinct is that the current draft, which he describes as a declaration of war with the judiciary, will not stand and
''if there is a case where there is a clear injustice they will get around it as they did in Anisminic.''
My own view is that that is correct. In the end this action by the Government will not succeed, never mind what the other place may make of the provisions in the Bill. I fear that it will force judges to become ever more imaginative. It will undermine the rule of law. It will undermine the logic and the rationality of the law. Ultimately, it will fail. The Minister should note that the book to which he referred is called ''Administrative Law''. Surely the answer is to sort out the administration, not to drive a coach and horses through the law.