STF NA MÍDIA

JUSTIÇA NO EXTERIOR •
THE GUARDIAN (LO) • NEWS • 20/9/2011
UK cannot deport Nigerian convicted of rape, European court rules
European court of human rights says removal would breach right to family life in ruling
that could curtail Home Office powers
Owen Bowcott, legal affairs
correspondent
The Home Office s ability to
deport individuals who have
committed crimes may be
curtailed by a European court
judgment banning the removal
of a Nigerian man convicted
of rape.
The Strasbourg court ruled
that the 24-year-old man,
known as AA, would have
his right to family life "violated"
if he was sent back to
Nigeria. He lives with his
mother, a nurse, in England.
In its finding, the court declared:
"The applicant s deportation
from the United Kingdom
would be disproportionate
to the legitimate aim of
the prevention of disorder
and crime and would therefore
not be necessary in a democratic
society."
How much of a precedent the
case will set was not immediately
clear. The man was
convicted of rape at the age
of 15 but parole reports showed
he had responded "positively"
to rehabilitation and
was subsequently deemed to
pose a low risk of reoffending.
Welcoming the decision, the
Aire Centre, the legal centre
which took the case to the
European court of human
rights, described it as a "resounding
victory". The
young man has obtained both
undergraduate and postgraduate
degrees in the UK since
leaving school, it said.
A spokeswoman added:
"There has been the most
spectacular rehabilitation of a
juvenile offender. The blanket
approach [to deportation]
taken by the UK was totally
inappropriate."
The Home Office did not
comment immediately on the
judgment. Last year about
5,000 "foreign national criminals"
were deported from
the UK at the end of their
sentences.
In its judgment, the court
explained: "The fact that the
applicant was a minor when
he committed the offence
does not preclude his deportation
given the seriousness
of the offence in question.
"[But that] consideration
must be carefully weighed
against the applicant s exemplary
conduct and, as the
evidence before the court
demonstrates, commendable
efforts to rehabilitate himself
and to reintegrate into society
over a period of seven years.
"In such circumstances, the
[UK] government are required
to provide further support
for their contention that the
applicant can reasonably be
expected to cause disorder or
to engage in criminal activities
such as to render his deportation
necessary in a democratic
society.
"However, the government
have neither cited other relevant
concerns nor submitted
any documents capable of
supporting such a contention."
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