On 19 January 2012 the three HJT Directors will be giving a practical summary of legal developments in 2011 in three key areas: immigration under the rules, European Union free movement law, and human rights. Today’s blog concentrates on developments in European Union free movement law, which we will cover in much more detail at the training (subsequent posts will address the other two critical features).

Do you ever have a case where there is a shortage of evidence of ongoing exercise of Treaty rights by an EU national and your efforts to corroborate that fact have run aground? We will be discussing the extent to which the powers set out in the UK Borders Act 2007 impose affirmative duties on the Secretary of State to carry out such investigations for herself, and looking at recent revelations from hitherto unpublished European Casework Instructions that give an insight into the circumstances in which the Secretary of State feels that such enquiries are necessary.

Another topical issue is extended family members. Quite what dependency must the dependent person show vis-á-vis the EU national in terms of historic and current financial and emotional dependency? What of co-habitation as opposed to dependency? And when can Immigration Judges, as opposed to the Secretary of State, exercise discretion in your client’s favour?

Then there is the ongoing controversy as to the ambit of Zambrano and the immigration consequences of European Union citizenship. Our horizons expanded when that decision suddenly suggested whole new vistas of opportunity for derivative rights of residence borne of dependants with rights to such citizenship. However, there has been a subsequent retrenchment in decisions such as McCarthy and Dereci. We will consider to what extent  the right to family life in the Human Rights Convention and EU Charter bears on resolving these issues.

To find out more on these and other issues, sign up for our session.