3 Primary UK immigration legislation
Acts of Parliament are the primary source of UK immigration law. There are a great number of these; what follows is an introduction.
The British Nationality Act 1981 sets out the law on the acquisition of British nationality by birth, adoption, descent, registration and naturalisation. Being born in the UK does not necessarily qualify as having British nationality. (The term ‘British nationality’ is used to cover the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.)
Primary legislation passed in the UK Parliament over the past 50 years includes:
- Immigration Act 1971
- Immigration Act 1988
- Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993
- Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997
- Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
- Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004
- Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006
- UK Borders Act 2007
- Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
- Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008
- Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009
- Immigration Act 2014
- Immigration Act 2016.
The remainder of this section provides an opportunity to explore some of this legislation and the skills of finding and summarising legislation.
Note that this session covers UK immigration law; Session 3 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] builds on what you will learn here and covers the Human Rights Act 1998 and non-UK relevant provisions, including:
- European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)
- 1951 Refugee Convention
- Citizen’s Directive (as known as the EEA Free Movement Directive)
- Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 and 2016.
The law on immigration changes regularly, so being able to find the law and understand how primary legislation is set out and amended are important skills. Activity 1 is designed to develop your understanding of how Acts are structured and how they are amended.
Activity 1: How is an Act of Parliament structured?
Watch Video 1, which explains the structure of the Immigration Act 1971. You can also explore the Act in detail on legislation.gov.uk (1971).
Transcript: Video 1 Understanding the structure of primary legislation.
In this section, you’re going to explore how a piece of primary legislation of the UK Parliament is structured.
Most primary legislation follows a similar structure. The table of contents provides a quick overview and a brief indication of what each section of the Act covers.
You will now consider the Immigration Act 1971 as an example. This is a key piece of legislation in immigration law, and – despite being over 50 years old – it has been amended regularly, and, therefore, still has relevance in 2021 as it underpins the UK’s immigration system.
Copies of most Acts of the UK Parliament are available for free online at legislation.gov.uk. We entered the words ‘Immigration Act’ and then the numbers ‘1971’, then to the search at the top of the homepage. The search revealed one result. Then we clicked the link to the title ‘Immigration Act’, and this went to the table of contents. The table of contents tab has 37 separate sections, followed by six schedules. These schedules are divided into four parts.
Next, by going to the ‘Content’ tab, it reveals the name of the Act: the Immigration Act 1971. Underneath that name is the heading ‘1971 Chapter 77’. What this means [is] that this act was the 77th Act to be passed in the year 1971.
Next follows a short statement about the purpose of this Act. That is followed by the date on which the Act was passed. The date an Act is passed and the date it becomes law may differ. Then, details [of] modifications to the Act. It is common for Acts to be modified by later Acts. These can repeal whole sections or even parts of a section, or insert new sections or wording into the original Act.
Now, going back to the table of contents, you will see listed the main body of the Act, which is set out in numbered sections and parts. Each section of an Act is equally important.
Many Acts have an interpretation section. This section is useful when looking for specific meanings of key words used in the terminology in the Act. For example, Section 33 of the Immigration Act has a list of definitions.
Turning now to the schedules. Most Acts of Parliament contain these. Schedules have the same weight in law as the sections of the Act. They are simply convenient means of setting out detailed provisions. In Schedule 1, you will see reference to textual amendment. Here it simply means the schedule was repealed. Schedule 4A, enforcement in relation to ships, is interesting in terms of devolution in immigration law. When you open the schedule, you will note that it has several parts: one for each legal jurisdiction in the UK.
Turning back to the specific wordings of sections, let’s take Section 2 as an example. Like most lengthy Acts, the sections of the Immigration Act contain a great deal of punctuation, and a lot of ‘ands’ and ‘ors’. Sections may also contain subsections, which are shown by numbers and brackets, or even letters. When you reference (what is known as ‘cite’) an Act, you generally provide details of relevant sections and subsections. So you could refer to, for example in this case, Section 2, Subsection 1, Paragraph B, Numeral 2. This enables others to see to what sections you are referring.
Finally, in relation to an Act, it’s always important to check when it became law and whether it, or sections you are relying upon within it, are still law. Information on this can generally be found in the commencement section and the short title and extent section. Looking at the Immigration Act, the commencement provision is found in Section 35. It is common for Acts to become law via a date specified in the Statutory Instrument. Information elsewhere on legislation.gov.uk can help you determine when an Act became law and whether it is still in force.
Finally, Acts contains sections which state how the Acts should be cited. In the Immigration Act, this is found in Section 37. Also note [that] Subsection 2 states the jurisdictional extent of the Immigration Act. The advanced features function can also provide a timeline of changes to each section.
This is a brief overview of how an Act is structured. Nevertheless, there are some general points to think about.
When reading an Act to gain an understanding of the laws it creates, you are likely to read it several times. Assume all words and punctuation in the Act have meaning. It is tempting to skip words you don’t quite understand and ignore awkward punctuation. You should avoid doing this.
Anyone who reads an Act of Parliament is likely to find some of the terminology difficult to understand, as it’s quite common for Acts to contain complex language. As you become more accustomed to reading Acts, you will become more and more familiar with the language used and the structure, and develop strategies to gain an understanding of the meaning of an Act. There may be reference to other Acts, some Latin terms may be used, and there may be amendments and additions to the original Act.
This all adds to the complexity. But by working through the Act a section at a time, it can make your task more approachable. With practice and familiarity, this does become easier. And we hope these tips assist you in your future studies.
What do you think about the structure of the Act? For example, is it logical or clear? Are the amendments set out clearly? Note down your thoughts in the space below.
Discussion
The purpose of this activity was to introduce you to the layout and structure of an Act of Parliament, and for you to explore the legislation.gov.uk website.
Understanding how an Act is structured and referred to are important skills for an immigration adviser. However, it can take some time to become familiar with the language used or the amendments that are made, which can make it challenging to identify the current law.
If there is a word in an Act that you are unfamiliar with, note that some Acts have a definition section; if they don’t, a good dictionary can be helpful. Part of an immigration adviser’s training involves more detailed study of the law, and becoming familiar with Acts relevant to immigration law and how they are applied.
We have summarised the key pieces of primary legislation, capturing an overview of the content of each act. Being able to summarise key points of legislation is an important skill, especially for anyone who needs to explain the law to other people. (Of course, you can look at these Acts in detail on legislation.gov.uk.)