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The Home Office has blasted prosecutors for applying the law in UK immigration cases, according to the chief of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Max Hill QC claims that the government has ‘repeatedly criticised’ prosecutors for simply applying the law.
Mr Hill, the director of public prosecutions, recently defended rulings made for two UK immigration cases which reportedly irked Home Secretary, Priti Patel, who is trying to crackdown on irregular travel Britain.
In the first ruling, the CPS dropped charges against 69 Albanians, who Border Force agents suspected of entering the UK illegally, but had not reached British shores. In the second ruling, earlier this month, the CPS dropped charges against Nigerian stowaways who had been falsely accused of trying to hijack an oil tanker.
British people won’t understand
The CPS’ decision to drop charges against the Nigerian stowaways incurred the wrath of the Home Office, which said that ‘the British people will struggle to understand why the charges were dropped against the seven people on the tanker.’
Mr Hill told The Independent: “In both cases, we have done no more than apply the law, which is for parliament and not us to decide. We’re absolutely clear that any prosecuting authority must be free, and is free, to make independent decisions following the law … that independence does lead to [opposing] positions taken by the general public or even by the Home Office.”
“We have no difficulty in scrutiny of our decisions,” Mr Hill added.
In December 2020, it was revealed that the Home Office had wrongly charged 69 people with entering Britain illegally. This resulted in several men being unlawfully imprisoned for crimes that they did not commit.
The CPS overturned the prosecution of the passengers, but proceeded to charge three crew members aboard the oil tanker with ‘facilitating illegal immigration’ to the UK.
Home Office disappointed
Following the CPS’ decision, a spokesperson for the Home Office said that the government agency was ‘disappointed’ that prosecution proceedings against the men were stopped, but added that the Home Office was ‘working with the CPS urgently to resolve the issues raised by this particular case.’
In a press release, the Home Office said: “Knowingly entering the UK without leave is a criminal offence and anyone who has committed such an offence should be prepared to face prosecution.”
However, Mr Hill defended the CPS’ decision to discontinue prosecution proceedings, arguing that the passengers of migrant boats who have ‘no role in organising or controlling crossings’, should not be charged.
Mr Hill said: “Such cases can be dealt with perfectly appropriately by immigration scrutiny and removal rather than prosecution.”
A month after the seven Nigerian stowaways were charged having been wrongly accused of hijacking an oil tanker off the coast of the Isle of Wight, the CPS dropped the charges against them.
Mobile phone footage
Mobile phone footage reportedly showed that the ship and crew were not in any danger, while prosecutors said that there was no evidence of any attempt to take control of the tanker.
Home Secretary Priti Patel had authorised a raid of the vessel by the elite Special Boat Service (SBS) unit after the crew had raised the alarm on 26 October 2020.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is frustrating that there will be no prosecution in relation to this very serious incident and the British people will struggle to understand how this can be the case.”
After the CPS dropped the charges, it was subjected to abuse on Twitter. One tweet, targeting the CPS’ official Twitter account called prosecutors ‘pathetic’ and ‘f***ing clowns’.
Mr Hill said that every case overseen by the CPS is considered on merit and subject to the same legal due diligence. He said: “It would have been quite wrong to maintain charges that wouldn’t have survived scrutiny in court.”
“Initial reports that led to the military intervention suggested a hijack or possible hijack but on cold, calm review it transpired that the stowaways had not committed the criminal offence of endangering a vessel,” Mr Hill said.
The CPS chief added: “We do perform a valuable function, which is to ensure that cases that should not proceed, don’t proceed. That’s where our independence is absolutely critical and these recent two cases prove an absence of political interference. Rather, they prove our independence.”
Political interference in justice system
Following a lengthy career as a criminal barrister and having served as the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, Hill became chief of the CPS in November 2018.
His comments about the Home Office come amid allegations of unparalleled political interference in the criminal justice system.
In 2020, comments made by Priti Patel and UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, which branded immigration lawyers as ‘activists’, drew criticism from senior judges after several cases went against the Home Office.
In December 2020, the Lord Chief Justice said: “A number of recent instances might be thought to be interference.”
“There has been nothing quite like it in my experience,” the Chief Justice added.
Meanwhile, Lord Burnett of Maldon also blasted Priti Patel and Boris Johnson, saying: “General attacks on lawyers undermine the rule of law. MPs should be educated on where constitutional boundaries lie.”
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