FactCheck checks it out
And it wasn’t just David Cameron in the spotlight today as the UK Independence Party also published their manifesto so FactCheck duly got to work:
The analysis
“EU and human rights legislation means we cannot even expel foreign criminals if they come from another EU country.”
In the past few years there have been a number of high profile cases where criminals from other EU countries have been allowed to remain in the UK after their sentence ends.
One of the best known cases was Learco Chindamo, the killer of head teacher Philip Lawrence. In 2007 his lawyers successfully fought deportation to Italy, the country of his birth, by using EU immigration law and the 1998 Human Rights Act.
UKIP’s manifesto blames EU and human rights legislation for situations like this and advocates repealing the Human Rights Act and withdrawing from the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom.
But is UKIP right that the UK cannot expel foreign criminals if they come from another EU country?
Human rights legislation does have a role here, but the most relevant piece of legislation is a 2004 directive on freedom of movement within the Member States.
The directive states that movement of union citizens or members of their family may be restricted “on grounds of public policy, public security or public health”.
A briefing on the EU’s website says that the directive allows expulsion of EU citizens where their conduct represents a sufficiently serious and present threat which affects the fundamental interests of the state.
The briefing says restrictions on freedom of movement and residence must be based exclusively on the personal conduct of the individual concerned. Authorities considering whether to expel an individual should also take into account factors including their degree of integration, the length of their residence in the host nation and their state of health.
Expulsion orders can only be served on a Union citizen who has resided in the host country for ten years in “exceptional circumstances”. The same rule applies to minors.
Independent think tank Open Europe has researched the consequences of this directive. The think tank says it rules out using a general rule for deportation, insisting that the individual circumstances of each case must be taken into consideration.
In a speech last month Gordon Brown claimed the government had expelled more than 500 EU criminals from the UK in 2009 – a figure the Home Office backs up. He also said that all those from within the EU who are convicted of sex, drug or violent offences resulting in a sentence of over one year will be “automatically considered for deportation” in future.
“Even in its current state the directive is flawed when we cannot deport… disgraceful criminals [refering to Learco Chindamo and Alphonse Semo],” said a UKIP spokesman in response to FactCheck.
The verdict
So UKIP have got it wrong – it is possible to expel criminals.
However, the EU directive does mean that it’s difficult and time consuming to expel citizens of member states who have committed a crime by insisting that the government assess expulsion on a case by case basis.
