Law, huuuu, what is it good for.......

Via IDD:

Automatic deportation for EU nationals convicted of criminal offences in the UK are specifically prohibited by EU Directive 2004/38, which states that ‘Expulsion orders may not be issued by the host Member State as a penalty or legal consequence of a custodial penalty’. "Article 33 of the directive prevents the automatic removal of those convicted of offences, and whilst it does allow for deportation as a sanction, the blanket use of deportation orders is prohibited by the Directive, which specifically states: 'Justifications that are isolated from the particulars of the case or that rely on considerations of general prevention shall not be accepted'. The Directive entered into force on the 30th April 2006.

This may mean that we will have to treat foreign criminals from the EU differently from foreign criminals from any other country with respect to deportation. Surely if the argument about deportation of foreign nationals holds any water at all it must be true for all foreign nationalities, regardless of whether their home country is part of an expansionist federal political project or not.

In response to this issue, the wider version of which all party politicians seem to be falling over themselves to say how important it is to your average British citizen, Labour councillor Bob Piper says:

I do think you should credit your loony wing in UKIP when you nick pieces from their website Iain.

Yup, I can see the average man in the street nodding his head in approval at that contribution.

Posted by John at May 4, 2006 09:02 AM | TrackBack