Introduction
This chapter of the handbook provides an overview of the legislation, detention policy and guidance which govern the use of immigration detention in the UK.
It provides an overview of domestic and international legislation for the use of immigration powers to detain people and for the process of seeking asylum in the UK and human rights. It explains the standard asylum procedure in the UK, changes to asylum legislation as well as accelerated asylum processes in the detention estate and changes to UK law following Brexit and how this might affect people in detention.
It will give you an understanding of Home Office policy and guidance on the use of detention for Home Office staff and private contractors, as well as where to find useful information. This guidance deals with the elements of daily life in detention (for example, access to the internet in IRCs), legal procedures (the preparation by the Home Office for a bail hearing or a judicial review), and the correct use of detention powers.
This table might be useful to understand the difference types of legal and policy frameworks which are referenced in this chapter:
1. Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, (2008), ‘How laws are made in the UK and how to influence the law-making process’.
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