Outside the Immigration Rules and human rights applications

This topic covers applications for leave to enter or remain on human rights grounds, and on grounds other than those set out in the Immigration Rules. This includes applications that:

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request that the Home Office exercises its discretion to grant leave outside of the Immigration Rules (the Rules)
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request that the Home Office grants leave outside of the Rules in line with a published concession, and/or
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allege that the refusal and/or, in the case of leave to remain applications, the removal of a person consequent to the decision, would breach their rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights 1950 (ECHR)

Article 8 of the ECHR confers the right to respect for a person’s private and family life, home and correspondence, but is a qualified right which means that a contracting state can interfere with the right in certain circumstances. As from 9 July 2012, the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) adopted a more codified approach to the assessment of Article 8 claims, formulating Immigration Rules which purport

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Latest Immigration News

Immigration weekly highlights—9 October 2025

Welcome to the 9 October 2025 highlights from the Immigration team, which provides links to key news stories from the last week, as well as a round-up of new and updated content in Immigration.

Home Office appoints John Tuckett as Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration

The Home Office has announced the appointment of John Tuckett as the new Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI), following pre-appointment scrutiny by the Home Affairs Select Committee earlier in 2025. Tuckett replaces David Bolt, who has served as interim ICIBI since June 2024. The ICIBI monitors and reports on the efficiency and effectiveness of the UK's border, immigration and citizenship system, making recommendations directly to the Home Secretary. The government is also recruiting a new Immigration Services Commissioner to replace Tuckett in that role, with the appointment expected to be confirmed in due course.

Conservatives announce plans to withdraw from the ECHR and abolish the Immigration Tribunal

The leader of the Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch MP, announced at the party conference on 5 October 2025 that the next Conservative election manifesto will contain a commitment to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and repeal the Human Rights Act 1998. This follows the completion of an advice document by the Shadow Attorney General, Lord Wolfson, which looked at whether remaining signed up to the Convention would constrain a future Conservative government in the following areas: making a ‘stringent’ border policy possible; protecting soldiers from ‘vexatious’ legal claims, especially over Northern Ireland and overseas operations; placing blanket restrictions on foreign nationals in terms of social housing and benefits; setting mandatory sentences for serious crimes and banning ‘disruptive’ protests; and delivering infrastructure and energy projects without extensive human rights and climate-based litigation. In his separate address to the conference, the Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp MP, asserted that current judicial interpretations of the ECHR impede effective border control and the deportation of foreign offenders. He also announced that, following withdrawal, the party proposed to legislate for a Borders plan that would prohibit all asylum and other claims made by those entering the UK unlawfully, including those arriving by small boats. Such individuals would be removed immediately to their country of origin, or, where that is not possible, to a designated safe third country such as Rwanda, within one week of arrival.

Institute for Government analyses Starmer's proposals to reinterpret ECHR in immigration cases

The Institute for Government has analysed Prime Minister Keir Starmer's proposal to change how UK courts interpret the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and other international treaties in immigration cases. The former Treasury Solicitor, Sir Jonathan Jones examines how Parliament could pass legislation setting out specific interpretations of Articles 3 and 8 of the ECHR, while the government maintains its commitment to remaining within the Convention. The analysis notes that claimants could still apply to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which would not be bound by UK domestic legislation.