AL (Serbia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department; R (on the application of Rudi) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Case date: 25 June 2008

The appellants challenged a ‘family amnesty’ immigration policy adopted by the Home Office, arguing that it discriminated against them, contrary to article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In October 2003, the Home Secretary announced a 'family amnesty' policy. It was a one-off exercise to clear some long-standing asylum cases off the books by giving families with dependent children aged under 18, either on 2 October 2000 or on 24 October 2003, indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom. Inevitably, there were winners and losers. Among the losers were the appellants, who had arrived as children from Kosovo and had claimed asylum before 2 October 2000, but who were not part of a family unit as they had become separated from their families during the flight. Neither knew what had become of his parents. Each applied for inclusion in the one-off exercise. That was refused and appeals to the Court of Appeal were rejected. They appealed to the House of Lords.

Both appellants claimed that they had been victims of discrimination contrary to article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.