05/01/2019https://www.thejournal.ie/good-friday-agreement-2-4400368-Jan2019/"Derry woman in wrangle with UK Home Office fears Brexit could complicate her immigration case""The UK Home Office has argued that British immigration laws supercede the Good Friday Agreement."She was
born in Northern Ireland, and has a right under the
Good Friday Agreement to identify as either
Irish or
British or
both, but the
UK government regards her only as being
British, unless she renounces her
Irish nationality.
She and her American born husband, who is applying for Northern Irish residence status, had appealed against the Home Office ruling, and had won their appeal,.. the Home Office is now also appealing the case.
Partial quotes,..."
If British immigration laws aren’t compatible with Brexit, which this case suggests they aren’t, that should be changed before Brexit happens, not after, she argues."
"The legal clout that the British government has put up against them suggests to the DeSouzas and their legal team that the appeals will continue right up to the European Court of Justice – but depending on the outcome of Brexit, that court might not have jurisdiction over UK immigration law anymore."
"“
The UK government is arguing that the parliament is sovereign and that the Good Friday Agreement is a treaty that has no bearing on UK law,” DeSouza says."
"She says that
it doesn’t inspire much confidence in her that the UK government is promising to uphold the Good Friday Agreement after Brexit and protect citizens’ rights, while simultaneously arguing why they’re not important in her case."
"
Colin Harvey, a Professor of Human Rights Law in the
School of Law at Queen’s University, told TheJournal.ie that the De Souza case highlights a
“failure to reflect and respect the basic principles of the Good Friday Agreement fully in domestic law, policy and practice”."
