Immigration and Asylum Bill

Immigration and Asylum Bill - continued	House of Lords
PART I, IMMIGRATION: GENERAL - continued

back to previous text

Employment: code of practice

Restrictions on employment: code of practice.

18. In the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996, after section 8, insert-

"Code of practice.	8A. - (1) The Secretary of State must issue a code of practice as to the measures which an employer is to be expected to take, or not to take, with a view to securing that, while avoiding the commission of an offence under section 8, he also avoids unlawful discrimination.
	(2) "Unlawful discrimination" means-
	(a) discrimination in contravention of section 4(1) of the Race Relations Act 1976 ("the 1976 Act"); or
	(b) in relation to Northern Ireland, discrimination in contravention of Article 6(1) of the Race Relations (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 ("the 1997 Order").
	(3) Before issuing the code, the Secretary of State must-
	(a) prepare and publish a draft of the proposed code; and
	(b) consider any representations about it which are made to him.
	(4) In preparing the draft, the Secretary of State must consult-
	(a) the Commission for Racial Equality;
	(b) the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland; and
	(c) such organisations and bodies (including organisations or associations of organisations representative of employers or of workers) as he considers appropriate.
	(5) If the Secretary of State decides to proceed with the code, he must lay a draft of the code before both Houses of Parliament.
	(6) The draft code may contain modifications to the original proposals made in the light of representations to the Secretary of State.
	(7) After laying the draft code before Parliament, the Secretary of State may bring the code into operation by an order made by statutory instrument.
	(8) An order under subsection (7)-
	(a) shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament;
	(b) may contain such transitional provisions or savings as appear to the Secretary of State to be necessary or expedient in connection with the code.
	(9) A failure on the part of any person to observe a provision of the code does not of itself make him liable to any proceedings.
	(10) But the code is admissible in evidence-
	(a) in proceedings under the 1976 Act before an employment tribunal;
	(b) in proceedings under the 1997 Order before an industrial tribunal.
	(11) If any provision of the code appears to the tribunal to be relevant to any question arising in such proceedings, that provision is to be taken into account in determining the question.
	(12) The Secretary of State may from time to time revise the whole or any part of the code and issue the code as revised.
	(13) The provisions of this section also apply (with appropriate modifications) to any revision, or proposed revision, of the code."

Monitoring entry clearance

Monitoring refusals of entry clearance.

19. - (1) The Secretary of State must appoint a person to monitor, in such a manner as the Secretary of State may determine, refusals of entry clearance in cases where there is, as a result of section 54(5), no right of appeal.

(2) But the Secretary of State may not appoint a member of his staff.

(3) The monitor must make an annual report on the discharge of his functions to the Secretary of State.

(4) The Secretary of State must lay a copy of any report made to him under subsection (3) before each House of Parliament.

(5) The Secretary of State may pay to the monitor such fees and allowances as he may determine.

Reporting suspicious marriages

Duty to report suspicious marriages.

20. - (1) Subsection (3) applies if-

(a) a superintendent registrar to whom a notice of marriage has been given under section 27 of the Marriage Act 1949,

(b) any other person who, under section 28(2) of that Act, has attested a declaration accompanying such a notice,

(c) a district registrar to whom a marriage notice or an approved certificate has been submitted under section 3 of the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977, or

(d) a registrar or deputy registrar to whom notice has been given under section 13 of the Marriages (Ireland) Act 1844 or section 4 of the Marriage Law (Ireland) Amendment Act 1863,

has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the marriage will be a sham marriage.

(2) Subsection (3) also applies if-

(a) a marriage is solemnized in the presence of a registrar of marriages or, in relation to Scotland, an authorised registrar (within the meaning of the Act of 1977); and

(b) before, during or immediately after solemnization of the marriage, the registrar has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the marriage will be, or is, a sham marriage.

(3) The person concerned must report his suspicion to the Secretary of State-

(a) in such form and manner, and

(b) within such period,

as may be prescribed by regulations.

(4) The regulations are to be made-

(a) in relation to England and Wales, by the Registrar General for England and Wales with the approval of the Chancellor of the Exchequer;

(b) in relation to Scotland, by the Registrar General of Births, Deaths and Marriages for Scotland with the approval of the Secretary of State;

(5) "Sham marriage" means a marriage (whether or not void)-

(a) entered into between a person ("A") who is neither a British citizen nor a national of an EEA State other than the United Kingdom and another person (whether or not such a citizen or such a national); and

(b) entered into by A for the purpose of avoiding the effect of one or more provisions of United Kingdom immigration law or the immigration rules.

Prepared 30 July 1999