GB News host Emily Carver expressed her outrage at a convicted fraudster from the Czech Republic avoiding deportation because his "children don't speak Czech".Discussing the case on GB News, Emily blasted the decision by the immigration judge, declaring that if foreign criminals "care so much about their children's future", they "shouldn't do the crime".FULL STORY HERE.
00:00And a convicted fraudster from the Czech Republic has avoided deportation from the United Kingdom.
00:06He claimed his children don't speak Czech.
00:08Yeah, this is a real story.
00:10The Home Office has argued that Jan Balog, or perhaps Jan Balog's children,
00:15would be able to learn the language.
00:17But an immigration tribunal judge ruled that his deportation would breach his rights to a family life,
00:24wherever you heard that one before, under the ECHR,
00:26and be unduly harsh on his children,
00:29given that they would also be deprived of the care from his grandparents.
00:33Their grandparents lose access to education and health care in the UK too.
00:36I mean, my first thought is always, well, then don't do the crime then,
00:39if you care so much about your children's future.
00:41Anyway, let's speak to immigration lawyer Paul Turner.
00:45Paul, it's quite easy, isn't it, to use the ECHR to stop a deportation these days?
00:51Well, not really.
00:52It might seem that, and reading the decision, if one focuses on what he did,
00:59and his want and disregard for the UK law, it might seem that he's got away with something.
01:05And in fact, he has.
01:06But the courts look at the children, and the children take,
01:11they're what's called the primary consideration.
01:14And the children in this case, who don't speak Czech,
01:17or that's the finding that they don't speak Czech,
01:19the first court found that it would be unduly harsh for them to be without their parent.
01:27And obviously, they don't speak the language.
01:29Now, that might seem as if it's a pushover,
01:33or it's an easy touch for somebody like him to win.
01:36But the court have taken quite a strict stance in this regard.
01:43So it's not merely harsh for them to be expected to go or not to lose their parent.
01:48It has to be unduly harsh, which might sound like legal nonsense,
01:52but it means that it's going to be worse than it would just a mere disagreement.
01:57But I can understand that some people might argue that this is yet another example of the ETHR allowing foreign criminals to stay in the United Kingdom.
02:05And of course, ordinarily, a foreign criminal should be deported.
02:10Is it wrong to draw a comparison to someone, a British man,
02:14who does a heinous crime and is put away in prison for a decade or two?
02:19I mean, he wouldn't be with his children then because he'd be in prison.
02:23Why is it so different for this Czech man who gets to be with his children,
02:27when obviously if someone were to be sent to prison, they would be separated from their children?
02:31I mean, the court has already heard that these children have grandparents in this country.
02:35They could raise them or the children if they wanted to learn Czech.
02:37And I think in the Czech Republic, they do speak a lot of English a lot of the time because lots of stag do's go there.
02:43But I mean, you can see the point without getting facetious.
02:46There are so many different things that could have taken place here that would have allowed for the deportation of this criminal.
02:53Well, I think he was probably separated from his children when he was in prison,
02:58were the children to be around at the time.
03:01So it's not perhaps a strict analogy there to an English person that was also put in prison.
03:07But yes, it does seem that people having children is a get out of jail free card or at least get away from people.
03:15Well, this is the thing. You're incentivising people to commit crimes who are wanting to commit crimes in this country
03:20to have a kid or two. And then there's absolutely no chance that they're ever going to be deported.
03:25So essentially, as long as you have children in this country, you'll never be deported, really,
03:30because you always have that right to a family life enshrined in the ECHR.
03:34I mean, can you think of any cases of anyone who has been deported who had young children in this country?
03:40Yes, I can think of a few from my personal experience where individuals have committed an offence which is so heinous,
03:49where they've been to prison for, say, four or five years.
03:52And there's a test, really, which is under 12 months, they're probably going to stay if they've got children.
04:0012 months to four years, they may stay.
04:04But above four years, there's not much chance of them staying.
04:07So I've had clients or I've known of clients where they've committed an offence
04:11and been sentenced to six or seven years in prison, and they have a whole host of children.
04:16But the court takes the view that the offence is so serious that the best interests of the children
04:23are outweighed by the need for the state to deport.
04:27So they no longer have their right to a family life.
04:29But it's all about the severity of the sentence.
04:32OK, Paul, we'll have to leave it there. We'll speak again, I'm sure.
