The British High Court has declared illegal part of the system set up for EU citizens to retain their rights after Brexit, which in practice will mean simplifying procedures by cancelling a second verification of status.
The ruling is a blow to the system that the Home Office set up in 2018 and which set two phases so that European citizens already residing in the UK would not notice the effects of the country’s exit from the EU.
Thus, London agreed to grant «settled» status to those who demonstrated more than five years of residence and «pre-settled» status to those who did not reach this time, with the condition that after five years they claim a definitive permit.
Currently, at least 2.7 million people are part of this second group and, according to the BBC, the deadline for some 200,000 who were part of the first pilot program is August 2023. If they fail to reapply, or if the government denies them final approval, they lose their legal rights.
The Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA), set up to oversee the respect of EU citizens’ rights after Brexit, appealed these requirements in court and the High Court has ultimately found in its favor.
The plaintiffs claimed that the UK is in breach of promises made to the EU and warned that hundreds of thousands of people could be left overnight in an irregular situation, with no possibility of working, studying or going to the doctor.
Judge Peter Lane has warned of «extremely serious» consequences if the current framework is not remedied, although the Home Office has argued that the Government takes the rights of European «friends and neighbors» «very seriously».
In fact, it considers that the system established by the Government transcends the «obligations» acquired in the Withdrawal Agreement, for which reason it plans to appeal the sentence.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
