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Rwanda & constitutional law

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31 May 2024 / Professor Graham Zellick CBE KC
Issue: 8073 / Categories: Opinion , Constitutional law , Public , Immigration & asylum , Human rights
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Long after it is repealed, the Safety of Rwanda Act will illustrate the fragility & vulnerability of fundamental constitutional principles, writes Graham Zellick KC

We read frequently of the concern of presidents and prime ministers, especially as their political lives are drawing to a close, over their legacy, the enduring contributions for which they will be remembered by posterity. I shall leave it for the political commentators and constitutional historians to reflect on Rishi Sunak’s legacy, but I confidently predict that his name will forever be associated with the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024, even long after it has been repealed (and, with a general election scheduled for 4 July, it is highly likely to be repealed by an incoming Labour government before the first flight has taken off).

This is not because of his efforts—heroic or desperate, depending on your point of view—to see his policy of removing illegal migrants and asylum seekers to Rwanda (to ‘stop the boats’, in his oft-repeated

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