Moved by
Baroness Hollins
119C: After Clause 37, insert the following new Clause—
“Codes of practice
(1) The Secretary of State must prepare and issue one or more codes of practice for the guidance of immigration officers, medical inspectors and other persons assessing the mental and physical health needs of any asylum seeker in accordance with the United Kingdom’s obligations under Article 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966.
(2) The Secretary of State may from time to time revise a code.
(3) Before the end of each review period the Secretary of State must—
(a) review each code for the guidance of persons exercising functions under this section, and
(b) lay a report of the review before Parliament.
But this does not affect the Secretary of State’s function under subsection (2).
(4) A review period is—
(a) in relation to the first review, the period of 3 years beginning with the day on which this subsection comes into force, and
(b) in relation to subsequent reviews, each period of 5 years beginning with the day on which the report of the previous review was laid before Parliament.
(5) The Secretary of State may delegate the preparation of the review or revision of the whole or any part of a code so far as he or she considers expedient.
(6) It is the duty of a person to have regard to any relevant code if acting in relation to a person seeking asylum in one or more of the following ways—
(a) in a professional capacity;
(b) for remuneration;
(c) for a charity or other not-for-profit body.
(7) If it appears to a court or tribunal conducting any criminal or civil proceedings that—
(a) a provision of a code, or
(b) a failure to comply with a code,
is relevant to a question arising in the proceedings, the provision or failure must be taken into account in deciding the question.
(8) In this section, “code” means a code prepared or revised under this section.”
Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment requires the Secretary of State to lay codes of practice before Parliament providing for guidance to assess the mental and physical health needs of any asylum seeker.