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England and Wales Family Court Decisions (other Judges) |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Family Court Decisions (other Judges) >> Ryanair Ltd v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWFC B5 (21 January 2016) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/OJ/2016/B5.html Cite as: [2016] EWFC B5 |
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Thomas More Building Royal Courts of Justice Strand London WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
____________________
RYANAIR LIMITED | Appellant | |
- and - | ||
SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT | Respondent |
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(a trading name of Opus 2 International Limited)
Official Court Reporters and Audio Transcribers
5 Chancery Lane, London EC4A 1BL
Tel: 020 7831 5627 Fax: 020 7831 7737
[email protected]
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DR. C. STAKER (instructed by the Government Legal Department) appeared on behalf of the Respondent.
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Crown Copyright ©
JUDGE LOCHRANE:
"I immediately recognised this document was false because of the following: there was no colour shift with the word 'HELLAS' from green to blue when slightly tilting the passport, it was solid green at all angles. The partially concealed Greek flag at the top left-hand side of the passport did not complete to a whole flag when held up to the light. I observed both of these things without the use of technological aids".
She goes on to say that she concluded that, as a result, this was a false document and she says at the bottom of her report, "I considered the falsity of this document is reasonably apparent".
"I immediately recognised this document was false because of the following: there was no colour shift from green to blue on the word 'HELLAS' when the document was tilted slightly. It remained solid green at all angles. The partially concealed Greek flag at the top left-hand side of the passport biodata page did not complete to a whole image of the Greek flag when held up to the light. I observed both of these things without the use of technological aids. I consider the falsity of this document is reasonably apparent."
"This section applies if an individual requiring leave to enter the United Kingdom arrives in the United Kingdom by ship or aircraft and, on being required to do so by an immigration officer, fails to produce—
(a) an immigration document which is in force and which satisfactorily establishes his identity and his nationality or citizenship, and
(b)if the individual requires a visa, a visa of the required kind."
Subsection (2) reads:
"The Secretary of State may charge the owner of the ship or aircraft, in respect of the individual, the sum of £2,000."
Subsection (4) reads:
"No charge shall be payable in respect of any individual who is shown by the owner to have produced the required document or documents to the owner or his employee or agent when embarking on the ship or aircraft for the voyage or flight to the United Kingdom."
Then subsection (5):
"For the purpose of subsection (4) an owner shall be entitled to regard a document as—
(a)being what it purports to be unless its falsity is reasonably apparent, and
b)relating to the individual producing it unless it is reasonably apparent that it does not relate to him."
That is the full extent, as I understand it, of the statutory basis for the raising of these charges.
"A passport or other immigration document which is forged or counterfeit. Where a person presents a false document, the carrier is liable to a charge only if the falsity is reasonably apparent. The falsity of a document is reasonably apparent, (there are quotation marks surrounding the next passage but there is no indication whatsoever from where this is a quote) "if it is of a standard which a trained representative of the carrying company examining it carefully but briefly and without the use of technological aids could reasonably be expected to detect. A trained representative would be expected to have a level of basic knowledge of how to identify false documents but not to be expert nor to have the resources for a highly-detailed examination".
This particular section goes on, but I do not think the rest of it is relevant.
"As a carrier you may be liable to a charge if a passenger presents a false passport or other document. However, you will not be liable where the falsity is not reasonably apparent."
Pausing there, it is, of course, somewhat unhelpful that the matter is put in a double negative, but, nonetheless, it goes on:
"The UK Border Force will consider a falsity as reasonably apparent 'if it were of a standard which a trained representative of the carrying company examining it carefully but briefly and without the use of technological aids could reasonably be expected to detect.'"
So far, apparently, compliant with the other guidance to which I have just referred. However, this guidance goes on to say,
"This means that you must be able to see the forgery with the naked eye without the use of any aids such as magnifying glasses, lights or other technical equipment. A trained representative means a check-in agent or other staff member working for you or your handling agents, who is expected to have a basic knowledge of how to identify false documents but not to be experts nor to have the resources for a highly-detailed examination."
"I made specific reference to the propensity of Albanian nationals to present fraudulent Greek and Italian passports and national identity cards and suggested that they should exercise greater caution when such documents are presented to them at check-in or at the boarding gate."
"I have now had the opportunity to examine the case papers and consider your objections. I would like to remind you that we do not expect Ryanair's ground handling agents to detect deficiencies with travel documents that go undetected by a national police border force. We do expect your staff to identify forgeries that are reasonably apparent".
"I immediately recognised this document as false because of the following: the blue and white Greek flag symbol did not change, as it should have done, the green metallic writing, 'HELLAS' at the top of the passport did not change colour as we would have expected".
She goes on to say, "I consider that the falsity of the Greek passport is not reasonably apparent". That again is obviously to her, as a trained border police officer, rather than by reference to the standards to be applied to the trained representative etc etc. Her view was confirmed by L. Payne, the inspector, on p.779, when the decision was taken that no action would be taken in respect of that passport under s.40. That, as Mr. Davidson points out, seems to me was almost exactly on all fours with these documents which were regarded in a somewhat different light barely two or three weeks later.