OA158772012

� Grounds on which entry clearance or leave to enter the United Kingdom should normally be refused

(18) save where the Immigration Officer is satisfied that admission would be justified for strong compassionate reasons, conviction in any country including the United Kingdom of an offence which, if committed in the United Kingdom, is punishable with imprisonment for a term of 12 months or any greater punishment or, if committed outside the United Kingdom, would be so punishable if the conduct constituting the offence had occurred in the United Kingdom;

(19) where, from information available to the Immigration Officer, it seems right to refuse leave to enter on the ground that exclusion from the United Kingdom is conducive to the pubic good; if, for example, in the light of the character, conduct or associations of the person seeking leave to enter it is undesirable to give him leave to enter;

There is no merit in that argument. An offence is �punishable� in a particular manner if the relevant statute (or, in the case of a common law offence, the common law) permits that level of punishment for the offence as defined. For immigration purposes the same concept appears in s.3(6) of the Immigration Act 1971, which reads as follows:

�� a person who is not a British citizen shall also be liable to deportation from the United Kingdom if, after he has attained the age of 17, he is convicted of an offence for which is punishable with imprisonment and on his conviction is recommended for deportation by a court empowered by this Act to do so�.