Successful Appeal Against Civil Penalties for Clandestine Entrants

Simon Clarke acted for the Appellant in this court appeal against Civil Penalties for clandestine entrants. Our client, a Belgian haulier, was penalised following the discovery of clandestine entrants in a trailer delivered by him to Zeebrugge Port. The Secretary of State imposed the penalties even though the trailer had been loaded in Belgium and delivered for loose-shunting to Zeebrugge, where it was loaded onto a ship by the port staff. SBC successfully argued that the Secretary of State had no business penalising hauliers whose trailer had been loaded and delivered outside of the UK, on the basis that she had no jurisdiction to do so. We also argued that Civil Penalties could only be levied against a haulier where it could be shown that the illegals had entered the trailer ‘on his watch’. Here it could not be said that this was the case; the illegals could just have easily have entered the trailer whilst it was parked at Zeebrugge Port and under the control of the Port authorities.

This is another example in which SBC deployed their expertise in this highly specialised area of law, combining it with their knowledge and long experience of the haulage industry to represent hauliers’ interests and securing the best outcome for our clients.