LONDON, Feb 22: The Court of Appeal on Friday ruled the British government should freeze a policy of fining lorry drivers who carry clandestine immigrants into the country, dealing a blow to Britain’s efforts to fight illegal immigration.

The court ordered a temporary halt to the policy after deciding it was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It gave the government permission to apply to the House of Lords, Britain’s supreme court, for a final ruling.

Hauliers’ groups hailed the decision as a victory. They have argued it is unfair to hold drivers responsible for people stowing away in lorries, and said the fines were threatening their businesses.

The fines policy was introduced to clamp down on rising numbers of refugees illegally entering Britain on lorries from the continent.

Legal action was brought by 50 drivers and haulage companies after the government introduced penalties of 2,000 pounds (2,850 dollars, 3,250 euros) per illegal immigrant in the Immigration and Asylum Act of 1999.

Lord Justice Simon Brown, giving the ruling, said the increasing scale of illegal entry into Britain was acknowledged as “a grave social evil” and no responsible government could ignore the problem.

But he ruled there were “critical flaws” in the scheme which made it unfair and denied lorry drivers the right to a fair trial because the fine was mandatory and gave them no opportunity to explain the circumstances.

Lawyer Jane George, who fought the case for some of the hauliers, said she was delighted with the decision.

“Many of the clients we have represented during the last two years have been immensely worried by the operation of this scheme.

“The essential unfairness of this regime has been recognized by a court and it is now to be hoped that the government will accept that the legislation should be removed from the statute books.”

A spokesman for solicitors’ firm Davies Lavery, which was also involved in the legal battle, said: “The view of the industry is that this is an issue of national security which could not be visited alone on the transport industry, but the nation as a whole.”

Home Secretary David Blunkett said in a statement after the ruling: “We intend to look carefully at what steps we should take to deal with this issue including the possible legislative options.’’—AFP