Section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971 establishes criminal offences for people who knowingly enter the UK without the necessary permission.1

Article 31(1) of the Refugee Convention provides that “The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.”

However, whereas there are, at Section 31 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, statutory defences for refugees based on Article 31(1) of the Refugee Convention to offences relating to the use of false documentation or information to enter the UK, no such defences exist to the Section 24 Immigration Act 1971 offences relating to knowingly entering the UK without the necessary permission.2 While the UK is a signatory to the Refugee Convention, treaty law is unenforceable in the UK if not incorporated into national law,3 so defences to knowingly entering the UK without the necessary permission are not available to those prosecuted.

Currently, as a matter of policy, those claiming asylum, or claiming to be stateless, are not generally prosecuted for unauthorised entry unless there is considered to be an “aggravating factor”. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) must have regard to the obligations arising from international conventions when considering whether prosecution is in the public interest.4 CPS guidance specifically states that “[i]n cases where there is no statutory defence, prosecutors should have regard to circumstances which are relevant to Article 31(1) of the Refugee Convention when considering the public interest stage”.5

UK statute defines the interpretation to be given to “coming directly” at section 37(1) of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022: “A refugee is not to be taken to have come to the United Kingdom directly from a country where their life or freedom was threatened if, in coming from that country, they stopped in another country outside the United Kingdom, unless they can show that they could not reasonably be expected to have sought protection under the Refugee Convention in that country.”6

Aside from criminal penalties, anyone who enters the UK illegally or arrives at the border without the required valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorisation, having made a dangerous journey, will normally be refused British Citizenship, on the basis of failing to demonstrate “good character”.7 There is an exception for anyone whose arrival in the UK was outside their control, for example victims of trafficking. Refugees are also able to benefit from an “defence” to the presumption of bad character if they claimed asylum in the UK without delay and where they travelled to the UK from the territory where they feared persecution “directly” (in the Article 31(1) sense, as interpreted in domestic law by section 37 of the 2022 Act).

• 1Immigration Act 1971, Section 24. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/77/section/24.  
• 2Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, Section 31. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1999/33/section/31.
• 3

  See case of JH Rayner (Mincing Lane) Ltd v Department of Trade and Industry [1990] 2 AC 418, UK House of Lords. Available at: https://unece.org/sites/default/files/2024-09/frPartyC194_08.09.2022_annex2_0.pdf.

• 4Crown Prosecution Service, Code for Crown Prosecutors, Para. 2.10. Available at: https://www.cps.gov.uk/publication/code-crown-prosecutors.
• 5

  Crown Prosecution Service, Legal Guidance, International and organised crime – Immigration. Available at: https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/immigration.

• 6Nationality and Borders Act 2022, Section 37. Available at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/36/section/37.
• 7Home Office, Nationality: good character requirement, Version 7.0, 30 April 2026, p. 52. Available at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69f9d239097169e6a7a76fd0/Nationality_policy_-_good_character.pdf.