Article 8: Private and Family Life

Article 8 of the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights requires that everyone’s private and family life is properly respected.

This briefing explains how Article 8 applies in immigration cases, addresses unfair and harmful political and media criticism of this, and provides information about how previous Governments have created or responded to that criticism.

Recommendations are made about what is needed to avoid or reduce unfair and harmful criticism in future.