The daughter in-law of the British hate preacher Abu Hamza cannot be automatically deported from Britain even though she has a criminal record, the European Court of Justice has ruled.
The Moroccan woman is the daughter in-law of the cleric who was jailed for life in America last year after being found guilty of 11 charges of terrorism and kidnapping.
A Conservative MP revealed the identity of the woman in the House of Commons today, after a preliminary ruling found that deporting someone who is the sole carer for an EU national child was “in principle contrary to EU law”.
The woman has a British son and the court has ruled that European Union law means she cannot be deported unless she is deemed to pose a “serious” threat to society.
The case intensifies pressure on David Cameron, whose renegotiation has not touched on the powers of the ECJ over British law.
On Tuesday he promised to bring forward legislative proposals soon that will “put beyond doubt” the sovereignty of the Commons over European law.
There is an order banning media from naming the woman, who is referred to as CS in court documents.
But Conservative MP Philip Davies told the House of Commons today that this was “a very, very serious matter for the security of this country.”
Raising a point of order in the House of Commons, Mr Davies called for an urgent statement from a Home Office minister on the matter.
He said: “I’m very surprised that there isn’t a statement today in the House.
“You may have seen the reports in the newspapers yesterday that European judges have ruled that a foreign Moroccan criminal cannot be deported from the country despite the Home Office saying that she committed serious offences which threaten the values of society”.
He said his understanding was that the person concerned is the daughter in-law of Abu Hamza.
He said: “And surely this is something that should be raised in this House, that the Home Office minister should be making a statement about today.
“Have you had any indication that the Home Office intend to make any kind of statement about this issue?”
The European court said the UK had argued that “CS’s serious criminal offence represented an obvious threat to the preservation of that Member State’s social cohesion and of the values of its society”.
It added: “The Advocate General considers that expulsion is, in principle, contrary to EU law but that, in exceptional circumstances, such a measure may be adopted, provided that it observes the principle of proportionality and is based on the conduct of the person concerned (conduct that must constitute a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society) and on imperative reasons relating to public security.”