British Law Lords rule British immigration checks at Ruzyne were discriminatory

The UK's highest court institution has ruled that British government regulations that prevented some Czechs - namely Romanies - from travelling to Great Britain in 2001 were discriminatory on racial grounds. The Law Lord's verdict concerns controls which were carried out by British immigration officials at Prague's Ruzyne airport in July 2001 in an effort to lower the number of those seeking asylum in Britain. In 2002, the British human rights organisation Liberty lodged a complaint against the checks on behalf of six Roma and the European Centre for Roma Rights. A lower level court and Great Britain's Supreme Court originally rejected the complaint.

In response to the latest ruling, the British Home Office has replied it had not meant to discriminate against anyone, adding that the measures in place at the time were meant to prevent abuse of the asylum and immigration system.