Aliens Order 1920
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Aliens Order 1920 (
SR&O 1920 List of statutory rules and orders of the United Kingdom is an incomplete list of statutory rules and orders of the United Kingdom. Statutory rules and orders were the predecessor of statutory instruments and they formed the secondary legisla ...
/448) was a British statutory instrument created under the
Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act 1919 The Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5. c. 92) is an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom originally aimed at continuing and extending the provisions of the Aliens Restriction Act 1914, and the B ...
that extended powers over the entry of immigrants into the country. The order made passports obligatory, and it was brought out in the context of a period of widespread unemployment following the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. As a result of the order, all
aliens Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, a lifeform with ext ...
seeking employment, or residence, were required to register with the police and a 'central register of aliens' was maintained under the direction of the
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
, who was
Edward Shortt Edward Shortt, KC (10 March 1862 – 10 November 1935) was a British lawyer and Liberal Party politician. He served as a member of David Lloyd George's cabinet, most significantly as Home Secretary from 1919 to 1922. Background and education ...
at the time the order came about. The order also required that all aliens entering Britain to be subjected to a medical evaluation, and it further permitted immigration officers to refuse entry to anyone deemed "a lunatic, idiot, or mentally deficient" or if "for medical reasons his admission is undesirable," so long as the determination be "certified by a medical inspector". Inspection did not usually require a medical officer, but was largely in the domain of immigration. This order remained in force until it was replaced by the Aliens Order 1953 ( SI 1953/1671).


References

` Statutory instruments of the United Kingdom Public health in the United Kingdom {{health-stub