Law Commons^™

Patmalniece V Secretary Of State For Work And Pensions [2011] Uksc 11 Supreme Court, Mel Cousins

Mel Cousins

This Supreme Court decision concerns the right to reside test in UK social security law. In brief, UK law has since 1994 had a requirement that, in order to be entitled to various non-contributory benefits, one must be habitually resident in the country. In 2004 in response to the accession of a large number of new Member States to the EU, a new right to reside test was incorporated into the habitual residence test. This means that in order to be habitually resident it is necessary to have a legal right to reside in the United Kingdom. All UK citizens …