In deciding immigration cases where Article 8 is engaged, a balancing exercise must be undertaken to assess whether the deportation is in accordance with the law and is a proportionate means of pursuing a legitimate aim. The case of UE (Nigeria) and Others -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 975 involved a married couple and their four children arguing that their value to the community within the UK was a relevant consideration
The Court found that "the weight attached to the public interest in removal of the person in question is not some fixed immutable amount. It may vary from case to case, and where someone is of great value to the community in this country, there exists a factor which reduces the importance of maintaining firm immigration control in his individual case." They further rejected the submission that this rewarded individual good behaviour, holding that it was merely a "factor in the assessment of the public interest that the decision-maker was already required to undertake".