An immigration judge explains why he resigned

In a well-expressed and clearly heartfelt article, Francis FitzGibbon KC explains over at the London Review of Books why he resigned as an immigration judge. It is full of gems and well worth your time.

The process is theoretically adversarial, with each side making its own case competitively until the judge decides who wins, rather than inquisitorial, with the tribunal making its own inquiry into the truth. The reality can be rather different. Appellants in asylum and other appeals are often unrepresented. The tribunal will help them to present their case as fully as possible, in order to make a fair decision on its merits. In some cases that I heard, the quality of the representation was so poor that the appellants would have been better off without a representative… Legal aid exists for their representation but it fattens no cats. The asylum lawyers I know do the work because they believe it needs doing, not for the money. It is truly vocational.

‘Why I Resigned’ by Francis FitzGibbon, London Review of Books Vol. 46 No. 20 · 24 October 2024.