President McCloskey gives guidance on appealing Upper Tribunal costs decisions to the Court of Appeal in the case of R (on the application of Soreefan and Others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (judicial review – costs – Court of Appeal) [2015] UKUT 594 (IAC). The headnote: (i)...
At long last the long awaited new Country Guidance case on Sikhs from Afghanistan is out. The case is TG and others (Afghan Sikhs persecuted) (CG) [2015] UKUT 595 (IAC) and the headnote reads: (i) Some members of the Sikh and Hindu communities in Afghanistan continue to suffer harassment at...
Law Society Practice Note on criminal prosecutions of victims of trafficking. Who should read this note? All practitioners involved in criminal cases where suspects or defendants could be victims of human trafficking. See also the shorter note by Philippa Southwell of Birds Solicitors, Defending victims of human trafficking.
...The case of Home Office v VS [2015] EWCA Civ 1142 discloses continued concerns about Home Office treatment of refugee children and sets clear guidelines on limits of power to detain children. The child was represented in the Court of Appeal by Stephanie Harrison QC and Shu Shin Luh of...
In R (on the application of Patel) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (duration of leave – policy) IJR [2015] UKUT 561 (IAC) the tribunal concluded, according to the official headnote: (1) The decision of the High Court in R (SM & Others) v Secretary of State for...
Improvements have been made to the quality of decisions and to record-keeping in the Home Office’s Visa Section in Jordan. However, the decision makers regularly failed to take supporting evidence adequately into account, and, in a fifth of cases, based their decision on incorrect facts. The Amman Visa Section is...
The latest instalment of President McCloskey’s Massive Open Online Course (“MOOC“) on immigration judicial review is aimed as much at judges as lawyers. In R (on the application of SA) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (human rights challenges: correct approach) IJR [2015] UKUT 536 (IAC) we are...
The case of Basnet is revisited by Deputy President Ockelton in the new case of Mitchell (Basnet revisited) [2015] UKUT 562 (IAC). The headnote: 1. The decision of the Tribunal in Basnet v SSHD [2012] UKUT 113 (IAC) does not put the burden of proof on the Secretary of State...
The annual round of introspection, self-congratulation, envy and feigned indifference that is the publication of the Chambers and Partners lawyer rankings has arrived again. The immigration team at Garden Court has done very well once more, both collectively and with many individuals receiving individual rankings as well. You can read...
Official headnote from Ayinde and Thinjom (Carers – Reg.15A – Zambrano) [2015] UKUT 560 (IAC): (i) The deprivation of the genuine enjoyment of the substance of the rights attaching to the status of European Union citizens identified in the decision in Zambrano [2011] EUECJ C-34/09 is limited to safeguarding a...
The Court of Appeal has given judgment in the test case on the meaning and effect of the “deport first, appeal later” provisions of the Immigration Act 2014. The case is R (On the Application Of Kiarie) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 1020...
A few weeks ago I attended Freedom From Torture’s Priving Torture conference. The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Professor Juan Méndez, was there, as was Senior Appeals Counsel from the International Criminal Court Ms Helen Brady. It was a pretty gruelling day and involved quite a lot of discussion about...
Dover Immigration Removal Centre has served as home to many of its inhabitants for months or even years. It has received damning reports due to its prison-like conditions and long periods of detention. On 15th October the Home Office finally announced that it would shut. This announcement came without reasons...
Interesting No 10 press release announcing new rules for Chinese visitors to the UK from some time in 2016. We can expect a Statement of Changes to the Immigration Rules closer to that time. The key change seems to be a new standard minimum 2 year multiple entry visit visa...
If you really don’t have anything better to do, you can watch the evidence session on the Immigration Bill in which I, Adrian Berry, Don Flynn, Jerome Phelps and Manjit Gill QC gave evidence here. It starts at about 11.32am and carries on for an eternity. I’ve watched a few...
A new report by Transparency International, Gold rush: Investment visas and corrupt capital flows into the UK, suggests that substantial amounts of corrupt wealth stolen from China and Russia are “highly likely” to have been laundered into the UK through the UK’s Tier 1 Investor “golden visa” programme. The report...
Desmond Rutledge considers the Advocate General’s Opinion (C-308/14) on the EU Commission’s action against the United Kingdom’s use of the right to reside test. This post was originally published on the Garden Court Chambers Blog. The origins of the Commission’s action against the UK In European Commission v United Kingdom...
Desmond Rutledge examines the recent decision in Alimanovic (C-67/14) which holds that it is lawful for a Member State to restrict the period a former worker from another Member State can access benefits upon becoming involuntarily unemployed based on Dano (C-333/12). This post was originally published on the Garden Court...
Please take the time to read this report of the inquest hearing into the death of 85 year old Canadian Alois Dvorak in immigration detention. It was a shocking case and it illustrates the importance of safeguards. Sometimes it takes the suffering of a middle class white person for other...
Women who leave work for maternity reasons and return to work afterwards are not to be considered “workers” under European Union free movement law, the UK government argued in the case of Saint Prix v UK (Case C‑507/12). As I said at the time, it is astonishing that the UK...
The Home Office today announced that all landlords in England and Wales will be forced to carry out “papers please” right to rent immigration checks on tenants from 1 February 2016. This is despite the Home Office’s own research, also published today, and independent research all finding that there was...
The Supreme Court has given judgment in the case of Mandalia v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] UKSC 59 about the interpretation and application of the Home Office’s Points Based System evidential flexibility policy. Regular followers of the blog will be familiar with this policy, which was...
As I sat down today, Sunday, to catch up with some billing, think about recording a Podcast, prep some more blog posts, work out what I want to say in oral evidence to the Parliamentary Immigration Bill committee next week (eek!) and look over yet more pro bono paperwork, this...
My colleague Adrian Berry has done an excellent write up of one of his cases over on his blog that I can heavily recommend as reading: British Citizenship by Descent:Trial and Error. The case is R (Bondada) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 2661 (Admin), a...
New guidance on conducting age assessments has been published by the Association of Directors of Children’s Services. The work has been done in co-operation with the Home Office and the new guidelines will be of critical importance in age assessment disputes. Some background from the ADCS website:
...I gave a 25 minute presentation on the Immigration Act 2014 and new Immigration Bill at the JUSTICE annual human rights conference yesterday. As an experiment, I tried recording myself and have combined the audio with the slides. Enjoy. Or not. I have also uploaded the audio track separately as...
The second reading of the Immigration Bill in the House of Commons is today. We have seen how even more appeals will be out of country under its regime, and the greater powers given to immigration officers under Part 3. Part 6 – including Schedules 7 and 8 – offers...
Seasoned public law lawyers have felt for some time that it is far harder to succeed in immigration judicial review applications in the Upper Tribunal than it ever was in the High Court. Cases that would have been very likely to succeed will not only now fail but will be...
President McCloskey has given guidance on the interpretation and effect of the statutory human rights considerations inserted into Part 5A of the 2002 Act by the Immigration Act 2014. The case is Deelah and others (section 117B – ambit) [2015] UKUT 515 (IAC) and Counsel Zane Malik’s four submissions were summarised at...
Yesterday Home Secretary Theresa May gave a speech on immigration and asylum issues at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. It was a nakedly political speech that was clearly intended to appeal to the right wing of the Conservative Party. Theresa May is positioning herself to make a bid for...
The Guardian is carrying a story that the Home Office has settled an unlawful detention claim by a pregnant asylum seeker detained at Yarl’s Wood and has said it will review its policy. The level of compensation is not disclosed. Detention policy is supposedly that pregnant asylum seekers will not...
Dr Hugo Storey has retired from the Upper Tribunal with effect from 30 September 2015, it has been announced: Dr Storey (70) was appointed a part-time Immigration Adjudicator in 1990 and a Special Immigration Adjudicator and Centre Adjudicator in Manchester in 1995. He was appointed Vice-President of the Immigration Appeal...
In R (on the application of Bah) v Secretary of State for the Home Department IJR [2015] UKUT 518 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal finds that even though the applicant had received a letter stating that the Home Office “aimed” to resolve cases by July 2011, this did not amount to...
