The methods and reports of controversial linguistic analysis company Sprakab, based in Sweden and used by UKBA in disputed nationality asylum cases, have been warmly
The tribunal has held that it is safe to return to Iraq. In HM and Others (Article 15(c)) Iraq CG [2010] UKUT 331 (IAC) President
The Government has confirmed that removals to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation have been suspended pending the outcome of the test case. This comes
UKBA has published a new policy on dealing with children, specifically asylum applications by unaccompanied children. It went ‘live’ on 1 September 2010 and can
The tragic demise of Refugee and Migrant Justice, formerly known as the Refugee Legal Centre, leaves a gaping and unfillable void in the immigration sector.
UKBA has laid Statement of Changes CM7929 to give effect (or, at least, limited effect) to the judgment of the Supreme Court in ZO (Somalia)
Some tremendously good news for many refugees: in the new case of FH (Post-flight spouses) Iran [2010] UKUT 275 (IAC) the tribunal has found that
Plainly the ratio of HJ is not limited just to sexual orientation cases but will apply to all grounds covered by the Convention. I thought
R (on the application of Medical Justice) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWHC 1925 (Admin) should be a wake up call
An unpublished UKBA internal investigation has rejected the complaints made by Louise Perrett about the Cardiff asylum team. A summary has been made available. The existence
The Home Office appeal to the Supreme Court in ZO (Somalia) [2010] UKSC 36 has been dismissed. This confirms that in cases where a fresh asylum
HJ (Iran) and HT (Cameroon) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] UKSC 31 represents a fundamental change in UK asylum law. The
UPDATE: see proper post here with analysis. Sorry for the headline, which is in fact an accurate description of what has happened. Although from the
The Court of Appeal has again revisited the vexed question of removals to war torn countries like Somalia in the major new case of HH
Just a quick alerter post. This actually happened a couple of weeks ago but I was insanely busy at the time, then forgot to mention
The Big Fat Greek Test Case has been dismissed. Read all about it here. Permission has been granted to appeal to the Court of Appeal,
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has intervened in a Strasbourg case on Greek refugee protection – or rather lack of it: The Commissioner
Judgment is out in JS (Sri Lanka), an appeal to the Supreme Court from KJ (Sri Lanka) in the Court of Appeal. Judgment here, summary
Further to my alerter post on this last month, the judgment is now available in the damning Third Country removals case on children. It is
The Court of Appeal has re-visited the proper approach to deciding whether fresh asylum claims meet the rule 353 test. The case is R (on
Mr Justice Collins has given a scathing judgment in a grant of permission to a judicial review challenge to the practice of the Home Office’s
There were developments last week in the world of third country removal cases, and now seems like a good moment to review the current position.
Claims have emerged from a UKBA staff member previously based at Cardiff that her colleagues were abusive to asylum seekers both to their faces and
Just a quick warning to practitioners. There have been a small number of examples recently of UKBA granting five years’ status to children recognised as
The case of TK (Tamils, LP updated) Sri Lanka CG [2009] UKAIT 00049 is next on the carousel. As can be seen from the title, it
My my, one gets more comments on The Guardian website than on Free Movement! I’ve been busy in court all day (on a non immigration
UPDATE: see this judgment. There have been some interesting developments on permission to work for Legacy asylum seekers. Click here for the Story So Far.
In the recent case of MS and others (family reunion: “in order to seek asylum”) Somalia [2009] UKAIT 00041 the tribunal looked at the refugee
In an unusually dramatic move, the Presenting Officer in the recent case of KB (para: 320(7A): “false representations”) Albania [2009] UKAIT 00043 served a section
News just in: Mr Justice Davis sitting in the High Court has ordered the Home Office to disclose ‘details of the route and destination’ of
It appears that UKBA have genuinely gone nuts. From tomorrow, 14 October 2009, they are requiring that any further submissions in an asylum case must
I thought it was high time for a general advice post, as it’s been a while since the last one. This one is about fresh
I’ve come across some interesting articles on ‘credibility’ through the Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog. This is an excellent blog which records various publications on
It has taken me a while to get around to posting on the House of Lords judgment in the Sudanese test case, SSHD v AH
A little too reminiscent of Cromwell’s New Model Army, perhaps, the New Asylum Model is supposed to herald a new age of high quality Home
I’m still catching up on a few developments while I was away over Easter, and have just read the Court of Appeal case of AH
The Court of Appeal has yet again overturned the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal’s attempt definitively to establish whether a failed asylum seeker is at risk
The methods and reports of controversial linguistic analysis company Sprakab, based in Sweden and used by UKBA in disputed nationality asylum cases, have been warmly endorsed by the tribunal in the case RB (Linguistic evidence Sprakab) Somalia [2010] UKUT 329 (IAC). Sprakab works only for governments and has only ever...
The tribunal has held that it is safe to return to Iraq. In HM and Others (Article 15(c)) Iraq CG [2010] UKUT 331 (IAC) President Blake finds that The degree of indiscriminate violence characterising the current armed conflict taking place in Iraq is not at such a high level that...
The Government has confirmed that removals to Greece under the Dublin II Regulation have been suspended pending the outcome of the test case. This comes following a number of recent news items on the calamity that is the Greek asylum ‘system’. Or, in the words of UNHCR themselves, ‘humanitarian crisis’....
UKBA has published a new policy on dealing with children, specifically asylum applications by unaccompanied children. It went ‘live’ on 1 September 2010 and can be found with the earlier link or in the Asylum Process Guidance Special Cases section. The policy is a considerable improvement on the previous version....
The tragic demise of Refugee and Migrant Justice, formerly known as the Refugee Legal Centre, leaves a gaping and unfillable void in the immigration sector. With its higher than average success rate and top notch training and nurturing programme for asylum lawyers, it is simply irreplaceable. What happened? I start...
Some tremendously good news for many refugees: in the new case of FH (Post-flight spouses) Iran [2010] UKUT 275 (IAC) the tribunal has found that Article 8 appeals by the spouses of refugees who married the refugee after the refugee left the country of origin should normally be allowed. Ever...
Plainly the ratio of HJ is not limited just to sexual orientation cases but will apply to all grounds covered by the Convention. I thought it might be interesting to start with that quotation from the paragraph 38 of TM (Zimbabwe) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home...
R (on the application of Medical Justice) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWHC 1925 (Admin) should be a wake up call to civil servants at UKBA and Ministers in the new Government. The High Court declared unlawful the Home Office policy of conducting no notice removals....
An unpublished UKBA internal investigation has rejected the complaints made by Louise Perrett about the Cardiff asylum team. A summary has been made available. The existence of the ‘grant monkey’ was confirmed, but seems to have been found to be entirely benign. No racial overtones to it, then, and no...
The Home Office appeal to the Supreme Court in ZO (Somalia) [2010] UKSC 36 has been dismissed. This confirms that in cases where a fresh asylum claim has been made and no decision was reached for a year, the asylum seeker obtains a right to work under European law. This...
HJ (Iran) and HT (Cameroon) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] UKSC 31 represents a fundamental change in UK asylum law. The previous settlement, established by the case of Iftikar Ahmed [2000] INLR 1, was a very British and pragmatic one. Essentially, the question of whether future...
UPDATE: see proper post here with analysis. Sorry for the headline, which is in fact an accurate description of what has happened. Although from the half of the judgment I’ve managed to read so far, their Lordships prefer to refer to ‘practising homosexuals’. A bit like the apocryphal ‘popular beat...
The Court of Appeal has again revisited the vexed question of removals to war torn countries like Somalia in the major new case of HH (Somalia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 426. The issues at stake have also been the subject of a major...
Just a quick alerter post. This actually happened a couple of weeks ago but I was insanely busy at the time, then forgot to mention it. Permission was granted by the Court of Appeal in MS and others (family reunion: “in order to seek asylum”) Somalia [2009] UKAIT 00041 on...
The Big Fat Greek Test Case has been dismissed. Read all about it here. Permission has been granted to appeal to the Court of Appeal, though. No news on what will happen to other cases stayed behind Saaedi but they’ll probably stay stayed. Read about the third country removals litigation...
The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights has intervened in a Strasbourg case on Greek refugee protection – or rather lack of it: The Commissioner concluded that current asylum law and practice in Greece are not in compliance with international and European human rights standards, expressing at the same...
Judgment is out in JS (Sri Lanka), an appeal to the Supreme Court from KJ (Sri Lanka) in the Court of Appeal. Judgment here, summary here. The Secretary of State’s appeal was dismissed and the Court of Appeal judgment largely upheld, other than in respect of too tightly defining liability...
Further to my alerter post on this last month, the judgment is now available in the damning Third Country removals case on children. It is called R (on the application of T) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWHC 435 (Admin). As expected, the judgment is scathing....
The Court of Appeal has re-visited the proper approach to deciding whether fresh asylum claims meet the rule 353 test. The case is R (on the application of YH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 116 and it effectively supersedes WM (DRC) and interprets the...
Mr Justice Collins has given a scathing judgment in a grant of permission to a judicial review challenge to the practice of the Home Office’s Third Country Unit (TCU) in detaining and removing children to supposedly safe third countries such as Greece and Italy. The case was heard yesterday and...
There were developments last week in the world of third country removal cases, and now seems like a good moment to review the current position. The Dublin II Regulation (not its official title) enables EU states to return an asylum seeker to the country through which the asylum seeker first...
Claims have emerged from a UKBA staff member previously based at Cardiff that her colleagues were abusive to asylum seekers both to their faces and behind their backs when discussing their applications. The claims are detailed, specific and plausible. If I had to use a single word to describe them,...
Just a quick warning to practitioners. There have been a small number of examples recently of UKBA granting five years’ status to children recognised as refugees on the basis of their membership of a particular social group based on their age, but in the letter accompanying the status papers warning...
UPDATE: see this judgment. There have been some interesting developments on permission to work for Legacy asylum seekers. Click here for the Story So Far. I read in some stakeholder minutes recently that UKBA thought it had only be judicially reviewed once about failure to grant permission to work following...
In the recent case of MS and others (family reunion: “in order to seek asylum”) Somalia [2009] UKAIT 00041 the tribunal looked at the refugee family reunion rules and came to the slightly surprising conclusion that not all refugees have the same rights. A recognised refugee who arrived in the...
In an unusually dramatic move, the Presenting Officer in the recent case of KB (para: 320(7A): “false representations”) Albania [2009] UKAIT 00043 served a section 40 notice on a witness in the case, thereby depriving him of his British citizenship. There is a right of appeal to the tribunal against...
News just in: Mr Justice Davis sitting in the High Court has ordered the Home Office to disclose ‘details of the route and destination’ of a proposed removals flight to Iraq. Rumours about this charter flight have been flying and the Home Office have been, unusually, refusing to provide any...
It appears that UKBA have genuinely gone nuts. From tomorrow, 14 October 2009, they are requiring that any further submissions in an asylum case must be made in person by appointment. At the same time UKBA is now requiring that all initial claims for asylum made inside the UK (rather...
I’ve come across some interesting articles on ‘credibility’ through the Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog. This is an excellent blog which records various publications on all sorts of interesting subjects and effectively catalogues them, making future access possible. Links often appear on Free Movement in the bottom left hand feed...
A little too reminiscent of Cromwell’s New Model Army, perhaps, the New Asylum Model is supposed to herald a new age of high quality Home Office asylum decision making. The Home Office already seem to have stopped referring to it as being New, but as with ‘New Labour’ it may...
The Court of Appeal has yet again overturned the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal’s attempt definitively to establish whether a failed asylum seeker is at risk of ill-treatment by the Zimbabwe secret service at Harare airport following a forced removal there. That’s a sentence and a half. But it’s a case...
