- BY CJ McKinney
Deported man murdered by Taliban
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An immigration appeal is over if the appellant dies, the Upper Tribunal has held. The case is FZ (human rights appeal, death, effect) Afghanistan [2022] UKUT 71 (IAC).
The man known only as FZ lived in the UK from 2000 to 2016 before being deported to Afghanistan for petty criminality. In September 2018, while his appeal trying to overturn the deportation order was pending, he was murdered by the Taliban.
FZ’s widow and children wanted the immigration tribunal to decide the appeal even though the protagonist had died. It is unclear from the judgment whether they expected any practical benefit from a positive outcome, or if it was more about posthumously vindicating his reputation.
Either way, the First-tier Tribunal declined to make findings of fact as requested, and the Upper Tribunal agreed. The appeal legislation, the judges said, is premised on the person being alive. Interpreting it otherwise under the Human Rights Act would involve “radical re-writing” for which there was “no justification”.
Where P has made a human rights appeal and subsequently dies, the appeal no longer exists and should be formally recorded by the Tribunal as having come to an end.
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