All Articles: Cases

Home Office unaware of the extent to which ‘mystery’ stamp has been used to grant entry to UK in error

An Albanian national was mistakenly allowed to enter the UK by an immigration officer who used a stamp described by the Home Office Presenting Officer as “a stamp which is regularly encountered, but the use of which is shrouded in mystery” ...

8th December 2023 By

Webinar: Palestinian refugees and Article 1D (18 December 2023)

In this live webinar, Grace Capel and Jasmine Quiller-Doust discuss the special status of Palestinian refugees and Article 1D of the Refugee Convention. Understanding Article 1D is essential if you find yourself representing Palestinian refugees as th ...

6th December 2023 By

Objective evidence must be considered when deciding “very significant obstacles” to integration

The Court of Appeal has emphasised that consideration of whether there are very significant obstacles to a person’s reintegration is a practical test which must take into account objective evidence. The case is NC v Secretary of State for the Ho ...

6th December 2023 By

Damages claim for asylum delay dismissed by Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal has dismissed a claim for damages against the Home Secretary for a five month delay in granting refugee status, following a successful appeal, to a person with severe mental health issues. The case is FXJ v Secretary of State for t ...

30th November 2023 By

Court of Appeal tells Home Office to reconsider “plainly wrong” decision on Turkish business person application

The Home Office must reconsider an application in the now closed Turkish business person route after an poor initial decision to refuse was then compounded by flawed decision making on administrative review and in the subsequent judicial review. The c ...

29th November 2023 By

Reflections on the Supreme Court’s Rwanda judgment

This post reflects on Wednesday’s momentous Supreme Court decision in the Rwanda litigation. You can read Colin’s initial take on the judgment here. The Supreme Court’s decision To recap, the Supreme Court decided that there are substantial grou ...

20th November 2023 By

Supreme Court finds Rwanda is not a safe country to which refugees can be removed

The Supreme Court has today held that Rwanda is not a safe country and that it would be unlawful for refugees to be removed there. The government’s appeal against the Court of Appeal’s judgment has been dismissed. Lord Reed, giving the co ...

15th November 2023 By

Returning a refugee to persecution must be a last resort

An Iranian refugee who, according to MI5, holds an Islamist extremist mindset and is supportive of ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant), has won his appeal against revocation of his refugee status. If the Home Office decides to revoke a person ...

8th November 2023 By

Guidance in Begum on deprivation decisions is not restricted to national security cases

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) has concluded that the guidance given by the Supreme Court in Begum v Special Immigration Appeals Commission & Anor [2021] UKSC 7 on how deprivation decisions should be made is not limited to cases ...

3rd November 2023 By

High Court success in challenge to move of highly vulnerable asylum seeker away from his support network

The High Court has issued a damning judgment lamenting the Home Secretary’s attempt to defend a decision to place a highly vulnerable person seeking asylum in accommodation in Swindon, where he could not access his support network in London. The cas ...

31st October 2023 By

New asylum processes set up on disputed territory of Diego Garcia

Diego Garcia did not have any sort of asylum system in place when it received its first asylum seekers in 2021. Following litigation, the British Indian Ocean Territory has for the first time put in place processes for protection claims to be lodged a ...

23rd October 2023 By

TLScontact in unsuccessful challenge to new Home Office contract

It appears that we may start seeing changes in overseas visa processing centres soon, after TLScontact was unsuccessful in an attempt to stop the Home Office from entering into a new contract with VFS Global. The case is Teleperformance Contact Ltd v ...

19th October 2023 By

Home Office concedes latest challenge to no recourse to public funds policy

The Home Office has conceded the latest in an increasingly long line of cases challenging the operation of the no recourse to public funds policy. This challenge was to the refusal to lift the no recourse condition from a person with section 3C leave ...

16th October 2023 By

Court of Appeal quashes conviction of person trafficked in the UK as a child

In BSG v R [2023] EWCA Crim 1041, the Court of Appeal quashed the convictions of a young Somali citizen, who suffered ‘a clear injustice’ after being ‘groomed, exploited and threatened’ [para 57] by a human trafficking gang in the UK. Backgrou ...

21st September 2023 By

First-tier Tribunal finds that UN Agency is unable to provide protection and assistance to a severely disabled Palestinian child

In AB and NB v Secretary of State for the Home Department (PA/07865/20119), the First-tier Tribunal found that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) was unable to provide “protection and assistance” to a severely disabled Palestinian ...

19th September 2023 By

The Rwanda litigation: who is arguing what in the Supreme Court?

The government was granted permission to appeal in the Rwanda litigation in July. This post provides an update on the current state of play ahead of the Supreme Court hearing. You can read Free Movement’s coverage of the Court of Appeal’s judgment ...

12th September 2023 By

No Windrush compensation for man whose ILR lapsed while imprisoned abroad

A claimant wrongly given a deportation order couldn’t benefit from the Windrush Compensation Scheme because his indefinite leave to remain had already lapsed, the High Court has held in R (on the application of Thompson) v Secretary of State for the ...

11th August 2023 By

‘Systematic and routine’ use of hotels for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children is unlawful

The Home Secretary’s systematic and routine accommodation of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in hotels is unlawful, the High Court has held. The case, R (on the application of ECPAT UK) v Kent County Council and another [2023] EWHC 1953 (Admin ...

3rd August 2023 By

Post-Brexit spouses aren’t protected by the Withdrawal Agreement, Court of Appeal confirms

If you married an EU national in the UK after 31 December 2020, you can’t get leave to remain under the EU Settlement Scheme unless you previously had or applied for an EEA residence card or family permit as their durable partner. That remains the c ...

1st August 2023 By

High Court demands radical change to Home Office asylum support

In the recent judgment R (HA and Ors) v SSHD [2023] EWHC 1876 (Admin) the High Court (Swift J) found that the Home Secretary failed to meet even her minimalist legal obligations to provide support to destitute asylum seekers. The details of the case m ...

1st August 2023 By

Asylum seekers don’t need ‘direct evidence’ they’re being covertly monitored

In WAS (Pakistan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 894, the Court of Appeal has given guidance on the lower standard of proof in asylum appeals. WAS claimed to be at risk because of his involvement with MQM-London, a UK-bas ...

31st July 2023 By

‘Minded to cancel’ process applies to dishonesty allegations at the UK border

A student whose leave was cancelled on arrival was wrongly denied the opportunity to comment on an allegation of falsified English language qualifications. So held the High Court in R (on the application of Tazeem) v Secretary of State for the Home De ...

28th July 2023 By

Upper Tribunal rules post-Brexit Zambrano appeals can continue

In a highly technical decision, Osunneye (Zambrano, transitional appeal rights) Nigeria [2023] UKUT 162 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal has concluded that Zambrano appeals may proceed notwithstanding the various Brexit regulations. The official headnote: A ...

25th July 2023 By

Ahmed: “historical injustice” explained… again?

The Upper Tribunal has provided further guidance on the meaning of historical injustice in the case of Ahmed v SSHD [2023] UKUT 00165 (IAC). “Historical injustice” is the term used to describe the circumstances where an individual has suffered as ...

25th July 2023 By

Upper Tribunal reminds parties to identify the issues in an appeal

Two new Upper Tribunal cases emphasise the importance of the parties to an immigration appeal identifying and addressing all the issues in dispute. Both the cases were decided by a panel that included Mr Justice Dove, the President of the Upper Tribun ...

24th July 2023 By

Mother and four children spent over a year in ‘inadequate’ accommodation

An asylum-seeking mother and her four children were placed in inadequate hotel accommodation for over a year, the High Court has found. The case is R (on the application of SA) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1787 (Admin). It ...

20th July 2023 By

Home Office withdraws objective evidence test for trafficking decisions

The Home Office has, following a judicial review challenge for two claimants of Duncan Lewis, published new modern slavery statutory guidance which no longer requires a potential victim of trafficking and modern slavery to produce ‘objective’ evid ...

19th July 2023 By

Tribunal must consider Home Office decisions in full even when not explicitly relied on by representative

Can a judge ignore part of a Home Office decision if their representative doesn’t mention it in court? No, said the Court of Appeal in Shyti v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWCA Civ 770. The case The appellant, Mr Shyti, was chal ...

10th July 2023 By

High Court rejects challenge to EU Settlement Scheme dependency rules for children

The child of an EU national is only entitled to stay in the UK after Brexit if they are under 21 or dependent on their parent, the High Court has held. In reaching this conclusion, the court in R (on the application of Ali) v Secretary of State for th ...

7th July 2023 By

No visa for Afghan interpreter accused of leaking sensitive information

The Home Secretary was entitled to refuse entry clearance to an Afghan interpreter accused of releasing sensitive information and threatening to kill coalition forces. That was the conclusion of the High Court in FMA and others v Secretary of State fo ...

6th July 2023 By

New law confirms British citizenship for children of EU citizens born in UK before 2 October 2000

The British Nationality (Regularisation of Past Practice) Act 2023 came into force on 29 June 2023. It inserts a new section 50B into the British Nationality Act 1981. Section 50B definitively and retrospectively confirms the British nationality statu ...

6th July 2023 By

Reflections on the Court of Appeal’s Rwanda decision

This post reflects on last week’s extraordinary Court of Appeal judgment on the Rwanda policy. You can read our initial take on this here. Appeal to the Supreme Court The government has already announced its intention to seek leave to appeal to the ...

5th July 2023 By

Supreme Court finds exclusion of Palestinians from resettlement scheme not unlawful

The Supreme Court has held that there was no legal obligation to consider the equality impact of excluding Palestinians from the UK’s resettlement scheme for refugees from Syria. The design of the scheme was therefore lawful. The case is R (on the a ...

3rd July 2023 By

Court of Appeal finds Rwanda plan unlawful as Rwanda is not a safe third country

The Court of Appeal has found, by a majority, that the Rwanda plan is unlawful as Rwanda is not a sufficiently safe country. In short, the Rwandan authorities are not yet reliably able to sort genuine from non-genuine refugees, and therefore there is ...

29th June 2023 By

Trafficking victims wrongly denied financial support in lockdown

Potential victims of trafficking awaiting asylum support decisions during the first lockdown were wrongly denied the full payments to which they were entitled. So held the High Court in R (on the application of PM) v Secretary of State for the Home De ...

28th June 2023 By

Scottish inquiry finds immigration detention centre death was avoidable

A Scottish Fatal Accident Inquiry has held that a number of defects in the system of working in Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre led to the death of a 54-year old Chinese man which could have reasonably been avoided. A Fatal Accident Inquiry, simil ...

15th June 2023 By

Court declines to take legal guardianship of refugee children missing from hotels

The High Court has decided it should not invoke its wardship jurisdiction in relation to missing and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. In Article 39 v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 1398 (Fam), Article 39, a charity promot ...

13th June 2023 By
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