All Articles: Court of Appeal
Government stance on residence permits for trafficking victims declared unlawful
The Court of Appeal has held in PK (Ghana) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 98 that the criterion of “compelling personal circumstances” for a grant of limited leave as a trafficked person in the Secretary of State ...
14th February 2018Immigration detention system failing mentally ill, Court of Appeal finds
Are there adequate procedures and protections for mentally ill migrants in detention centres who wish to challenge the lawfulness of their detention? No, said the Court of Appeal in R (VC) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ ...
12th February 2018Court of Appeal gives authoritative guidance on Article 3 medical cases
The Court of Appeal last week issued “authoritative guidance” on Article 3 medical challenges against removal, reflecting the European Court of Human Rights’s decision in Paposhvili v Belgium. Lord Justice Sales, giving the court ...
5th February 2018The spider’s web of the Points Based System
The web of Rules and Guidance has become so tangled that even the spider has difficulty controlling it. So says Lord Justice Underhill in Mudiyanselage v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 65, the latest decision in a long line ...
1st February 2018Unaccompanied children and Dublin III: the latest instalment
In R (RSM (A Child)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 18 the Court of Appeal considered the ambit of Article 17 of the Dublin III regulation, the so-called “discretionary clause”, and found it to be narrow indeed. The c ...
26th January 2018Returning from outside the UK to challenge deprivation of citizenship
What procedure should be followed when someone is deprived of British citizenship, at a time when he or she is abroad, to enable return to the UK to participate in a statutory appeal to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC)? Should judicia ...
22nd January 2018Court of Appeal gets it badly wrong on out-of-country appeals
When the Supreme Court delivered judgment in R (Kiarie and Byndloss) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 42, immigration practitioners across the UK took an audible sigh of relief. In that case, the Supreme Court held that the ...
18th January 2018The Upper Tribunal’s costs appeal guidance has been overruled
Contrary to recent guidance from the Upper Tribunal, issued by former President McCloskey no less, an application to that tribunal for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal against a costs order made in a judicial review should be subject to a & ...
17th January 2018Court of Appeal stomps on human rights appeals for visitors
The Court of Appeal has dealt a serious blow to rights of appeal for visitors to the UK. Here we analyse the legal situation and take a look at the three judgments. ...
11th January 2018Internal relocation may not be “unduly harsh” on criminals
Last month the Court of Appeal considered the rules governing deportation of foreign criminals. The case is Secretary of State for the Home Department v SC (Jamaica) [2017] EWCA Civ 2112, which concerned a Jamaican national originally granted asylum ...
9th January 2018Self-employed EU citizens who fall out of work retain worker status
When a self-employed EU citizen falls on hard times in another member state and stops working, do they retain their status as a worker? Since 2010, English courts have said they do not. In a case with wide implications for residence and social securit ...
22nd December 2017No special rules for children of Gurkhas, says Court of Appeal
The legal arguments on family life between adult children and parents are notoriously tricky. The guise in which the issue arose in Pun & Anr (Nepal) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 2106 was whether non-dependent ...
21st December 2017Proving that immigration officers have used excessive force
Shittu v The Home Office [2017] EWCA Civ 1748 is a sad case which illustrates how difficult it is to bring legal challenges against the Home Office for using excessive force against migrants during the removal process. Civil claims against the Secret ...
19th December 2017Court of Appeal: visa conditions do not count unless notified in writing
Today’s decision in Anwar v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 2134 confirms that if the Home Office wishes to impose visa conditions, it must give people written notice of those conditions. If the Home Office fails to d ...
15th December 2017Court of Appeal says test in Zambrano cases remains compulsion not choice
In May this year, referring to the case of C-133/15 Chavez-Vilchez and Others v Netherlands, Colin wrote that the Court of Justice of the European Union has significantly extended Zambrano rights beyond those so far recognised by the Home Office ...
14th December 2017Home Office EU deportation decision overturned for ignoring EU law
In R (Decker) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2017] EWCA Civ 1752, the Court of Appeal found that the Secretary of State must show her workings. She, and the immigration tribunals, must explicitly apply relevant tests set out ...
14th December 2017Basic procedural fairness applies even when removal windows used
The High Court has issued a helpful reminder to the Secretary of State that basic rules of procedural fairness continue to apply, even in the thorny context of removal windows and detention. In R (AT & Ors) v Secretary of State for the Home Depart ...
13th December 2017A familiar nemesis: the Court of Appeal on “insurmountable obstacles”
R (Mudibo) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1949 is yet another decision of the Court of Appeal grappling with the provisions of those familiar nemeses, section 117B and the “insurmountable obstacles” test in EX.1 of ...
6th December 2017People accused of ETS cheating have in-country right of challenge
The Court of Appeal has held in Ahsan v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Rev 1) [2017] EWCA Civ 2009 that people accused of cheating on the TOEIC English language test and threatened with removal from the UK have the right to challenge tha ...
5th December 2017Expert reports in human rights cases must be up to scratch
In HK, HH, SK and FK v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1871 the Court of Appeal found that asylum seekers could be returned to Bulgaria under the Dublin III Regulation. Removal would not violate the appellants’ Article ...
1st December 2017Never assume that the Secretary of State is aware of anything
Further submissions are notoriously difficult to prepare. In PR (Sri Lanka), R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1946 the Court of Appeal has highlighted the need for focussed representations that mak ...
29th November 2017Resolving a “difference in views” between EU members over benefits
Where there is a “difference in views” between two European Union member states about which is required to pay a benefit to a claimant, EU law requires the state in which the claimant resides to make interim payments until the dispute is r ...
29th November 2017Court of Appeal re-affirms country guidance cases are not box ticking
In FY (Somalia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1853, the Court of Appeal refused the deportation of a Somali national on the basis that he would face a real risk of living in circumstances falling below the Article 3 th ...
28th November 2017The Home Office is entitled to ignore a judge’s decision to grant bail
The Court of Appeal has reluctantly agreed that the Home Office has the power to ignore a First-tier Tribunal’s decision to grant bail to an immigration detainee. However, on the particular facts of the case, the decision to refuse consent to bail w ...
24th November 2017FTT slapped down for ignoring Immigration Rules in deportation case
In Secretary of State for the Home Department v AM (Jamaica) [2017] EWCA Civ 1782 the Court of Appeal found that a First-tier Tribunal decision to allow a Jamaican man’s deportation appeal under Article 8 contained a material error of law and set ...
23rd November 2017Court of Appeal upholds deportation of rapist with permanent residence
The Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal against deportation of a man with permanent residence in Kamki v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 1715. Mr Kamki had been seeking to prevent his removal to Cameroon following impr ...
10th November 2017Worker Registration Scheme extension unlawful, Court of Appeal confirms
In a decision of 7 November 2017, the Court of Appeal unanimously found, yet again, that the extension of the Worker Registration Scheme from 1 May 2009 to 30 April 2011 was unlawful and incompatible with EU law. The case is Secretary of State for Wor ...
9th November 2017Khan case: Sala overturned in the Court of Appeal
In Sala (EFMs: Right of Appeal : Albania) [2016] UKUT 411 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal held that there was no right of appeal against a decision by the Home Office to refuse a residence card to the extended family member of an EEA citizen. The Court o ...
9th November 2017Prosecutions for telling the truth: part deux, with added Hardial Singh
Last year the High Court in JM (Zimbabwe) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 1773 (Admin) made a declaration that “the Defendant may not lawfully require the Claimant, under section 35 of the [Asylum and Immigration (Treatment ...
7th November 2017The struggle for subsistence: Agyemang v Haringey
Last week’s Court of Appeal judgment in R (Agyemang) v London Borough of Haringey [2017] EWCA Civ 1630 reveals familiar tactics by local authorities resisting requests for support under the Children Act 1989. The claimant-appellant, a Ghanaian ...
2nd November 2017Court of Appeal: private religious belief does not risk persecution
The difficulty of presenting asylum claims based on religion is well known. Such claims raise difficult evidential problems, which are addressed in this detailed post by Colin Yeo. But AS (Iran) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EW ...
23rd October 2017Hospital orders and deportation
In Secretary of State for the Home Department v KE (Nigeria) [2017] EWCA Civ 382, the Court of Appeal tackled the narrow, but important, issue as to whether a non-British citizen who is convicted and sentenced to a hospital order with restrictions ...
4th October 2017Human rights, long residence and the integration test in the Court of Appeal
Practitioners commonly rely on the “integration test” in the Immigration Rules to resist an individual’s removal on human rights grounds. The current rules can in some circumstances require a consideration of whether there would be “very s ...
14th September 2017Operation Nexus police/immigration joint working unsuccessfully challenged in High Court
In The Centre for Advice On Individual Rights In Europe v The Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2017] EWHC 1878 (Admin) (21 July 2017) the excellent AIRE centre brought a challenge to the way Operation Nexus operates in respect of ...
10th August 2017Court of Appeal reiterates effect of orders in the family courts on deportation decisions
The Court of Appeal in GD (Ghana) [2017] EWCA Civ 1126 explained once again what effect residence orders granted by a Family Court have on immigration matters, and criticised both representatives in the First-Tier Tribunal for failing to put the rele ...
8th August 2017Court of Appeal considers revocation of deportation order where deportee returns early in breach of the order
In SSHD v SU [2017] EWCA Civ 1069 (20 July 2017) the Court of Appeal considered for the first time the unusual case of an individual who had been deported from the UK, returned in breach of the order, and then applied for its revocation having establ ...
7th August 2017When wrongly denied a right of appeal, the solution is to appeal
The nature of applications which attract a right of appeal have been greatly restricted by the Immigration Act 2014. In summary, only refused human rights applications, or applications for protection, are appealable. All other applications can be chal ...
18th July 2017Guidance issued on renewal applications following non-admittance by the Upper Tribunal
The case of KM (Bangladesh) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 437 (21 June 2017) raises an interesting, if niche, procedural point. The case is relevant to parties who have had an appeal dismissed by the Upper Tribunal (UT); ...
4th July 2017Self-employed workers do not have the same rights as employees under EU law, confirms the Court of Appeal
In the case of Hrabkova v Secretary of State for Work and Pension [2017] EWCA Civ 794, the Court of Appeal confirmed once again that self-employed individuals do not have the same rights as workers under EU law. The specific question in this case was ...
2nd July 2017