All Articles: Cases

Sir John Thomas has given a further warning to solicitors and barristers acting in urgent injunction applications. The case is R (on the application of Rehman) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWHC 1351 (Admin). No names are named this time, at least not so far: In the present...

23rd May 2013
BY Free Movement

There are some detailed blog posts to come on some of the more important things that happened in the last fortnight, but for those who missed their beloved Free Movement updates here is a brief round up of developments I’ve spotted looking through my emails on my return from holiday....

21st May 2013
BY Free Movement

ACCA not a degree says High Court Zane has suggested on Twitter he is appealing but this looks pretty authoritative, at least in cases that were decided before the Supreme Court decision in Alvi. Note that the claimant in this case, Syed, had to argue that non binding ‘policy guidance’...

29th April 2013
BY Free Movement

The High Court has endorsed the controversial approach of the Upper Tribunal towards the new immigration rules on human rights. Mr Justice Sales, drawing on concessions made by the Home Office, has found that the correct approach is a two stage one whereby the rules must first be considered and...

18th April 2013
BY Colin Yeo

A batch of new Upper Tribunal cases have been approved as safe for general consumption by the reporting committee. I posted up three of them yesterday as new short-form ‘link format’ posts with no real commentary, but I wanted to highlight the case of Farquharson (removal – proof of conduct) [2013]...

9th April 2013
BY Colin Yeo

DSG &  Others (Afghan Sikhs: departure from CG) Afghanistan [2013] UKUT 148 (IAC) Having done quite a few Afghan Sikh cases myself I can say this looks like a very sensible and pragmatic decision essentially disavowing the rather antiquated existing Country Guidance case on this group. A new CG case may...

8th April 2013
BY Free Movement

JL (medical reports-credibility) China [2013] UKUT 145 (IAC) Important read for anyone commissioning, writing or relying on medical reports in asylum cases. Official headnote: (1) Those writing medical reports for use in immigration and asylum appeals should ensure where possible that, before forming their opinions, they study any assessments that...

8th April 2013
BY Free Movement

OO (gay men: risk) Algeria [2013] UKUT 63 (IAC) Official headnote: a) “Sodomy” and “acts against nature with a member of the same sex” are illegal under Penal Code Article 388 and 333 in Algeria and on conviction carry a criminal sentence of up to 3 years imprisonment and/or a...

8th April 2013
BY Free Movement

In the case of Eweida v UK [2013] ECHR 37 the European Court of Human Rights famously dismissed three out of four religious discrimination applications while managing to appear sympathetic to the cause of religious freedom. The case concerned the right to manifest one’s religious views at work. The only claimant...

19th March 2013
BY Colin Yeo

Email in from David Jones at Garden Court Chambers: Just wanted to drop you a line as it has been flagged up to me that Mark Wray v SSHD [2010] EWHC 3301, a case with which I have been involved, has been relied on in judgments to support interference with...

13th March 2013
BY Free Movement

A big thank you goes to Jane Heybroek of Bell Yard Chambers for persisting with her Freedom of Information request in relation to further documents concerning the Evidential Flexibility policy.  You can access the disclosure here.  The policy (but not Jane’s FoI instructions) was very recently covered by the Upper...

6th March 2013
BY Sarah Pinder

Ahmed (benefits: proof of receipt; evidence) [2013] UKUT 84 (IAC) Useful best practice case for practitioners still dealing with old-style maintenance cases, particularly where the sponsor is in receipt of welfare benefits of some sort.

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1st March 2013
BY Colin Yeo

In Regulation (EC) No 343/2003 of 18 February 2003 establishing the criteria and mechanisms for determining the Member State responsible for examining an asylum application lodged in one of the Member States by a third-country national, when an applicant for asylum who is an unaccompanied minor with no member of...

21st February 2013
BY Free Movement

The Court of Appeal has in the case of KS (Burma) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 67 found that the 2009 Country Guidance case of TL (Sur Place activities-risk) Burma [2009] UKAIT 00017 was legally flawed, effectively overturning it in what had become a...

19th February 2013
BY Colin Yeo

The Court of Appeal has ruled that Country Guidance on Burma dating back to 2009 was legally flawed. Decisions based on the earlier TK case are therefore flawed. Full post and analysis to follow.

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13th February 2013
BY Free Movement

CM (EM country guidance; disclosure) Zimbabwe CG [2013] UKUT 59 (IAC) is important not only as Country Guidance on Zimbabwe but also on the law of evidence in the immigration tribunal. The broad effect of the Country Guidance findings are summarised in the headnote, already posted up last week on the...

13th February 2013
BY Colin Yeo

The Upper Tribunal has yet again rejected the government’s contention that new Immigration Rules define and delineate the extent of the United Kingdom’s human rights obligations. The latest case is Ogundimu (Article 8 – new rules) Nigeria [2013] UKUT 60 (IAC) but it follows on from two other recent determinations, Izuazu...

11th February 2013
BY Colin Yeo

Rodriguez (Flexibility Policy) [2013] UKUT 00042 (IAC). About as good as it could be. Appeals to be allowed where UK Border Agency Points Based System decisions fail to apply the evidential flexibility policy.

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1st February 2013
BY Free Movement

But why chose to report a case when the appellant had no lawyer?

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1st February 2013
BY Free Movement

The very recent reported case of Khatel and others (s85A; effect of continuing application) Nepal [2013] UKUT 44 (IAC) consolidates the on going issues in relation to Points Based System Tier 1 Post Study Work applications: the date of the award and whether or not the Tribunal can consider evidence submitted...

30th January 2013
BY Sanaz Saifolahi

Litigation is an expensive business, and immigration is a litigious business. As the recent brouhaha around judicial review revealed, the vast majority of judicial review cases in the High Court and on appeal up to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court are immigration cases. On top of that are...

28th January 2013
BY Colin Yeo

As part of my catch-up campaign on major cases not yet covered on the blog, I thought it would be helpful to post up some extracts from a case note I’ve written for the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law journal. The full case note will be in the next edition...

22nd January 2013
BY Colin Yeo

Following on from the case of Ahmadi ( s. 47 decision: validity; Sapkota) [2012] UKUT 00147 (IAC)  the Upper Tribunal has (for now) resolved the perplexing issue of what to do when the Secretary of State combines a refusal to vary leave with a Section 47 removal.  This issue is...

29th November 2012
BY Sanaz Saifolahi

The reported Upper Tribunal case of Kalidas (agreed facts – best practice) [2012] UKUT 00327 (IAC) underscores some important points of practice and procedure in the First Tier Tribunal (FTT). The case concerned an appeal before the FTT where it appears to have been agreed between the Appellant and Respondent...

23rd November 2012
BY Sanaz Saifolahi

The Upper Tribunal has issued a new Country Guidance case on Ahmadis from Pakistan, the case of MN and others (Ahmadis – country conditions – risk) Pakistan CG [2012] UKUT 00389 (IAC). Shivani Jegarajah and Colin Yeo of Renaissance Chambers (and this blog) were instructed, as were Manjit Gill QC,...

16th November 2012
BY Colin Yeo

The President of the Queens Bench Division, Sir John Thomas, has issued a dire warning to solicitors applying for last minute judicial reviews and injunctions in immigration cases. The comments come in the case of R (on the application of Hamid) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012]...

14th November 2012
BY Free Movement

After seeing the Strasbourg case of Singh v Belgium (33210/11) highlighted here on Free Movement, Balkrishna Gurung of Howe + Co Solicitors (with assistance from David Saldanha) has commissioned a translation and offered to share it with blog readers. Many thanks! The key paragraphs concerning the authentication of the documents are...

14th November 2012
BY Colin Yeo

Following on from Hakemi, the High Court has again scrutinised the leave to remain under the “Legacy” cases, and found the SSHD’s adherence to the policy wanting. In a welcome move last Friday Mr Stephen Morris QC, sitting as Deputy High Court Judge, quashed as unlawful the decision to refuse...

6th November 2012
BY Ripon Akther

The Court of Appeal recently gave judgment in the case of R (on the application of Muqtaar) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 1270, a challenge by a Somali national to his detention under administrative immigration powers for the extraordinary period of 41 months, or...

30th October 2012
BY Free Movement

On Tuesday this week the Court of Appeal handed down two important new cases on deportation. The first is Mohan v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 1363 and concerns the interaction of family and immigration law. The second is R (on the application of George) v Secretary...

26th October 2012
BY Colin Yeo

In his judgment in the case of R (On the Application Of Bhavyesh & Ors) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWHC 2789 (Admin) Blake J has dismissed the latest attempt to challenge the requirement that foreign spouses learn English before entering the UK. This challenge is described by the...

18th October 2012
BY Free Movement

I’ve no time for a proper post at the moment but as a filler take a look at a few choice quotes from an interesting fresh claim judicial review concerning an Iranian convert to Christianity and her son, the case of R (on the application of SA (Iran)) v Secretary...

17th October 2012
BY Free Movement

The Court of Appeal recently gave judgment in a very important decision in European Union deportation cases, Secretary of State for the Home Department v FV (Italy) [2012] EWCA Civ 1199. The case concerns the question of whether or how far a period of imprisonment interferes with rights of residence...

2nd October 2012
BY Colin Yeo

Following on from his learned but — at least on the question of what a judge should actually do— slightly Delphic determination in AG and others (Policies; executive discretions; Tribunal’s powers) Kosovo [2007] UKAIT 00082, the Deputy President Mr Ockelton has returned to the issue of dealing with executive discretion in...

28th September 2012
BY Colin Yeo

The Court of Justice of the European Union handed down judgment in the case of Germany v Y and Z [2012] EUECJ C-71/11 on 5 September 2012. This is one of the first Court of Justice cases to consider the definition of a refugee and the terms of Directive 2004/83/EC, commonly...

27th September 2012
BY Colin Yeo

The Court of Appeal’s judgement in KA (Afghanistan) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 1014 makes it absolutely clear that the Secretary of State’s duty toward unaccompanied minors, in particular her duty to trace family members, is not discharged by giving them leave until...

24th August 2012
BY Iain Palmer

In the case of RT (Zimbabwe) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] UKSC 38 the Supreme Court has today held that asylum seekers cannot be expected to lie or dissemble in order to achieve safety in their own country. This principle applies equally to a committed political activist...

25th July 2012
BY Colin Yeo

In a spate of very significant judgments last week, the long awaited legacy case has finally come out: Hakemi v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWHC 1967 (Admin). Nicola Braganza was led by Hugh Southey QC, both of Tooks Chambers. As many suspected we are still in...

23rd July 2012
BY Ripon Akther

View image | gettyimages.com The judgments The judgments in Munir [2012] UKSC 32 and Alvi [2012] UKSC 33 are perhaps the most important in immigration law since the Immigration Act 1971 was passed. The Supreme Court holds that the ancient royal prerogative to control the entry of aliens has been...

18th July 2012
BY Colin Yeo

In a follow up to my last post on Country Guidance cases generally and the Court of Appeal judgment in SG (Iraq) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] EWCA Civ 940, the existing Country Guidance case on Zimbawe, that of EM and Others (Returnees) Zimbabwe CG [2011] UKUT...

16th July 2012
BY Free Movement
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