There are two recent cases to cover on this subject. The first is AJ (India) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 1191, in which I was Shivani Jegarajah‘s junior, despite my puzzling omission from the court record (must sort that out), and the other is...
Looking at a few recent cases, there seems to be a trend emerging. In the face of over-complex legislation, and poorly-handled applications at the Home Office, the courts are finding alternative routes to success for worthy applicants. No rules are flouted, and no are laws disobeyed. But in response to laws...
The controversial Country Guideline case of HM and Others (Article 15(c)) Iraq CG [2010] UKUT 331 (IAC) has been quashed by the Court of Appeal. See the order here. The case of HM should no longer be followed as paragraph 2 of the order provides that: determination of the IAC [Immigration...
Invalid immigration applications cause serious difficulties. The problem is that the UK Border Agency advises people not to make applications until shortly before their existing leave is due to expire. However, it often takes the Border Agency days or weeks to look at the application, by which time the person’s...
The Hegelian dialectic is sometimes expressed as thesis followed by anti-thesis followed in turn by synthesis. Over time, compromise is the outcome. A tendency towards the middle ground can often be seen in human rights case law and immigration policy. A radical new case is handed down or law is...
An interesting case on the use of electronic means (telephone, video link, Skype, Morse, that sort of thing) has been determined in North Shields. As the tribunal comes close to saying, it is serendipitous that it should be here where this issue would arise again, after the notorious case of...
The recent Court of Appeal decision in SH (Afghanistan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 1284 repays reading for the way it reiterates the centrality of procedural fairness, especially in asylum cases. At the heart of the case is a challenge to an Immigration Judge’s refusal...
NA (Iran) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 1172 This case concerned a challenge to the decision of the SSHD to remove the Claimant, and her infant daughter, to Latvia on Third Country grounds. The challenge failed but the Court made some important comments in...
In a judgment handed down yesterday HH Judge Anthony Thornton QC has given some very interesting guidance on the scope of the duty under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 following the guidance of the Supreme Court in the landmark case of ZH (Tanzania) v Secretary...
UPDATE: SEE LATEST POST. In a judgment just handed down the Supreme Court has by a majority dismissed the Home Secretary’s appeal against the Court of Appeal’s ruling in the case of Quila v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] UKSC 45 (on appeal from [2010] EWCA Civ 1482)....
In the case of R (on the application of Sino) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWHC 2249 (Admin) (25 August 2011) John Howell QC, sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court, held that the entire period of detention of an Algerian man was unlawful,...
I’ve previously posted up the publicly available UKBA guidance on Zambrano, but a commenter very helpfully posted a link to more information available on the Wornham & Co blog. I don’t myself post letters to or from ILPA unless the information is public, but there is some suggestion in the...
The case of R (on the Application of Atapattu) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWHC 1388 (Admin) (27 May 2011) is an important case that I was just too busy to write up at the time but to which a return is worthwhile. It concerns the unlawful retention...
I’m a bit behind on tribunal determination updates, but here’s the latest batch of diktats reported cases. The first is interesting, the others somewhat less so, in that they do not seem to have a great deal of broader application. The reporting of the Khalid and Others case seems downright bizarre, though,...
Pierce Glynn and Stephen Knaffler QC have broadened the path (pun intended*) with SL and Westminster City Council (The Medical Foundation and Mind intervening) [2011] EWCA Civ 954. The case concerns a failed asylum seeker who, following a period as street homeless and a suicide attempt, was admitted to hospital for several...
Mark Symes has posted an article over at the HJT Immigration Blog on a new case from the Court of Appeal on the ‘second appeal criteria’. The case is PR (Sri Lanka) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 988. These criteria are the legal...
The Court of Appeal has given judgment in an extremely important new case on costs, R (on the application of Bahta & Ors) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Ors [2011] EWCA Civ 895 (26 July 2011). It specifically concerns the UK Border Agency and legally aided...
Another series of edictsreported cases has been handed down by the Upper Tribunal. Official headnotes and links to the BAILII judgments are included below. I’ve also thrown in another couple of cases that slipped out since the last big batch. We have two Country Guideline cases. The first, ST, is...
The legal luggage carousel of the tribunal’s reporting committee has deposited a large batch of new cases in the arrivals hall of BAILII. Some of these cases are interesting, others perhaps a little less so. The more interesting include a couple of cases on the availability of funds in Tier...
The cases of Sufi and Elmi v UK (Applications nos. 8319/07 and 11449/07) have been allowed by the European Court of Human Rights. This is a major judgment on return to Somalia and the conditions there. The press release can be found here and the judgment here (Word version here, BAILII version...
The Supreme Court yesterday handed down judgment in the case of Shepherd Masimba Kambadzi v SSHD [2011] UKSC 23, in the Court of Appeal known as SK (Zimbabwe) v SSHD [2008] EWCA Civ 1204. For reference, the original High Court judgment by Mr Justice Munby, as he then was, can be found here and the Supreme...
The hotly anticipated (er, by EU law geeks and the parties mainly) judgment in McCarthy v United Kingdom (Case C-434/09) is now out. The appeal was dismissed: dual nationals living in a country of their nationality who have never exercised free movement rights cannot rely on the Citizens’ Directive (2004/38) or...
The Court of Appeal shows its despair at the immigration tribunal in the case of RM (Zimbabwe) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 428 (13 April 2011). All three judges lament the fact that they have to remit the case back to the tribunal for yet...
In the case of Lumba v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] UKSC 12 the Supreme Court has held that it was unlawful to detain foreign prisoners under a secret policy which was the precise reverse of the publicly declared policy. However, the Court declined to award any...
Permission has been granted to the Secretary of State to appeal to the Supreme Court against the judgment of the Court of Appeal in the case of Quila & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 1482, concerning the increase in the spouse visa age...
Firstly, I should apologise for getting behind with my updates. I have nominally been on holiday this last week and my internet connection, perhaps fortuitously for my holiday, died unexpectedly half way through. Briefly, we have seen a major judgment from the Supreme Court on detention issues and a major...
The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case of Zambrano (C-34/09) may mark the watershed between the history of European Community free movement law and the future of unconditional European Union citizenship rights. Free movement law historically and conceptually depended on two elements: facilitating...
A slightly belated post to highlight another important decision of the Court of Appeal that will have relevance to both immigration and family law practitioners. R (FZ) v London Borough of Croydon [2011] EWCA Civ 59 concerns age dispute assessments and has set further guidance on a) how procedurally speaking...
The long awaited new Country Guidance case on Zimbabwe is finally out: EM and Others (Returnees) Zimbabwe CG [2011] UKUT 98 (IAC) (BAILII link here). It includes interesting guidance not only on Zimbabwean asylum claims but also on dealing with cases where children have been resident for seven years or more....
Mr Justice Collins has rejected a claim for damages by an asylum seeker who was kept waiting for over a year for a decision on his claim and whose application for permission to work was not decided by the Home Office. The case is R (on the application of Negassi) v Secretary...
The Upper Tribunal has finally referred the vexed question of the rights of ‘other family members’ (or ‘extended family members’ in the domestic EEA regulations) to the European Court of Justice. The reference was made by Mr Justice Blake, the President of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. The questions are...
This is a problem that has been addressed previously on the blog: what can be done when a person makes an immigration application but for technical legal reasons is not granted a right of appeal to the tribunal? See this previous post. The problem has now been addressed in two...
An important case from late last year has so far escaped comment here on Free Movement but deserves special mention: MH (pending family proceedings – discretionary leave) Morocco [2010] UKUT 439 (IAC) (28 September 2010). In it, the Upper Tribunal confirmed the currency of the earlier Court of Appeal of...
Quick alerter post, to be amended later: judgment in R (on the application of Daley-Murdock) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 161 is now available on BAILII and it looks like Mirza will follow soon. They were heard as conjoined appeals. The outcome of Mirza looks to...
There have been several quite distraught sounding commenters on my previous piece on the outcome of the Quila case, which is understandably causing confusion. I thought it might be useful to set out what I understand to be the current legal position. The Secretary of State is appealing the Court of...
