Author Archive
Nigerian country guidance case strengthens protection for trafficked women
In HD (Trafficked women) Nigeria CG [2016] UKUT 00454 (IAC) the Upper Tribunal considered the position of victims of trafficking returning to Nigeria. Under the previous country guidance case, PO (trafficked women) Nigeria [2009] UKAIT 00046, in order ...
25th October 2016Precarious immigration status defined
The Upper Tribunal has promulgated long-awaited guidance on the interpretation of section 117B Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. The headnote of AM (S 117B) Malawi [2015] UKUT 260 (IAC) provides: ...
28th May 2015NAO questions whether legal aid reforms have delivered better value for money
On 20 November 2014, the National Audit Office – the independent Parliamentary body responsible for scrutinising the way in which the government spends public money – published a report on the implementation of the post-2010 civil legal aid reform ...
5th December 2014Immigration Act 2014: removals and nationality provisions
This post is a brief summary of the removals and nationality provisions of the Immigration Act 2014, and is accompanied by an audio extract from a seminar given by Colin Yeo, Sadat Sayeed, Mark Symes and I at Garden Court Chambers on 13 August 2014, a ...
18th August 2014Detained fast track as presently operated unlawful
In Detention Action v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 2245, Ouseley J considered a challenge to the lawfulness of the policy and practice applied by the Secretary of State in the operation of the detained fast track and conclude ...
15th July 2014Court of Appeal judgment critical of expert commenting on refusal letter
In MF (Albania) v SSHD [2014] EWCA Civ 902, the Court of Appeal considered and upheld the criticisms of the appellant’s country expert made by the Upper Tribunal. In doing so, the Court appeared to disapprove of the practice of instructing expert wi ...
10th July 2014Permission required to ensure public funding in JR proceedings
The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2014 came into force on 22 April 2014 with the effect that judicial review proceedings commenced on or after that day will not be funded unless: (a) the High Court or Upper Tribunal gr ...
19th May 2014Best interests in the Supreme Court: a round-up of 2013
The Supreme Court considered the best interests principle in the immigration, asylum and nationality context twice during 2013. Both cases continued the trend of the contraction of the principle in the higher appellate courts. ...
24th March 2014Are asylum appeal hearings the same wherever they are heard?
Both parties and practitioners are entitled to expect that the practice and procedure of the court in which their case is heard will be consistent and fair irrespective of which court it is and where it is. Yet a Freedom of Information Act 2000 requ ...
30th November 2013Immigration bail hearings: still a travesty
The Bail Observation Project has published its second report on immigration bail hearings in the First-tier Tribunal. The critical tenor of the report is revealed by its title: Still a Travesty: Justice in Immigration Bail Hearings. ...
28th October 2013