All Articles: Cases

In the first successful challenge to prosecutions under s.35 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Act 2004, the Administrative Court in R (on the application of JM (Zimbabwe)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 1773 (Admin) held that the Home Office may not lawfully...

26th July 2016
BY James Packer

If you attempt to murder someone with a gun, and after release from prison for attempted murder (a sentence of over four years), are caught again with a loaded gun and imprisoned, do not be surprised that only the most exceptional circumstances will save you from deportation. This was all...

15th July 2016
BY Paul Erdunast

The issue of when a child should be expected to relocate to another country because of UK immigration laws is an emotive one. In 2012 a new Immigration Rule was introduced stating that a foreign child would be permitted to remain if the child had lived in the UK for...

7th July 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Last week the Court of Justice of the European Union gave judgment in the case of NA C-115/15 on the vexed issue of retained rights of residence for victims of domestic violence. It is hard to care given the result of the Brexit referendum but it is a very important case...

6th July 2016
BY Colin Yeo

The case of Ruhumuliza (Article 1F and “undesirable”) [2016] UKUT 284 (IAC) concerns an Anglican bishop judged by the Secretary of State on the balance of probabilities to have been involved in crimes against humanity, specifically genocide, in Rwanda in 1994. He was therefore excluded from the protection of the Refugee Convention...

28th June 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Very useful update from my colleague Shu Shin Luh: R (Hossain and Ors) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 1331 (Admin) Mr Justice Cranston this week handed down judgment in Hossain & others v SSHD, the test case (with four representative claimants) on the lawfulness of the...

10th June 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Gedi, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 409 (17 May 2016) is a case where the Home Office took it into their own hands to impose curfew restrictions over and above bail conditions those imposed by the First Tier Tribunal, as well...

6th June 2016
BY Chris McWatters

In the first judgment of its kind since the suspension of the Detained Fast Track on 2 July 2015, the High Court struck down the Home Secretary’s refusal and certification of an asylum claim which was made in the structurally unfair and unjust Detained Fast Track (DFT) and ordered the...

25th May 2016
BY Shu Shin Luh

The President of the Upper Tribunal, Mr Justice McCloskey, has allowed on human rights grounds the appeal of the mother and brother of a refugee child from Eritrea. The mother and brother were the appellants and the child in the UK was the sponsor. The appellants had fled Eritrea after...

20th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

The challenge by organisation Britcits to the virtual prohibition on the entry of adult dependant relatives introduced in 2012 has been dismissed: R (on the application of Britcits) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 956 (Admin). Despite the disappointing outcome, though, there is a distinct silver lining to...

20th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Upper Tribunal Judge Ockelton has drawn attention to the potential issues surrounding the evisceration of the tribunal’s statutory remit by the Immigration Act 2014 in a new reported decision, Katsonga v Secretary Of State For The Home Department (“Slip Rule” : FtT’s general powers : Zimbabwe) [2016] UKUT 2298 (IAC). He suggests...

19th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Interesting and controversial case on X-rays and age assessment from the Court of Appeal: London Borough of Croydon v Y [2016] EWCA Civ 398 (26 April 2016). Essentially, the Court holds that the claimant would have to agree to an age assessment by means of a dental X-ray in order...

18th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

The issue of costs in immigration cases continues to vex the courts. It is supposed to be unusual for the higher courts to have to deal with costs issues but in recent years we have seen some very low quality and controversial costs decisions at first instance in the Administrative...

17th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

“Technical”, “deeply unattractive”, “disingenuous”, “singularly lacks merit”, “ridiculous”, “inappropriate”, “extraordinary”. All words used by Elias or Vos LLJ to describe the arguments advanced by the Home Office in the course of their judgments in the remarkable case of R (On the Application Of Ufot) v Secretary of State for the...

16th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

President McCloskey has firmly rejected the Home Office case against students alleged to have fraudulently obtained English language test certificate from ETS (“Educational Testing Services Ltd”) in the case of SM and Ihsan Qadir v Secretary of State for the Home Department IA/31380/2014. The President finds that the Home Office evidence suffered from...

13th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

In yet another case highlighting the absurdly hostile, bureaucratic and inflexible nature of the UK’s Points Based System the Court of Appeal has held that a Tier 1 Entrepreneur might benefit from a policy on evidential flexibility that was “much broader” than the rules themselves. The case is SH (Pakistan) v...

11th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Hot on the heels of a new consultation on the duty of candour in judicial review proceedings, the Court of Appeal has handed down an important judgment on the same subject: R (on the application of Khan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 416. It...

9th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

The High Court has awarded damages of just £3,750 to an Algerian man for a period of five months of unlawful detention. This was just the latest period of immigration detention for Mr Sino, though, who has been detained for a cumulative total of seven years and two months. Mr...

4th May 2016
BY Colin Yeo

BL (Jamaica) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 357 is essentially an unhelpful judgment for convicted criminals arguing against deportation orders on Article 8 grounds. It overturned a McCloskey J and UTJ Perkins decision in the Upper Tribunal that allowed the appeal from a...

29th April 2016
BY Chris McWatters

Hareef, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 873 (Admin) is a case that was heard in the wake of GS (India), & Ors v SSHD [2015] EWCA Civ 40, which concluded that in asylum claims, Article 3 can have no real...

29th April 2016
BY Chris McWatters

The First-tier Tribunal has allowed the Home Office appeal against the Information Commissioner’s decision that training slides used to inform Home Office Presenting Officers on the 2014 legislative reforms to human rights law should be released. Some additional limited information will be published but the Home Office’s internal instructions to...

27th April 2016
BY Colin Yeo

In the recent case of R (on the application of C) v First-Tier Tribunal and Others [2016] EWHC 707 (Admin) (not yet on BAILII but available on Westlaw) Picken J ruled that the immigration tribunal can appoint a litigation friend to represent a person who lacks capacity even though there...

27th April 2016
BY Colin Yeo

As if Michael Gove MP needed further reminding, in wake of Colin Yeo’s appearance on World at One on Wednesday where he pointed out the fundamental error of the Justice Secretary’s assertion that Britain cannot deport EEA nationals with a criminal record, the Supreme Court in R (on the application...

25th April 2016
BY Chris McWatters

A High Court judge has awarded the family member of an EU national a total of £136,048 in damages. The award consists of £76,578 for false imprisonment and £59,470 for breach of EU law. The Home Office is also criticised for having made “inaccurate and misleading” submissions to previous judges...

30th March 2016
BY Colin Yeo

In an interesting but almost impenetrable judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union gives some guidance on procedural protections available to those bringing challenges to EU law decisions which adversely affect them. The case is Benalla v Belgium C‑161/15. The point that arose was a fairly obscure one. Mr Benalla,...

18th March 2016
BY Colin Yeo

UPDATE: overturned by the Court of Appeal in R (On the Application Of Raza) (Pakistan) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 807. R (on the application of Raza) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Bail – conditions – variation – Article 9 ECHR)...

14th March 2016
BY Colin Yeo

The High Court has in the case of R (On the Application Of Mohammed) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 447 (Admin) ordered the release of a Somali national with a number of very serious convictions on the basis that there was no prospect of his...

9th March 2016
BY Colin Yeo

In the case of Secretary of State for the Home Department v Begum [2016] EWCA Civ 122 the claimant was a Pakistani national aged 70. She had applied for leave to remain in the UK, her application had been refused by the Home Office and she had appealed. Her appeal was...

7th March 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Abdul (section 55 – Article 24(3) Charter : Nigeria) [2016] UKUT 106 (IAC) is a case involving a Nigerian national aged 41 who had resided in the UK for 25 years and who had two British daughters aged 11 and 13. He had acquired a permanent right of residence under EU law. He was a serial […]

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4th March 2016
BY Colin Yeo

The case of G and H v Upper Tribunal and SSHD [2016] EWHC 239 (Admin) is notable as the first reported case of a successful substantive Cart JR against a decision of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) refusing permission to appeal from the First Tier Tribunal (FTT) to the Upper Tribunal...

2nd March 2016
BY Lucy Mair

Open justice is one of the most crucial features of a free state. In weighing up individual cases, courts have sometimes decided that open justice shoud give way to other, equally necessary, ideals. For instance, national security won the day in the Court of Appeal decision in the Erol Incedal case. This...

29th February 2016
BY Paul Erdunast

The Court of Appeal has in the case of Secretary of State for the Home Department v Vassallo [2016] EWCA Civ 13 rejected the Home Secretary’s efforts to deport an Italian man who has been resident in the UK for more than 60 years. Benedetto Vassallo came to the UK...

25th February 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Rule imposing mandatory refusal for deception is not ultra vires says Court of Appeal. Unsurprisingly. A student was convicted for driving with excess alcohol and also for driving without due care and attention. He was made subject to a community order with an unpaid work requirement and a requirement to attend...

12th February 2016
BY Colin Yeo

The Court of Appeal has returned to the issue of “totally without merit” certificates in judicial review cases. These certificates can be imposed by a judge who refuses permission for an application for judicial review on the papers and it prevents the applicant from seeking an oral hearing. There is...

11th February 2016
BY Colin Yeo

UPDATE 10/2/16: the judge has withdrawn the judgment. A married Indian couple detained in a dawn raid have lost their claim for unlawful detention. After successfully studying in the UK for some years, Ms Joshi’s latest application ran into problems when the college to which she applied to study a PhD was...

9th February 2016
BY Colin Yeo

In the case of VV (grounds of appeal) [2016] UKUT 53 (IAC) (13 November 2015) the Upper Tribunal yet again criticises Home Office conduct of appeals to the Upper Tribunal against decisions of the First-tier. This case comes on top of Nixon (permission to appeal: grounds) [2014] UKUT 368 (IAC) (FM post: Contrasting cases on...

9th February 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Following the judgment last year in R (on the application of Zewdu) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWHC 2148 (Admin) (09 June 2015) solicitors Duncan Lewis have revealed that the Home Office agreed to pay a record £40,000 in damages for the 19 month delay in...

8th February 2016
BY Colin Yeo

In the case of R (on the application of Babbage) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 148 (Admin) Mr Justice Garnham ordered the release of a detained Zimbabwean foreign criminal. In the process, he was corruscating critical of the conduct of Government lawyers acting for the Secretary of...

3rd February 2016
BY Colin Yeo

Full judgment is available here: R (on the application of ZAT and Others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Article 8 ECHR – Dublin Regulation – interface – proportionality) IJR [2016] UKUT 61 (IAC). The applicant children were all clearly very vulnerable and all had family members in the UK....

29th January 2016
BY Colin Yeo

A Tier 4 student prohibited from working was accused of the Home Office of breach of his conditions of leave by taking part time employment. A decision was taken to remove him under the pre-Immigration Act 2014 version of section 10 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999. he was served...

21st January 2016
BY Colin Yeo
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