All Articles: damages
European Court of Human Rights awards substantive damages for breach of detention policy
The European Court of Human Rights has developed Article 5 ECHR beyond domestic law and potentially created a dramatic increase in the amount of damages payable for unlawful detention caused by a breach of detention policy. VM v United Kingdom (No. 2) ...
1st May 2019Only standard damages for unlawfully detained rough sleepers
In R (Majewski) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 473 (Admin) the High Court has concluded that EU citizens who were unlawfully detained solely because they were homeless should be paid damages at the normal rate. In the importa ...
5th March 2019Higher damages payable for unlawful detention caused by delay in providing bail accommodation
The High Court has ruled that a claimant is entitled to extra unlawful detention damages for frustration and anxiety where the Home Office fails to provide a release address. The guidance on this issue provided by R (Diop) v Secretary of State for th ...
31st December 2018Unlawfully imposed curfews amount to false imprisonment
In R (Gedi) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 409 the Court of Appeal reversed a High Court decision that the words “restriction as to residence” in paragraph 2(5) of Schedule 3 to the Immigration Act 1971 em ...
4th July 2018Court prefers evidence of detention centre doctor in giving only nominal damages for a year’s unlawful detention
R (Aboro) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 1436 (Admin) is an unlawful detention claim about how conflicting psychiatric evidence should be interpreted. The Secretary of State relied upon the evidence of a detention centre doct ...
26th June 2018Woman denied passport, then detained for failure to leave UK
R (Eroje) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 1010 (Admin) is a shocking story of Home Office incompetence which led to the unnecessary and unlawful detention of someone who had made repeated attempts to leave the UK voluntarily. ...
29th May 2018How we got an asylum seeker £15,500 damages for misuse of his asylum information
Asylum seekers routinely share their most sensitive information with the Home Office in order to support their asylum claims, write Daniel Carey and Zac Sammour. They do so in good faith, trusting that the Home Office will treat that information wi ...
16th February 2018Trafficking victim wins £260k damages, does not see a penny
How can you win £266,536.14 in damages and walk away without a penny? If those who should pay succeed in divesting themselves of their assets and if the costs of litigation swallow up all that you do manage to recover. R (Tirkey) v The Director of Le ...
10th January 2018Home Office penalised for conduct of litigation in unlawful detention case
A month ago, Free Movement reported on the detention of Abdulrahman Mohammed. He was awarded the substantial sum of £78,500 by the High Court after being detained unlawfully by the Home Office. In a subsequent judgment, the same court has increased t ...
18th December 2017Aggravated damages for “distressing and traumatic” detention
Last week Suraj Saptoka was awarded £24,515.43 by order of a Deputy High Court judge for false imprisonment in Sapkota v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 2857 (Admin). Mr Saptoka had been unlawfully detained for 36 days after i ...
24th November 2017The Home Office continues to unlawfully impose curfews
Both R (Jollah) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (No. 2) [2017] EWHC 2821 (Admin) and R (Lupepe) v SSHD [2017] EWHC 2690 (Admin) were heard on 11, 12 and 13 October 2017 by Mr Justice Lewis. It makes sense to look at them together becau ...
22nd November 2017Home Office pays damages to man detained to protect its own reputation
Abdulrahman Mohammed was last week awarded £78,500 by order of a High Court judge. The career criminal had been detained unlawfully under immigration powers on three occasions by the Home Office for a total period exceeding a year. Unusually, with bo ...
14th November 2017Zimbabwean national unlawfully detained after Home Office fails to serve immigration decision
Substantial damages of £10,500 have been awarded to a claimant who was unlawfully detained for a period of 70 days. The Home Office had failed to serve the Claimant with notice of a decision on his application to vary his leave to remain in the UK be ...
7th June 2017Family member of EU national awarded £136,000 damages against Home Office
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 “inac ...
30th March 2016Home Office pays £40,000 in damages for delay in issuing EU residence documents
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 ...
8th February 2016Claiming damages for breaches of EU free movement rights
The Irish High Court has awarded a claimant over €100,000 in damages against the Irish government for breach of EU law free movement rights. The case is an example of the award of damages awarded for losses caused by a Member State breaching EU law ...
22nd January 2015Pursuing compensation from the Home Office
The Home Office often makes mistakes when exercising its immigration powers. The high appeal success rates bear testimony to this: as many as 50% of some categories of appeal are allowed. However, there are only some limited circumstances where it is ...
18th November 2014