News

Following a legal challenge brought by Duncan Lewis Solicitors, the Home Office has  settled a claim for breach of GDPR in favour of our client.

Background

Our client is an Afghan refugee who entered the United Kingdom on 1^h December 2015 and claimed asylum as an unaccompanied asylum-seeking minor.  As part of the consideration of his asylum claim and his claimed age of birth, the Home Office sent our client’s Afghan identity document (“taskira”) to the British Embassy in Afghanistan for verification.

The issues in the claim before the court was whether:-  

1. 
   
   
   
   1. The processing of our client’s personal data was necessary and proportionate in order to determine his asylum claim;
   
   
   2. Whether the transfer of our client’s special category data (his religion) was justified, and if the transfer was necessary to determine his asylum claim;
   
   
   3. Were appropriate safeguards in place before the transfer of our client’s data was made to Afghanistan?  In particular, did the Contract purportedly agreed between the UK Government and the International Organisation for Migration, to transfer data from the United Kingdom to Afghanistan have appropriate safeguards in place;  constitute adequate safeguards;
   
   
   4. Did any breach or infringement of our client’s data protection rights cause him damage or distress exceeding the necessary threshold to found a claim;
   
   
   5. If so, what level of damages is our client entitled to?
   
   
   
   

The Home Office’s position was that whilst they admitted that Article 15(2) GDPR provides a data subject with a right to be informed of the appropriate safeguards relating to a transfer to a third country or international organisation, they denied that this placed an obligation on them to inform the data subject ( our client in this case) of those safeguards before any request for that information is received. The Home Office further claimed that our client was placing specific reliance on his Taskira in support of his asserted age, in circumstances that were assessed by the Home Office to be suspicious. Their position was that verifying the contents of our client’s  Taskira was therefore entirely justifiable in the circumstances of the case.

Our client sought damages arising from the contended unlawful transfer of his personal data, namely the taskira and/or the information on the taskira, to Afghanistan. The Home Office settled the claim prior to the listing of the substantive hearing at the King’s Bench Division.

The immigration and public law legal team at Duncan Lewis Solicitors includes solicitor Raman Kumar, Nazia Khan and Paviter Juss.

Raman Kumar is a solicitor in the immigration and public law department at Duncan Lewis Solicitors. He specialises in complex cases, particularly asylum applications and appeals for Afghan nationals, and has established a strong reputation within the Afghan community in the UK. Kumar's work, predominantly legally aided and occasionally pro bono, includes representing high-profile clients such as senior United Nations officials and former Afghan ministers. His dedication extends to preventing client removals from the UK through judicial reviews and handling deportation appeals.

Nazia Khan is a solicitor in the immigration department, with a focus also on civil litigation. She has expertise in a wide range of immigration-related cases and has represented clients at various levels of the legal system. Nazia joined Duncan Lewis in 2015 and qualified as a solicitor in 2014. She holds a Level 2 Senior Caseworker accreditation under the Law Society’s Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme (IAAS)??.

Paviter Juss serves as a Paralegal (Caseworker) in the Immigration Department at Duncan Lewis, operating from the City of London office. Under the supervision of Director Nazia Khan, Paviter is involved in assisting with a broad range of matters including human rights claims, asylum and immigration issues, and public law.

In the King’s Bench Division, Duncan Lewis instructed David Lemer of Doughty Street Chambers. In the Administrative Court Judicial Review matter, Adrian Berry of Garden Court Chambers, Matt Lewin of Cornerstone Barristers and David Lemer, of Doughty Street Chambers were instructed.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors is an award-winning law firm renowned for its exceptional legal services and commitment to social justice. With a history spanning several decades, their team of highly skilled solicitors provides top-tier representation in 25 diverse fields of law, including immigration, family, criminal, employment, and property law. It is recognised for their unwavering dedication to making justice accessible to all, regardless of financial circumstances. Duncan Lewis Solicitors' outstanding reputation, numerous accolades, including being crowned Law Firm of the Year at the Modern Law Awards 2023, and commitment to advocating for marginalised individuals firmly establish it as a leading law firm in the UK, consistently delivering excellent legal representation.