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Duncan Lewis represents multiple clients in three separate ongoing judicial review cases, regarding the Home Office’s failure to grant immigration status to confirmed victims of trafficking and modern slavery (“VTS”).

The First Case

The first case concerns the Home Office’s agreement to decide whether to grant VTS to multiple clients of Duncan Lewis by no later than 2 December 2024. For many of these clients, the Home Office failed to make a decision by this date or at any point since, despite this agreement being recorded in the recitals to a sealed consent order.

We issued judicial review proceedings on behalf of four clients, arguing that the Home Office had breached a substantive legitimate expectation. Three other clients had also exhausted the pre-action process, but we agreed to not issue their claims after the SSHD agreed that they would be treated in the same way as the issued claims.

The Upper Tribunal has now granted permission to proceed for each of these four clients and linked their claims.

The Second Case

The second case challenges the SSHD’s ongoing pause on making VTS decisions for any victims of trafficking who are subject to a deportation order. We issued a judicial review on 30 May 2025 on behalf of one client and are awaiting a decision on permission.

A further six clients of Duncan Lewis are affected by the pause, but we agreed to not issue their claims after the SSHD agreed that they would be treated in the same way as the issued claim.

The Third Case

The third case concerns the SSHD’s refusal to grant VTS to clients, for the purpose of assisting their recovery from their exploitation.

We have issued two claims. The first of these has been granted permission to proceed, and we have applied for the two claims to be linked. As part of this challenge, we have prepared detailed witness statements with prominent anti-trafficking NGOs, support organisations, clinicians and academics, addressing the significant recovery needs of victims of trafficking, the importance of immigration status and the risk of re-trafficking.

This follows the group challenge we brought in 2024 (HHH & ors v SSHD (JR-2024-LON-001182)), on behalf of 12 clients refused VTS. Those proceedings ended in late July 2024, after the Home Office agreed to review their policy in light of the concerns we had raised. The Home Office also agreed to reconsider the claimants’ negative VTS decisions, in addition to giving assurances regarding a large number of other Duncan Lewis clients who had not yet issued proceedings.

The Guardian reported on the successful outcome of this case, in an article which featured a quote from the Duncan Lewis team, which can be read here:  Trafficking victims may be able to recover in UK in Home Office U-turn | The Guardian

The Duncan Lewis VTS challenges are led by Solicitors Angelo Monni and Lily Parrott, with assistance from Trainee Solicitors Thomas Munns and Rhiannon Croker, Caseworker Beth Scott and individual client fee earners Maria Thomas, Vilash Gami, Morsal Vaziry, Darren Middleton and Finley Mulligan.

Duncan Lewis Solicitors

Duncan Lewis Solicitors, an award-winning law firm, is renowned for its exceptional legal services and commitment to justice. The company employs a team of highly skilled solicitors offering top-tier representation in 25 fields of law, and ranked as top tier by the Chambers and the Legal 500 legal guides, and as one of the top 250 law firms in the country by the Times. Duncan Lewis was crowned Law Firm of the Year at the Modern Law Awards 2023, further establishing its credentials as one of the leading law firms in the UK.

The firm’s Immigration and Public Law team is particularly renowned for handling complex and high profile cases involving human rights and asylum seekers. With landmark successes in cases such as Brook House, the Rwanda Challenge, and Manston House, Duncan Lewis continues to provide unparalleled legal representation, ensuring justice for the most vulnerable