News

Yesterday (23rd May 2018) the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) published amendments to his removals policy (at Chapter 60 of his Enforcement Guidance and Instructions, titled ‘Judicial Review and injunctions’) in direct response to proceedings issued by Duncan Lewis Solicitors on 28th November 2017. The changes reflect concessions made in April this year by the SSHD in the course of these proceedings.

The SSHD removals policy governs all enforced removals from the UK and therefore affects thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers. The applicants' judicial review is brought on the grounds that the SSHD’s removals policy is ultra vires, unless it contains sufficient flexibility to cater for individual cases as well as guaranteeing the right of access to legal representation and the courts to challenge removal. The new policy can be found here.

In the amended policy there is a new section entitled "Consideration of deferral of removal" (see pages 14-16) which representatives are encouraged to read carefully. In general, it covers:

1. Access to legal advice and the courts during the notice period (usually 72 hours or 7 days);


2. Deferring removal due to a change of legal representation;


3. Deferring removal, in detained cases, where the person liable to removal has not had access to legal advice during the 72 hour notice period; and


4. The provision of all relevant documents to representatives upon request.

The rolled up-hearing is currently listed on 7-8 June 2018 before the President of the Upper Tribunal (IAC), Lane J.

We are grateful to organisations such as Bail for Immigration Detainees, Medical Justice and Women Against Rape, to individual practitioners who provided valuable ‘real world’ examples of the policy in operation, and to the Public Law Project who were granted permission to intervene on 17th May 2018, providing helpful written submissions and evidence from previous litigation and their monitoring of the policy since 2015.

Legal Team for Applicant: Sonali Naik QC and Ali Bandegani (both of Garden Court Chambers), and Toufique Hossain, Raja Uruthiravinayagan and Husein Meghji (Duncan Lewis Solicitors).

Legal Team for intervener: Charlotte Kilroy (Doughty Street Chambers), and Alison Pickup and Rakesh Singh (Public Law Project)."