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Public Law News
Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ Naim Hasani wins landmark Judgment in The Supreme Court, overruling nullity of British Citizenship for two Albanian Nationals (21 December 2017)
The United Kingdom Supreme Court handed down a very important judgment today, 21st December, allowing the Appeals of Dinjan Hysaj and Agron Bakijasi, Hysaj & Ors, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 82, overruling the judgments of the Administrative Court and the Court of Appeal, who had previously ruled that the decisions of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to treat their grant of British citizenship as a nullity, on the basis that it was obtained by means of impersonation was lawful. The consequence of this ruling is that “nullity” principle where a person is not and has never been a British citizen is limited to a small number of cases of impersonation of a real person’s identity. Read more...
Duncan Lewis’ Harrow based Public Law Team Speak to Students of City University’s Graduate Diploma in Law (22 November 2017)
Last week, on Wednesday 15 November, caseworkers Rachael Lenney, Husein Meghji and Patrick Page from the Duncan Lewis Harrow Public Law Team spoke at City University about their careers in legally aided public law funded. They were joined by Alex Schymyck, who recently left the team to work as a judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal, with a view to pursuing a career at the Bar. All four of them had completed their law conversions at City University. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is challenging conditions in Immigration Removal Centre Brook House (16 November 2017)
Duncan Lewis’ Public Law team in Harrow are representing five detainees who have lodged a wide-ranging challenge at the High Court to the lock-in regime and living conditions at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC). The G4S-run detention centre, near Gatwick Airport, was recently the subject of a BBC Panorama documentary showing undercover footage of violent verbal and physical abuse by officers towards detainees. Read more...
Lewis Kett Speaking at Conference on ‘Strategic Litigation: Anti-Racism in the Courtroom’ (27 October 2017)
‘Immigration detention in the U.K. is bound up with questions of race.' This is how Lewis Kett, a supervising solicitor in the Harrow Public Law Team, introduced his talk on strategic litigation to challenge structural racism on 18th October. Read more...
Duncan Lewis involved in successful High Court Challenge to Home Office Policy on Detention of Victims of Torture (11 October 2017)
In a judgment handed down on the 10th October 2017, the Home Office was told that its policy regarding how it defines those who have suffered torture is unlawful, for the purposes of identifying those who are vulnerable and at risk in detention. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Statement: Unauthorised Segregation in Immigration Detention found to breach Article 8 ECHR (2 August 2017)
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is pleased to announce that the High Court has handed down a ruling finding that the segregation of their client at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) was unlawful and in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Read more...
Internal seminar by 7 Bedford Row Chambers (27 July 2017)
On the 5th July the Public Law & Immigration teams at Duncan Lewis Solicitors welcomed speakers Mr Clayton QC (Deputy High Court Judge), Mr Tim Meakin and Mr Chris Canning to the Harrow Office Read more...
Phillip Armitage interviewed on LBC Radio (12 July 2017)
Phillip Armitage was recently interviewed by Nick Ferrari on LBC Radio about the £1 an hour wages in immigration detention centres shortly after Baroness Williams defended the work as "entirely voluntary" Read more...
Duncan Lewis appoints Ahmed Aydeed as Director of Public Law (12 July 2017)
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is very pleased to announce the recent internal appointment of Ahmed Aydeed as Director of Public Law. He will oversee the company’s Public Law Judicial Review Claimant practice in Birmingham, Leicester & Milton Keynes Read more...
The £1 an hour IRC Challenge (10 July 2017)
We were pleased to see that Baroness Hamwee raised the issue of immigration detainees working for £1 an hour in immigration removal centres (IRCs) in the House of Lords. This follows the recent Guardian article that reported on our group litigation challenging this Read more...
Locum doctors and nurses succeed in overturning unfair tax rule (1 June 2017)
Two unions representing locum doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals have today succeeded in overturning a new tax rule imposed by NHS Improvement (NHSI) that risked thousands of agency workers leaving the NHS Read more...
Locked-in Limbo: The Continued Detention of Stateless Persons (24 May 2017)
“The waiting is the worst part of detention. It’s like you don’t have any control any more, you just sit and wait. You wait for someone else to tell who you are and what is your country.” Read more...
Alex Peebles joins Duncan Lewis Solicitors (25 April 2017)
Duncan Lewis Solicitors welcomes solicitor Alex Peebles to the Public Law team Read more...
DUNCAN LEWIS SOLICITORS OFFERING FREE TRAINING SESSIONS – ADVANCE DECISIONS/ COURT OF PROTECTION (7 April 2017)
The Court of Protection is responsible for assisting people that no longer have the mental capacity to make decisions. It is the responsibility of the Court to ensure that vulnerable persons cannot be exploited, and those responsible for their welfare are assisting appropriately Read more...
Duncan Lewis joins Refugees, Lawyers and Waging Peace in the Play 2 Remember Football Tournament 2017 (7 April 2017)
The first day of April was a beguilingly calm and beautiful spring day, with a warming sun and a fresh breeze, as we assembled on the fields of White City Tiger Turf, a tangled mass of sinewy limbs, chiselled jaw-lines, bulging calf muscles, and heavy brows; the crème de la crème of Duncan Lewis sporting talent Read more...
Have you been subject to a search at the UK Border? It may have been unlawful (31 March 2017)
When entering the UK the UK Border Force retains the right to search persons they deem suspicious or believe to be carrying restricted or prohibited items under section 164 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (CEMA) Read more...
All Hands on Deck: May Calls for Unity after the Triggering of Article 50 (30 March 2017)
‘We are one great union of people and nations with a proud history and a bright future’. So declared Theresa May in her statement to the Commons on Wednesday 29 March, the day the United Kingdom set sail, with the Union Jack flying high, into unchartered seas Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors appoints Rohena Wallace as Director of Public Law & Immigration and Zofia Duszynska as Director of Immigration (30 March 2017)
We are pleased to announce the appointments of Rohena Wallace as Director of Public Law & Immigration and Zofia Duszynska as Director of Immigration Read more...
Nicholas Hughes discusses the legal implications of Brexit on ABN Radio (30 March 2017)
Public Law Caseworker Nicholas Hughes was invited to ABN radio to discuss the triggering of Article 50 Read more...
Public Law and Immigration Solicitor Eleri Haf Davies is shortlisted for “Rising Star” at the forthcoming Solicitors Journal Awards 2017 (23 March 2017)
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is pleased to announce that Cardiff based newly qualified Public Law & Immigration Solicitor Eleri Haf Davies is one of five individuals nationwide shortlisted for the Solicitors Journal “Rising Star” Award 2017 Read more...
Tumaco: Colombia's forgotten territory (14 March 2017)
Public Law Solicitor Eleri Haf Davies was invited by Colombia Caravana, a human rights activist group, to form part of a delegation determined to unearth the interlocking socio-economic and political web that has allowed this part of the world to fall to the hands of warring paramilitary forces Read more...
The Punishment Room: Challenging the Abusive Use of Segregation in Immigration Detention (13 March 2017)
Pamela* had just had a shower and was still in her underwear, applying moisturiser, when the immigration officers came into her room to remove her from the UK. Our client refused to be taken to the airport, as she still had an outstanding application for leave to remain in the UK, so the officers tried to remove her by force, one grabbed her neck and head, pushing these down towards her chest and blocking her windpipe. ‘I was filled with fear and tried to get out of her grip,’ Pamela told us, ‘I kept telling her “I cannot breathe” but she continued to push my head towards my chest. Eventually I stopped trying to get out of her grip and fell to the floor’ Read more...
Merton Compliant Age Assessments (10 March 2017)
When an unaccompanied minor child enters the UK seeking asylum, some would have their age disputed by the authorities, and would have to be subject to an age assessment by the relevant Local Authorities. Normally, such referrals would be made by the Home Office before any decision can be taken on the asylum claims Read more...
Ahmed Aydeed discusses the Dubs Amendment on ABN Radio (20 February 2017)
The Dubs Amendment, named after its key proponent Lord Dubs who was rescued, via the kindertransport network, from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia when he was six, legislated that the government would have to ‘make arrangements to relocate to the United Kingdom and support a specified number of unaccompanied refugee child from other countries in Europe’ Read more...
James Packer was invited on ABN Radio to discuss the Supreme Court ruling on Article 50 (26 January 2017)
James Packer appeared on ABN radio to comment on the legal and political implications, of the Supreme Court ruling which rejected the Government’s appeal in the Miller Case (the Brexit appeal). Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors appoints Bahar Ata as Director of Public Law & Immigration for Luton Office (19 January 2017)
Legal 500 “Leading Law Firm” Duncan Lewis are pleased to announce the appointment of Bahar Ata as Director of Public Law & Immigration for our Luton Office. Read more...