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Public Law Solicitors

Duncan Lewis Attends First Immigration Detention Conference at ILPA (12 October 2018)

Date: 12/10/2018
Duncan Lewis, Public Law Solicitors, Duncan Lewis Attends First Immigration Detention Conference at ILPA

On Tuesday 9th October, Toufique Hossain, a director of immigration public law at Duncan Lewis, was invited to speak at the first Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) conference on immigration detention. Toufique Hossain, who heads a team of almost 50 immigration and public law lawyers at Duncan Lewis’ head office in Harrow, was asked to attend to speak on a number of key challenges he is bringing to raise awareness of the issues which face immigration detainees in the UK today.

ILPA invited a number of different delegates to speak on their experience working in immigration detention law, with representatives attending from the Crown Prosecution Service, Liberty, Doughty Street Chambers, Wilson Solicitors LLP, Bail for Immigration Detainees, Garden Court Chambers, Landmark Chambers Matrix Chambers, Deighton Pierce Glynn, The Public Law Project, amongst others. Stephen Shaw CBE began the conference by discussing his findings laid out in the second Shaw review, released in July of this year. The report ‘Welfare in detention of vulnerable persons review: progress report’ was devised as a follow up to assess how effective the progress has been in response to his first report on the welfare of immigration detainees in detention.

It was then onto other speakers to talk about current immigration law issues, including access to justice issues for immigration detainees; bail updates; the detention of EU nationals; challenges to detention conditions; vulnerable groups, including adults at risk and victims of trafficking; separated families; and the update on Hardial Singh and Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

As a director specialising in immigration public law, human rights and asylum matters, Toufique has a unique perspective on the plight of immigration detainees affected by the hostile environment policy. He has responded to injustices by acting on behalf of those marginalised communities by calling the executive to account. He was the lead solicitor in challenging the Home Office’s unlawful definition of torture to identify ‘Adults at Risk’ who are unsuitable for detention. In MJ & Ors, the High Court found that the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) had been wrongly interpreting the definition of torture as only abuse inflicted by state actors. As a direct result of the litigation the SSHD has broadened the scope to include all victims of state and non-state torture, releasing thousands of detainees from immigration removal centres across the country.

At the conference, Toufique spoke about ongoing judicial reviews he is acting in, including challenging the £1 per hour wage scheme which sees detainees work in essential roles for degrading and exploitative pay. He mentioned the plight of 3 particular clients: one who works in the welfare department, helping other detainees draft legal documents including bail and judicial applications, another a barber and the other a cleaner. Without the hard work done by these detainees, the IRC would need to outsource these roles to agency staff or recruit additional in-house team members.

Toufique and his team are passionate about identifying ways to help disenfranchised immigration detainees by applying novel points of law. At the conference he spoke about the many challenges which he and his team are bringing in relation to unlawful practices in Brook House IRC, such as Hussein, where the Home Office was found to be discriminating against Muslim detainee’s right to practice their religion by forcing them to pray in overcrowded and insanitary cells, next to open toilets. This challenge is not over yet, since Toufique’s team is representing key claimants in challenging the “lock-in” regime which sees detainees kept in their cells for up to 12 hours a day. It is argued that this practice makes implementing a full ban on smoking inside centres more difficult to manage. It is hoped that by forcing the SSHD to take responsibility for implementing a proper overnight regime to replace the current “lock-in” solution will ultimately reduce the number of people in detention as the cost of running the centres goes up.

Toufique reminded the attendees at the conference that challenging the treatment of immigration detainees must be made a priority, so that those who are responsible are held to account. Any misapplication of power should be identified and held up to the scrutiny of the courts.
The conference itself, hosted by ILPA, was a success and it is hoped that it will be the first of many discussing UK immigration detention practices. Established in 1984, the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) is a professional association whose members include barristers, solicitors and advocates practising in all aspects of immigration, asylum and nationality law and is a charity and company in its own right.

Duncan Lewis Public Law

The Duncan Lewis public law department continues to be recommended by Legal 500 with the 2019 edition reporting its 'strong presence in this area of the law, making a particularly dominant contribution in immigration, asylum and prison law.'

The public law team has experience in all aspects of judicial review claimant work, including obtaining emergency orders and other interim relief to prevent breaches of human rights, following up judicial reviews with actions for damages in both the County and High Court and successfully pursuing judicial review matters to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. A particular focus is the team’s work handling cases of the deprivation of British citizenship and deportation threats, with a niche specialism in challenging the treatment of immigration detainees and other marginalised communities.

To speak to a specialist in public law matters, call 033 3772 0409.


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