Reported Case Articles
High Court quashes Home Office’s decision unlawfully rejecting a trafficking survivor’s claim (11 November 2021)
Judgment has been handed down today in R (on the application of TVN) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWHC 3019 (Admin), a trafficking case whereby the judge has quashed the Home Office’s decision and failure to recognise Read more...
SIAC quashes decision to refuse British citizenship based on secret evidence (10 September 2021)
Duncan Lewis Solicitors has successfully represented an Appellant before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) in a challenge to a decision by the Home Office to refuse his application for British citizenship. The Appellant, an Read more...
In the matter of T (A Child) (Appellant) [2021] UKSC 35 On appeal from: [2018] EWCA Civ 2136 (6 September 2021)
This appeal concerns the use of the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court to authorise a local authority to deprive a child of his or her liberty. The background to the litigation is the shortage of provision for children who require spe Read more...
High Court finds the SSHD failed to put in place systems to protect those with HIV detained by her, in breach of her obligations under Article 3 of the ECHR (30 July 2021)
This is the first time that a domestic Court found the State to be in breach of its duty to have systems in place to avoid a breach of “inhuman and degrading treatment” (Article 3 ECHR), known as “the systems duty”. The Court has declared Read more...
Re H (A CHILD) (20 April 2021)
We represent the Respondent Mother (hereinafter, M), in an application for a Child Arrangements Order applied by the Applicant Father (hereinafter, F). F issued an application in 2017, and in November 2017, introductory contact took place at M’s Read more...
London NHS Trust v CD & Ors (Withdrawal of Life Sustaining Treatment) [2021] EWCOP 727 (24 March 2021) (31 March 2021)
This matter concerned our client’s daughter anonymised as ‘CD’ for these proceedings and whether her life sustaining treatment (LST) continues. CD was incapacitous and remained in a vegetative state due to an anoxic brain injury. As a result, the tre Read more...
LYB, R (On the Application Of) v Kent County Council [2021] EWHC 663 (Admin) (22 March 2021) (31 March 2021)
Duncan Lewis Solicitors represents the Claimant, LYB, in judicial review proceedings. The present decision concerns an application for permission to judicially review his age assessment decision and interim relief. LYB is a national of Sudan. He w Read more...
Ibrahim v London Borough of Haringey (1) and Capital Homes Services Ltd (2) [2021] EWHC 731 (QB) (31 March 2021)
The High Court has allowed an appeal in favour of a former rough sleeper in a case concerning the security of tenure of those accommodated under the government initiative to accommodate rough sleepers during the covid-19 pandemic. Mr Ibrahim, who Read more...
R (on the application of RS) v SSHD [2021] EWHC 54 (14 January 2021) (4 February 2021)
Duncan Lewis Solicitors represents the Claimant, RS, in judicial review proceedings. The present decision concerns an application for interim relief for release from immigration detention on bail. RS is a national of Jamaica. He was detain Read more...
A Local Authority v R & Ors (Rev 1) [2020] EWFC B56 (13 May 2020) (19 January 2021)
We were instructed to represent the Mother who was 43 years old and had recently arrived from Italy on an application submitted by the Local Authority (LA) for an ICO in respect of a child aged 14 and diagnosed with Battens Disease and Epilepsy wi Read more...
F v M [2021] EWFC 4 (15 January 2021) (18 January 2021)
We represent the Respondent Mother (hereafter, M), in complex Children Act Proceedings. The Applicant Father (hereafter, F) issued an application in October 2017. In August 2020, the matter was reviewed and considered by the Court of Appeal and succe Read more...
Court of Appeal underlines that successful litigants should receive their costs, in test case about hidden disabilities (12 January 2021)
RS, R (On the Application Of) v London Borough of Brent [2020] EWCA Civ 1711 (18 December 2020) RS suffers from debilitating but non-physical conditions which make walking, especially in busy places, very difficult. He applied to the London Read more...
DA & Ors v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWHC 3080 (Admin) (13 November 2020) (18 December 2020)
Duncan Lewis Solicitors represents three Claimants who issued urgent proceedings challenging the Home Office’s policy of conducting abridged asylum screening interviews. We sought interim relief in the form of an order requiring the Home O Read more...
Re H (Interim Care: Scottish Residential Placement) (9 December 2020)
We represent the mother in care proceedings. The child, H, has complex medical needs. In 2006, the child was placed in the father’s care under a Residence Order. Contact between the mother and child was prevented by the father and had not Read more...
R v P (Children: Similar Fact Evidence) (9 December 2020)
We represent the Respondent Mother (who has learning difficulties) in an ongoing complex Children Act matter. In October 2017, the Applicant Father issued a Child Arrangements application for contact with the parties’ daughter and then-unborn son. Read more...
High Court declares Home Office discretionary leave policy for victims of trafficking unlawful (3 December 2020)
In a judgment handed down on 3 December 2020, Mr Justice Mostyn has declared that the Home Office policy on discretionary leave 1 as applied to victims of trafficking is unlawful, in that it fails to implement the UK’s obligation to protec Read more...
Lakhany v Prempeh, [2020] EWCA Civ 1422 (3 November 2020)
This was a Court of Appeal case concerning whether a notice seeking possession of residential property due to rent arrears had to contain the name and address of the landlord. The Appellant and Ms Appiah-Baker moved in to the London residen Read more...
B (A Child : Abduction: Article 13(B)) (23 October 2020)
We represented the mother of a young child who came to the UK herself as a child asylum-seeker from Bosnia, escaping the war there. The mother is extremely vulnerable having been a victim of domestic abuse and also suffers from mental health diffi Read more...
Court of Appeal declares the Home Secretary's removal policy breaches the constitutional right of access to justice (21 October 2020)
In a unanimous decision, handed down today, the Court of Appeal held in R (FB (Afghanistan) and Medical Justice) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ [1338] that the Home Secretary’s removals policy is unlawful. Read more...
QH v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWHC 2691 (Admin) (20 October 2020)
The Claimant is an extremely vulnerable individual who is a recognised victim of trafficking. She has been subjected to trafficking as a child and as an adult both abroad and in the UK. The background to the case is set out in detail withi Read more...
AA Nigeria v Secretary of State (12 October 2020)
Our client arrived in the UK in 1999 aged 11 and has remained in the UK ever since. Our client entered into a relationship and has a daughter, K, born in 2006, a son, A, born in 2014 and a daughter, D, born in 2019. Our client was convicted fo Read more...
DH (Particular Social Group: Mental Health) Afghanistan [2020] UKUT 223 (IAC) (03 June 2020) (24 August 2020)
The outcome of this case affirms the supremacy of the Refugee Convention 1951 over EU law by reference to the Convention’s object and purpose. It recognises for the first time in UK asylum law that a “person living with disability or mental ill-healt Read more...
SW, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWHC 2118 (Admin) (15 July 2020) (18 August 2020)
In a judgment handed down on 15 July 2020, Holman J told the Secretary of State that they “must now look beyond Serco to other providers, or even, on a case-specific basis, simply go out in into the community, anywhere in England and Wales, and Read more...
Osadebay, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWHC 2086 (Admin) (29 July 2020) (14 August 2020)
Background The claimant was granted bail in principle by the First-tier Tribunal (FtT) on 22 May 2020 with the condition that the Secretary of State release him into supported accommodation. The grant of bail was extended on 18 June 2020 bu Read more...
Hussein v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 156 (13 February 2020) (6 August 2020)
In this complex appeal, the Appellant challenged the SSHD’s decision to deport him to the Netherlands based on his status as a permanent resident under the 2006 EEA Regulations. He appealed unsuccessfully to the First-tier Tribunal (‘FtT’) and Read more...
EK, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWHC 2111 (Admin) (31 July 2020) (5 August 2020)
Background In this case, unusually, the High Court has issued a judgment following an application for an interim order. The claim challenges EK’s detention under immigration powers in HMP Leicester since 11 April 2019, a period of more tha Read more...
LC (A Child - Placement Order) [2020] EWCA Civ 787 (23 June 2020) (29 July 2020)
We represented the second respondent (father) in an appeal by a local authority (LA) against the decision of Recorder Thain dated 7 February 2020 to refuse the LA’s application for a placement order in respect of a two year old child (LC). Read more...
Merca v SSHD [2020] EWHC 1479 (Admin) – Judge orders Home Office source bail accommodation, and release, within 4 days (27 July 2020)
In a judgment handed down on 8 June 2020 by Mr Justice Fordham, the High Court acknowledged ‘special difficulties’ caused by Covid-19 but found it was ‘necessary and proportionate’ to order the Home Office source accommodation and facilitat Read more...
MA, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 1502 (Admin) (16 July 2020)
We represented the Claimant ‘MA’ in an application for judicial review. Background MA is a national of Pakistan who arrived in the UK in September 2011 on a Tier 4 student visa which was valid until 14 April 2012, on that day he appli Read more...
Kaitey v SSHD [2020] EWHC 1861 – High Court dismisses challenge to imposition of Schedule 10 Immigration Bail (14 July 2020)
In a judgment handed down on 13 July 2020 by Mrs Justice Laing, the High Court has dismissed our client’s application for judicial review against the Defendant’s decision to impose conditional immigration bail upon him. Our client, the Cla Read more...
Uddin v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 338 (12 March 2020) (7 July 2020)
The question raised in this case was whether family life can be established for the purposes of Article 8 between an asylum seeker who was placed in foster care arrangement from a minor up until an adult. The First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal Read more...
D & Ors v The Lord Chancellor & Anor [2020] EWHC 736 (Admin) - clients awarded their costs in claim against the Tribunal (1 July 2020)
On 2 April 2020, the Court handed down judgment in D & Ors v The Lord Chancellor & Anor [2020] EWHC 736 (Admin), ordering the First-tier Tribunal to pay the Claimants’ costs in a judicial review challenge to the Tribunal’s policy. Read more...
LH, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 3457 (Admin) (13 December 2019) (19 June 2020)
Our Vietnamese client ‘LH’ challenged by way of judicial review the lawfulness of a Secretary of State decision that he was not a victim of trafficking. LH had previously received a negative conclusive grounds decision and the decision under chall Read more...
A (A Child) (Rev 1) [2020] EWCA Civ 731 (15 June 2020) - Success in Opposing Appeal by SSHD in FGMPO Proceedings (17 June 2020)
In September 2019 we reported the outcome of a hearing before the President of the Family Division in respect of an application brought by the Local Authority to protect a young girl who was at risk of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) if removed fr Read more...
FL (A Child), Re [2020] EWCA Civ 20 (22 January 2020) (16 June 2020)
We represented the child ‘FL’ through his Guardian. FL was 18 months old at the conclusion of the proceedings. Background The concerns centred on the mother’s history of mental health issues and misuse of alcohol. The mother’s inability Read more...
Re C (Female Genital Mutilation and Forced Marriage: Fact Finding) [2019] EWHC 3449 (Fam) (16 June 2020)
The applicant mother had many siblings including our client, F. The family was of Somalian descent. As a result of the civil war in Somalia, the parents left Somalia and travelled with F and two of his brothers to England in April 2002, leaving th Read more...
C-D (A Child), Re [2020] EWCA Civ 501 (08 April 2020) (16 June 2020)
The case concerned ‘B’ an 8 year old boy who was subject to care proceedings following concerns about him suffering ongoing emotional harm and neglect. We represented B through his Guardian and played a central role in determining his best int Read more...
SB (Ghana), R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Anor [2020] EWHC 668 (Admin) (20 March 2020) (15 June 2020)
Our client, SB, was successful in his unlawful detention claim in which the High Court found a breach of the Hardial Singh principles notwithstanding SB’s serious offending history. Background SB is a national of Ghana. Follow Read more...
R (on the application of Habte) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWHC 967 (10 June 2020)
The Administrative Court has dismissed our client’s judicial review on one of the grounds of whether the UK authorities had taken over responsibility for examining the asylum claim pursuant to Article 17(1) Dublin by arranging and conducting the c Read more...
£1 an hour detention centre pay challenge: Court of Appeal dismisses appeal (20 May 2020)
The Court of Appeal has today dismissed our challenge to the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s policy of paying immigration detainees a fixed pay rate of £1 an hour in order to work in detention. This was an appeal to the decisi Read more...
The ‘Covid case’: AQS, R (On the Application Of) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWHC 843 (Admin) (07 April 2020) (30 April 2020)
In this case unusually, the High Court has issued a judgment following an application for an interim order. The matter concerns the accommodation of asylum-seekers who display Covid-19 symptoms, who bears the responsibility for accommodating a Read more...
R (on the application of Vincent Nolson) v Stevenage Borough Council (2020) EWCA Civ 379 (15 April 2020)
What are the next steps after an application for interim relief is refused in the Administrative Court? The Appellant client made a homelessness application to the Respondent Council in February 2019. He was placed in temporary accommodatio Read more...
FS v London Borough of Croydon - Success in age-assessment judicial review (13 March 2020)
We were successful in a judicial review concerning the Respondent’s – the London Borough of Croydon - decision to refuse to re-assess our client’s age. We were issued with a declaration that his date of birth is 1 July 2002 rather than his ‘assess Read more...
A (A child) (Female Genital Mutilation Protection Order Application) [2020] EWHC 323 (Fam) - Success for client in Female Genital Mutilation Protection Order Matter (9 March 2020)
The family court accepted an application for a Female Genital Mutilation Protection Order (FGMPO) brought by the local authority and supported by our client, to protect her ten year old daughter A from undergoing the procedure.
Foley, R (On the Application Of) v SSHD [2019] – Court rules on Irish citizens deportation policy (21 February 2020)
The Administrative Court has dismissed our client’s judicial review challenge in Foley v SSHD, finding that the Secretary of State’s special policy on the deportation of Irish citizens is lawful and proportionate. Since 2007, the Secretary of Read more...
Shields-McKinley v The Secretary of State for Justice the Lord Chancellor & Anor [2019] EWCA Civ 1954 (14 November 2019) (21 February 2020)
The Court of Appeal has dismissed our client’s appeal in Shields-McKinley v SSJ, finding that the Secretary of State for Justice was not responsible for our client’s false imprisonment as a result of his sentence miscalculation. These proceedi Read more...
SSHD v JS (Uganda) [2019] EWCA Civ 1670 – Cessation of Refugee Status under Article 1C (21 February 2020)
The Court of Appeal have allowed the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s (SSHD) appeal in the case of SSHD v JS (Uganda), finding that the UK did not owe obligations to our client (JS) under the Refugee Convention, as he had been recognis Read more...
R (Julien Benchaouir) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 2606 (Admin) - Detention of a foreign national offender with accepted mental illness (14 February 2020)
The Claimant’s situation came to light when he instructed Duncan Lewis Solicitors in his bail matter in July 2018. The case concerns a challenge to the lawfulness of detention of a foreign national offender with accepted mental illness. It als Read more...
GB v R. [2020] EWCA Crim 2 (16 January 2020) – Public interest safety and quashing criminal convictions for confirmed victims of trafficking (31 January 2020)
Ms. GB was convicted for using false documentation in 2008 and despite evidence that she was a victim of trafficking and at real risk of persecution, she was not properly advised of her rights or provided support as a victim of trafficking. We wer Read more...