The MLP represented Detention Action which in a challenge to the policy and practice of detaining asylum seekers for the determination of their claims within the Detention Fast Track process (DFT).
Summary of the case
Detention Action argued that the DFT as it now operates is very different from the way it was said to operate in 2000. It also argued that the way the DFT now operates is unfair and that the safeguards to address any unfairness are ineffective. As a result of policy, advocacy, and litigation as a last resort, the DFT was suspended in 2015.
Home Office appeal not allowed: 29th July 2015
Following the judgment of 26th June 2015, which led to the suspension of appeals within the DFT due to the Fast Track Rules being found ultra vires, the Home Office appealed the ruling at the Court of Appeal. The appeal was not allowed by the Court of Appeal, and the appeals process remains suspended. The ruling can be found here.
Ministerial statement: 2nd July 2015
In a written statement to parliament, Immigration Minister James Brokenshire confirmed that the entire Detained Fast Track Process will be suspended. The statement can be found here.
Judgment: 12th June 2015
The High Court ruled that the Fast Track Appeals Rules are unlawful. The judgment is available here.
The judge did not order that the Rules be suspended. Detention Action, represented by the MLP, appealed this, and judgment was handed down in the Court of Appeal suspending the operation of Detained Fast Track appeals.
Judgment: High Court – 9th July 2014
On 25th July Mr Justice Ouseley made an Order declaring that as at 9th July 2014 (the date judgement was handed down), the Detained Fast Track (DFT) process was operating unlawfully for vulnerable or potentially vulnerable asylum seekers who had not had sufficiently speedy access to lawyers for advice before the substantive asylum interview. Read the full judgment. The Order can be found here, along with the judgments given on 9th July and 25th July.
Judgment: Court of Appeal
Judgment was handed down in December 2014 in the Court of Appeal, finding that asylum seekers who pose no risk of absconding should not be held in the Detained Fast Track pending their appeals. The judgment can be found here.