https://freemovement.org.uk Updates, commentary, training and advice on immigration and asylum law Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:57:12 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://freemovement.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/cropped-Goose-logo-32x32.png https://freemovement.org.uk 32 32 https://freemovement.org.uk/special-immigration-appeals-commission-has-the-power-to-award-costs-in-reviews/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=special-immigration-appeals-commission-has-the-power-to-award-costs-in-reviews Tue, 05 Mar 2024 08:30:00 +0000 https://freemovement.org.uk/?p=205064 In FGF v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Appeal No: SN/01/2022 the Special Immigration Appeals Commission has concluded that it has the power to award costs in reviews, in certain circumstances. Background FGF applied for naturalisation as a British citizen on 27 January 2020. The Home Secretary refused the application on 16 February […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/false-imprisonment-claimant-punished-for-failing-to-negotiate/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=false-imprisonment-claimant-punished-for-failing-to-negotiate https://freemovement.org.uk/false-imprisonment-claimant-punished-for-failing-to-negotiate/#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2022 09:00:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=176600 The High Court has provided a warning to practitioners about the importance of pursuing negotiations in false imprisonment claims. The case of Moradi v The Home Office [2022] EWHC 3125 (KB) also concerns the timings of those negotiations. The judge took the opportunity to express his concerns that the parties failed to reach a settlement […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/false-imprisonment-claimant-punished-for-failing-to-negotiate/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/no-costs-awarded-for-judicial-review-of-asylum-dispersal-policy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-costs-awarded-for-judicial-review-of-asylum-dispersal-policy Thu, 07 Jul 2022 14:30:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=168296 In a reasoned determination on costs, the High Court has found that a judicial review brought by seven West Midlands councils over unfair allocation of responsibilities for housing asylum seekers did not have a causal link to the eventual change in Home Office policy in this area. The case is R (City of Wolverhampton Council […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/no-costs-awarded-where-claimant-got-interim-relief-but-legal-issues-unresolved/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-costs-awarded-where-claimant-got-interim-relief-but-legal-issues-unresolved Tue, 30 Nov 2021 09:30:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=161710 In R (Shahi) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWCA Civ 1676 the Court of Appeal held that a grant of interim relief did not entitle a claimant to his costs, where there was no settlement or court determination of the underlying legal issue. Interim relief followed by consent order The case […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/high-court-backs-law-firm-in-dispute-over-194000-asylum-bill/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=high-court-backs-law-firm-in-dispute-over-194000-asylum-bill https://freemovement.org.uk/high-court-backs-law-firm-in-dispute-over-194000-asylum-bill/#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2021 11:30:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=159183 A costs judge has backed a leading firm of solicitors in its dispute with a former client over a £194,000 bill for work on her asylum case. The judgment is Farrer & Co LLP v Yertayeva [2021] EWHC B16 (Costs). Ms Yertayeva is a Kazakhstani businesswoman, described by the judge as being “from a background […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/high-court-backs-law-firm-in-dispute-over-194000-asylum-bill/feed/ 1 https://freemovement.org.uk/costs-in-immigration-judicial-reviews/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=costs-in-immigration-judicial-reviews Wed, 14 Apr 2021 07:00:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=151694 Procedure-wise, immigration judicial reviews don’t tend to be that speedy. When you get to the end of the road, you may have run out of steam when it comes to settling the issue of costs. But if applicant / appellant representatives are to make it work in a world where public funding is either limited […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/brexit-costs-and-dublin-iii-judicial-reviews/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brexit-costs-and-dublin-iii-judicial-reviews Thu, 08 Apr 2021 12:00:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=151379 As we continue to grapple with the impact of Brexit, my colleagues and I experienced an increase in Dublin III certification and removal cases at the tail end of last year. In many of those cases, removal directions were deferred and certification decisions were eventually withdrawn. Despite this signalling a successful outcome for the applicants […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/when-are-costs-in-a-cart-type-judicial-review-decided/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=when-are-costs-in-a-cart-type-judicial-review-decided Fri, 31 Jul 2020 06:05:41 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=132085 The case of JH (Palestinian Territories) v Upper Tribunal [2020] EWCA Civ 919 builds on the principle that the Home Office can be found liable for expenses in Cart/Eba type judicial review cases. The Court of Appeal has confirmed that the issue of costs should not be decided by the High Court itself and should be […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/costs-against-the-tribunal-after-it-tries-to-ban-solicitors-from-birmingham/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=costs-against-the-tribunal-after-it-tries-to-ban-solicitors-from-birmingham Thu, 09 Apr 2020 08:45:00 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=122285 D, P and K v Lord Chancellor [2020] EWHC 736 (Admin) is a rare example of the High Court making a costs order against a lower tribunal. The context is a dispute between a well-known immigration law firm, Duncan Lewis, and the President of the First-tier Tribunal, Michael Clements. President Clements tried to ban Duncan […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/government-liable-for-costs-in-cart-judicial-review-cases/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=government-liable-for-costs-in-cart-judicial-review-cases Thu, 22 Aug 2019 09:05:29 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=104233 The Court of Appeal has held that the UK government can be asked to pay expenses where a judicial review has been brought against the Upper Tribunal’s refusal to grant permission to appeal. The test case of Faqiri v Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) [2019] EWCA Civ 151 has only recently been published on […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/failure-to-carry-out-proper-medical-assessment-makes-detention-unlawful/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=failure-to-carry-out-proper-medical-assessment-makes-detention-unlawful Thu, 25 Oct 2018 07:03:24 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=77003 This case is an unlawful detention claim based on shocking failures by the Home Office to comply with rules on how victims of torture and trafficking should be treated. In R (SW) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 2684 (Admin), the High Court has ruled that SW was unlawfully detained for […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/no-costs-awarded-despite-clearly-unfounded-certification-being-withdrawn/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=no-costs-awarded-despite-clearly-unfounded-certification-being-withdrawn Mon, 04 Jun 2018 07:32:26 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=70212 In ZN (Afghanistan) and KA (Iraq) [2018] EWCA Civ 1059, the Court of Appeal considered the tricky issue of costs in public law cases, in a scenario where the appeals were withdrawn following consent orders. The main points The judgment is interesting for three reasons: it summarises various authorities on costs it clarifies what “being […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/awuah-tribunal-opens-door-to-awards-of-costs-against-home-office-for-unreasonable-behaviour/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=awuah-tribunal-opens-door-to-awards-of-costs-against-home-office-for-unreasonable-behaviour Wed, 23 May 2018 07:25:54 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=64961 A heavyweight Presidential panel sitting in the First-tier Tribunal has made multiple awards of costs against the Home Office for unreasonable behaviour and given guidance on the proper approach to making such awards in future. Despite the decision being promulgated in December 2017, the Upper Tribunal’s Reporting Committee has elected not to report the decision […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/court-of-appeal-home-office-indemnity-costs/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=court-of-appeal-home-office-indemnity-costs Mon, 23 Apr 2018 07:28:12 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=68618 When feeding my son, I sometimes have to heap the spoon up with something he likes to eat, to disguise something he does not. This is what the Home Office did when applying for permission to appeal in Secretary of State for the Home Department v Barry [2018] EWCA Civ 790. The resulting judgment of […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/upper-tribunal-guidance-wrong-permission-appeal-costs-order-nwankwo-court-of-appeal/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=upper-tribunal-guidance-wrong-permission-appeal-costs-order-nwankwo-court-of-appeal Wed, 17 Jan 2018 11:24:11 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=63887 Contrary to recent guidance from the Upper Tribunal, issued by former President McCloskey no less, an application to that tribunal for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal against a costs order made in a judicial review should be subject to a “first appeals test”, not a “second appeals test”. That was the Court […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/home-office-penalised-unlawful-detention-abdulrahman-mohammed/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=home-office-penalised-unlawful-detention-abdulrahman-mohammed Mon, 18 Dec 2017 12:27:27 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=62510 A month ago, Free Movement reported on the detention of Abdulrahman Mohammed. He was awarded the substantial sum of £78,500 by the High Court after being detained unlawfully by the Home Office. In a subsequent judgment, the same court has increased the amount the Home Office must pay, after it came to light that lawyers […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/struggle-subsistence-agyemang-v-haringey/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=struggle-subsistence-agyemang-v-haringey Thu, 02 Nov 2017 08:31:35 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=59436 Last week’s Court of Appeal judgment in R (Agyemang) v London Borough of Haringey [2017] EWCA Civ 1630 reveals familiar tactics by local authorities resisting requests for support under the Children Act 1989. The claimant-appellant, a Ghanaian mother of a five-year-old child, brought judicial review proceedings with an application for interim relief against Haringey’s decision not to […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/tribunal-decides-wasted-costs-orders-cannot-be-made-against-home-office-representatives/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tribunal-decides-wasted-costs-orders-cannot-be-made-against-home-office-representatives Wed, 19 Jul 2017 09:19:05 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=54615 In the case of Awuah and Others (Wasted Costs Orders – HOPOs – Tribunal Powers) [2017] UKFTT 555 (IAC) the tribunal has decided that a wasted costs order — an order that a representative personally pay the costs incurred by the other side because of poor personal conduct — cannot be made against a Home […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/can-tribunal-forced-pay-costs-judicially-reviewing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=can-tribunal-forced-pay-costs-judicially-reviewing Thu, 18 May 2017 08:12:48 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=50993 “Not often” is the answer. Only if the tribunal acts in an improper way. Incompetence or unlawfulness is not sufficient. In this case, R (on the application of Gudanaviciene) v Immigration and Asylum First Tier Tribunal [2017] EWCA Civ 352, an EU national was facing deportation. She appealed the decision to deport but no legal […]]]> https://freemovement.org.uk/costs-in-public-law-cases-what-counts-as-a-win/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=costs-in-public-law-cases-what-counts-as-a-win Tue, 17 May 2016 10:27:27 +0000 https://env-7121714.mightybox.site/?p=31304 The issue of costs in immigration cases continues to vex the courts. It is supposed to be unusual for the higher courts to have to deal with costs issues but in recent years we have seen some very low quality and controversial costs decisions at first instance in the Administrative Court and the Upper Tribunal. […]]]>