R (Kiarie) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Bail for Immigration Detainees Intervening)
[2017] UKSC 42 Supreme Court 14 June 2017
14 Jun 2017
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The Supreme Court has allowed two test case judicial review claims by foreign nationals facing deportation, quashing the Secretary of State’s ‘remove-first’ certificates, whose effect would have been to leave them to appeal from overseas.
In a
unanimous decision overturning the Court of Appeal, the Court held that
certification violated Article 8 ECHR by obstructing deportees’ ability effectively to present their
appeals against deportation, given the practical barriers to their being able
to give live evidence from abroad, even through video link. For such
certificates to be human rights compatible, the Ministry of Justice would need
to make provision for facilities to be accessible at the UK hearing centre and
overseas. In arriving at its decision the Court relied on evidence filed in the
Supreme Court by the intervening NGO Bail for Immigration Detainees, as to the practical problems for
appellants of conducting effective appeals from abroad.
Michael Fordham QC appeared (pro bono) in the Supreme Court for the intervener, Bail for Immigration Detainees, instructed by Allen & Overy.
