Lords Launch Legal Challenge to End Secrecy on Judges' Rulings on Migrant Deportation Appeals

Strategic Insights -

Senators have tabled a proposed new law that would require first-tier immigration tribunals to publish their judgments on whether foreign criminals and rejected asylum seekers should be allowed to remain in Britain. The move comes as Labour, Reform UK, and the Tories have pledged to overhaul the asylum appeals system and either quit or reform the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which has been repeatedly cited by migrants in their appeals against removal from the UK.

Key Takeaways:

  • The proposed law, tabled by Lord Murray, a former home office minister, would require all judgments of first-tier tribunals to be published on a government website within three days of being made.
  • There were between 38,000 and 41,000 appeals in each of the past three years, said Lord Murray.
  • The public scrutiny of the decisions would "hold judges to account" and ensure they were "doing their job properly" after controversies over rulings where courts have prioritised migrants' human rights over public safety.
  • The move has the backing of the Tory party, as well as the Lib Dems, despite opposition from the Government.
  • Supporters of the plan believe it could be backed by the House of Lords when it is put to a vote at the end of this month.
  • Lord Murray cited Baroness Hale, the former Supreme Court president, who said open justice was necessary to "hold judges to account for the decisions they make and to enable the public to have confidence that judges are doing their job properly."

Statistics:

  • Between 38,000 and 41,000 appeals have been dealt with by first-tier immigration tribunals in each of the past three years.
  • The proposed law would require all judgments of first-tier tribunals to be published on a government website within three days of being made.
  • Eric Pickles, the chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, will give evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee on the reform of the asylum system.

Sources:

  • Lord Murray, a former home office minister, said "There is absolutely no coherent basis for not publishing these decisions, and this is made all the worse because there is very significant public interest in this decision-making."
  • The Telegraph reported on a number of judges' rulings granting migrants the right to stay in the UK, sometimes for seemingly baffling reasons.
  • The proposed law has been tabled by Lord Murray, a former home office minister, and is backed by the Tory party, as well as the Lib Dems.
  • The Human Rights Act has become a tool which forces our courts not simply to interpret UK law through the changing lens of the so-called living instrument of Strasbourg but to change the meaning of some laws entirely, said Lord Sandhurst, a Tory whip and former chair of the General Council of the Bar.