News

The Ministry of Justice has announced the appointment of the Honourable Mr Justice Blake to be the President of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber of the Upper Tribunal with effect from 15 February 2010. Read more.

Immigration statistics for the third quarter of 2009 have been released by the Home Office. They show that asylum applicants are at 5,055 for the period - a 24 per cent reduction compared to the same period in 2008. Read more.

Cases

Two decisions from the Supreme Court. Firstly, in A, R (on the application of) v London Borough of Croydon (Rev 1) [2009] UKSC 8, the Court found that the duty imposed on local authorities under the Children Act 1989 s.20(1) to provide accommodation was owed to those who were, in fact, children, and not simply to those who appeared to the local authority to be a child. Whether a person was a child was a question of fact to be determined by the courts, not the local authority. Read more.

Whilst in BA (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department & Ors (Rev 1) [2009] UKSC 7, where an asylum claim had been rejected but not certified as clearly unfounded or excluded under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 s.96, further representations should be allowed to proceed to an in-country appeal under s.82 and s.92 whether or not they had been accepted by the secretary of state as a fresh claim. Read more.

New country guidance for Nigeria in PO (Trafficked Women) Nigeria CG [2009] UKAIT 00046 found that in general terms, women and girls in Nigeria do not face a real risk of serious harm from human traffickers. However the risk is heightened for females under 40 years of age living in suburban areas with a poor level of education. However, where it can be shown that an individual does face a real risk of being forced or coerced into prostitution by traffickers, the issue of whether she will be able to access effective protection from the authorities will need to be carefully considered in the light of background evidence. Read more.

In PO (Points based scheme: maintenance: loans) Nigeria [2009] UKAIT 00047, finds that the terms of the guidance applicable to points-based scheme applications make it clear. That if the sums are sufficient, it does not appear to matter that they have been lent to the applicant. However it is not sufficient to show merely that a loan has been arranged. Read more.