High Court declares detained fast track asylum process unlawful

The High Court has declared the appeals process for asylum seekers in detention to be unlawful.  Mr Justice Nicol quashed the procedural rules governing the Detained Fast Track asylum process, under which appeals are processed according to severely truncated timescales.

However, despite this finding the judge agreed to the Lord Chancellor’s request to stay the ruling until his appeal is heard in the Court of Appeal, on the basis that for the order to take effect immediately would be “inconvenient”.

The judgement would mean that the Home Office would no longer be able to assign asylum-seekers to an accelerated appeals process in detention.  Asylum-seekers would therefore no longer be detained throughout the asylum process simply for claiming asylum.  Until that appeal is heard asylum seekers will continue to face an appeals system that has been found unlawful.

Detention Action is considering appealing urgently the order refusing the stay.