Detention Action's appeal to suspend the Detained Fast Track system is dismissed by Court of Appeal

In a judgment handed down today, the Court of Appeal has refused to suspend the Detained Fast Track (DFT) system for asylum applicants.

EIN members can read the judgment, Detention Action, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 1270, here.

Detention Action had sought the suspension of the DFT following a landmark High Court judgment in July which found that the way the government operates the DFT was unlawful, but allowed it to continue (see here for details).

Detention Action said in a press release that in today's Court of Appeal judgment, Lord Justice Longmore ruled that the High Court had discretion to give the order allowing the DFT to continue.

The judgment stated that Secretary of State was not ignoring the High Court judgment, and ruled that the judge was entitled to take into account that the Secretary of State was actively addressing the unlawfulness disclosed in the judgment by ensuring that applicants were given four days within which to consult their lawyers and reconsidering the cases of those who had not been given such time in the past.

Jerome Phelps, director of Detention Action, said "We are disappointed that the Court of Appeal has followed the High Court in refusing to halt the DFT, despite the finding that it was operating unlawfully. However, it is significant that neither court has found that the Home Office has addressed this unlawfulness."