High Court says asylum Fast Track appeals process is unlawful and must be quashed, but judgment stayed

In an appeal brought by the charity Detention Action, Mr Justice Nicol has today ruled that the Fast Track appeals process, used for speeding up asylum applications, is unlawful and "structurally unfair", Sky News reported.

Image credit: WikipediaEIN members can read the judgment in Detention Action v First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) & Ors [2015] EWHC 1689 (Admin) here.

BBC News higlighted that the judgment found applicants were not able to properly prepare their cases and their lawyers were also put in an unfair position.

Justice Nicol said: "In my judgment the [Fast Track Rules] do incorporate structural unfairness. They put the Appellant at a serious procedural disadvantage."

He said at paragraph 60 that what makes the Fast Track Rules structurally unfair "is the serious procedural disadvantage which comes from the abbreviated timetable and curtailed case management powers together with the imposition of this disadvantage on the appellant by the respondent to the appeal."

He continued at paragraph 66 that while the Home Office wanting to have the "clear, consistent and truncated timetable" in the Fast Track Rules is a perfectly understandable objective, "it is not consistent with a procedural scheme which must give an element of priority to fairness and seeing that justice is done. On the contrary, it looks uncomfortably akin to what Sedley LJ in Refugee Legal Centre said should not happen, namely sacrificing fairness on the altar of speed and convenience."

According to Sky News, Justice Nicol said the Fast Track Rules must be quashed but put a stay on his order taking effect to give the Lord Chancellor and Home Secretary time to appeal his decision to the Court of Appeal.

Detention Action's director, Jerome Phelps, was quoted by Politics.co.uk as saying: " We are pleased that the fast track appeals process has been found not just unlawful but ultra vires. But we are shocked and disappointed that a stay has been granted, given that this is an area of law requiring the highest standards of justice and fairness."

The Refugee Council's chief executive Maurice Wren said: "Today the courts have recognised the detained fast track appeals system for what it is: fundamentally unfair and a grotesque caricature of British justice."

The Government confirmed to BBC News that it would be appealing today's judgment.

A spokesman told the BBC that the Fast Track system "contributes significantly to the speed and effectiveness with which asylum cases are processed - including swiftly removing those found not to be in need of protection - and saves the taxpayer money."