Zafar, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the UK Home Department CO/5197/2015

Published: 1 Jul 2016

In the following selection, the court finds the UK’s Detained Fast Track policy unlawful, as it does not ensure protection for vulnerable people such as asylum seekers. The full judgment was made by the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Branch Division Administrative Court on 25 May 2016 and can be found here.

  1. This claim concerns an individual who was detained under the former Detained Fast Track (“DFT”) processes, by which persons whose claims for asylum or humanitarian protection were considered by the Defendant (“the SSHD”) to be capable of swift and fair determination were detained and their claims evaluated. The statutory structure for the detention of those claiming asylum, the history of the DFT and the most recent manifestation of the policy for determining the suitability of cases for entry to and management within the DFT were described in some detail in Ouseley J’s judgment in R (Detention Action) v SSHD [2014] EWHC 2245 (Admin) (“Detention Action (No 1)”) and need not be repeated here. The SSHD’s policy for detention under the DFT was separate from the Enforcement Instructions and Guidance (“EIG”) Chapter 55 on Detention, which sets out the SSHD’s policy on the general criteria for immigration detention.
  2. The DFT detention policy was subjected to a series of significant legal challenges, which ultimately led to its suspension on 2 July 2015. In Detention Action No 1, above, Ouseley J was not persuaded that identified shortcomings in the screening process or in the operation of safeguards to ensure that vulnerable persons, such as those who had been trafficked or who had been the victims of torture, were not detained under the fast track, made the policy itself unlawful.

Conclusion

83. For the above reasons this claim for judicial review succeeds. The Claimant is entitled to a declaration that he was unlawfully detained from 18 May 2015 to 16 December 2015 (inclusive) and to damages. His claim for damages will be transferred to the Central London County Court for assessment if the parties are unable to agree [sic] a figure within 3 months. The decision made on 12 June 2015 is a nullity and will be quashed. The claim for international protection must be determined de novo by the SSHD on the basis of all material that has been provided to her, but she will not be entitled to rely upon the Claimant’s answers given at the substantive interview on 8 June 2015.

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