Visit JCPCUKSC/2019/0147
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IMMIGRATION
R (on the application of BF (Eritrea)) (Respondent) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant)
Case summary
Case ID
UKSC/2019/0147
Parties
Appellant(s)
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Respondent(s)
BF (Eritrea)
Issue
(1) What is the test that the court must apply to determine the lawfulness of policy issued by HM Government in relation to the treatment of asylum seekers who claim to be children. (2) Whether the Home Department’s policy relating to an initial assessment of the age of asylum-seekers claiming to be children is lawful.
Facts
BF is a national of Eritrea and an asylum seeker who presented himself to police claiming that he was 16 years old. The immigration officers who saw him believed him to be substantially over 18, describing his physical appearance as that of an adult in his mid-twenties. He had previously claimed asylum in Italy, where he had given his age as 26. BF was held in immigration detention pending his return to Italy and continued to claim that he was a minor. Two formal age assessments found him to be an adult, but a third found him to be 16. Save in limited circumstances, it is unlawful for the Home Department to detain an unaccompanied child. BF applied for judicial review of the decision to detain him on the ground that the Home Department’s policy, which provided that a person claiming to be a child could be treated as an adult if immigration officers considered that their physical appearance very strongly suggested that they are significantly over 18, is unlawful. BF’s judicial review claim was rejected by the Upper Tribunal. The Court of Appeal allowed BF’s appeal by a majority. The SSHD appeals the Court of Appeal’s decision.
Date of issue
4 July 2019
Judgment appealed
Judgment details
Judgment date
30 July 2021
Neutral citation
[2021] UKSC 38
Judgment links
Judgment summary
30 July 2021
Appeal
Justices
Hearing dates
Start date
16 March 2021
End date
16 March 2021
Watch hearings
16 March 2021 - Morning session
16 March 2021 - Afternoon session
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Last updated 16 April 2024