The Home Office does not need to suspend its detained fast track (DFT) process despite an earlier finding that it is unlawful, the Court of Appeal has held.
In July, Mr Justice Ouseley held that the DFT process had been operating unlawfully, but declined to suspend it until the Home Office had taken steps to address the risk of unfairness identified by the court.
Detention Action, the campaign group which brought the challenge, appealed, in R (on the application of Detention Action) v Home Secretary [2014] EWCA Civ 1270.
Delivering judgment, Lord Justice Longmore said: “The true questions for this court are whether the judge had a discretion to refuse relief other than a declaration and, if so, whether his discretion was wrongly exercised.”
The Home Office has taken steps to redress the unfairness, including reconsidering some cases.
Jerome Phelps, director of Detention Action, says: “We are disappointed. However, it is significant that neither court has found that the Home Office has addressed this unlawfulness.”
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