Free Webinar – The National Age Assessment Board: Law, Practice and Problems

This webinar will consider the law and practice issues emerging in respect of decisions made by the National Age Assessment Board (NAAB), the Home Office body introduced by the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 that conducts age assessments for individuals subject to immigration control who “do not have sufficient evidence to demonstrate their age.”

This webinar will consider issues including:

• The key provisions under the 2022 Act
• Recent case law on admission of new evidence in age dispute cases
• Practical tips for obtaining interim relief for unaccompanied asylum-seeking putative children
• Systemic issues with NAAB age assessments

The NAAB sits within the Home Office and primarily consists of social workers. The NAAB can conduct age assessments upon referral from a local authority, a Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland, or the Home Office on those subject to immigration control who “do not have sufficient evidence to demonstrate their age” and where the Home Office considers that:

• There is reasonable doubt about their claims to be children
• They claim to be adults but are suspected to be children
• They are accepted to be children, but are believed to be of a different age than claimed

Speakers

Nadia O’Mara, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers 
Nadia O’Mara is a public law and human rights barrister. Her practice encompasses immigration & asylum, community care, education, human rights, civil liberties and anti-discrimination law. She has particular expertise in migrants’ rights, regularly acting in judicial review proceedings relating to unlawful detention, age disputes, asylum support, support for victims of trafficking and challenges to certification or fresh claim decisions. Nadia also has a busy community care practice. She regularly acts in age dispute challenges on behalf of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and in matters involving the entitlement of children and adults to support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, Children Act 1989, and Care Act 2014. Nadia has particular expertise on the interplay between the duties of the Home Office to accommodate asylum seekers and migrants, and the obligations on local authorities to provide care and support under the Care Act 2014. She is ranked as a ‘Rising Star’ in the Legal 500 and was nominated for the ‘Young Pro Bono Barrister of the Year’ Award 2024. Nadia was nominated for the ‘Legal Aid Newcomer of the Year Award 2025.

Eva Doerr, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Eva Doerr specialises in all areas of public and human rights law, with a focus on immigration, asylum, trafficking, immigration detention, community care (including age assessments) and challenges based on the Equality Act. She is a specialist in all areas of immigration law including family, asylum, deportation, detention, nationality and trafficking and also has experience in and a particular interest in complex Judicial Review challenges. Eva regularly appears before immigration tribunals and the Administrative Court and has particular expertise in retained EU law post-Brexit and refugee family reunions in Europe. Eva also maintains a broad community care practice with a focus on challenges to the provision of asylum support and accommodation, and age disputes. She is ranked by the Legal 500 2024 as a Tier 1 Rising Star in Administrative Law and Human Rights and Immigration Law. She is also ranked by Chambers and Partners in Immigration Law.

Lisa Matthews, Policy and Campaigns Manager, Young Roots
Lisa Matthews has been the Policy and Campaigns Manager at Young Root since 2023, leading this new area of work for the organisation. Working with frontline staff and young people, she has developed the organisation’s policy and campaigning priorities which include age assessments, refugee homelessness and the right to safety. She works closely with the teams in Croydon, Brent and King’s Cross to get a picture of policy and practice on the ground, and works with young people through political education sessions, campaigning sessions where young people’s experiences and views are shared, and supporting young people to meet directly with policy-makers and politicians. She has worked in the area of migrants’ rights for over 15 years, working across casework, psychosocial support, legal representation, campaigning and legal education. Prior to joining Young Roots, she was Coordinator of Right to Remain from 2011 to 2022, where she developed the Right to Remain Toolkit, and campaigned with people with lived experience of the immigration system.

Reserve Your Online Ticket
Complete the form below to reserve your place. Joining details will be sent on the day of the event. If you have not received the link by 2pm on Tuesday September, please check your junk inbox. If it is not there, contact us at webinars@gclaw.co.uk.