Tribunal’s refusal to grant asylum appeal to former child soldier successfully challenged

Wednesday 4 January 2017

Mark Symes represented a former child soldier who had claimed asylum in the UK. Although the appeal had been dismissed and permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal refused, following Mark’s instruction, a judicial review challenge was brought.

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Ultimately, the Court of Appeal accepted that it was arguable that the Tribunal should have considered whether the state owed rehabilitative duties to former child soldiers. The Upper Tribunal allowed the appeal outright at the remitted hearing.

This case represents one of the very rare successes in a judicial review challenging a refusal of permission from the Upper Tribunal (the residual “Cart” jurisdiction).

Mark Symes, a member of Garden Court’s Public Law and Immigration Teams, was instructed in the case by Roberta Haslam of Bindmans LLP.

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