Immigration updates

On this page:

Changes to the operation of the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme
Amendments to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (Procedure) Rules 2005

Changes to the operation of the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme

Changes to the operation of the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme and the Community Legal Service (Asylum and Immigration Appeals) Regulations 2005 have been agreed.

Please see the Letter to Providers: 26 June 2007 under related documents. Please visit the Immigration contracts page for more details and a general update on new contracting arrangements from October 2007.

Amendments to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (Procedure) Rules 2005

The Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) is amending the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (Procedure) Rules 2005 following two recent Court of Appeal judgments.

The judgment in FP (Iran) and MB (Libya) v. SSHD declared rule 19 of the 2005 Rules to be unlawful in certain circumstances. The judgment in AM (Serbia), MA (Pakistan) and MA (Sudan) v. SSHD declared rule 62(7) to be Wednesbury irrational.

The amendment to rule 19 will provide Immigration Judges with discretion whether to proceed in a party’s absence, rather than be mandated to do so, where satisfied that no good reason has been provided for the party’s failure to attend.

The reason for the absence will no longer need to be provided solely by the party or his representative.

The amendment to rule 62(7) will provide the AIT with the flexibility to permit a party to amend his grounds of appeal in a reconsideration hearing which is subject to transitional provisions.

Rule 62(7) currently limits the reconsideration to the grounds on which the Immigration Appeal Tribunal granted permission to appeal.

The amendments came into force in April 07.

The DCA will consult on further amendments to the 2005 Rules with key stakeholders and the legal professions in Summer 2007.

Last updated: 03 July 2007