Appeals and removals in the detained-fast track system

Parliament of Big Bensource: Right to Remain
published: 11 August 2015

On 2 July, the Immigration Minister James Brokenshire announced the suspension of the detained-fast track system (which handles certain asylum claims, deemed to be quick and easy to resolve).  Read the story of the legal cases that led to the suspension in our blog post here.

In Detention Action’s successful legal cases, the High Court and the Court of Appeal ruled that the appeals process of the detained-fast track was unlawful and ‘ultra vires’ (meaning the rules went beyond the authority of those responsible for setting them).   This verdict was confirmed again in a judgment issued on 29 August when the Court of Appeal rejected the Home Office’s legal challenge.

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Immigrant children still being detained, figures show

Refugee & Iron Wire Fencesource: The Independent
published: 8 January 2015

More than 600 children, the majority under 12 years old, have been put in detention under immigration rules in the four years since the Government claimed to have ended the controversial practice.

A new analysis of Home Office statistics by The Independent also reveals that the number of children being held increased from 127 in 2011 to 228 in 2013 – an 80 per cent rise. This is despite Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg stating in December 2010: “We are ending the shameful practice that last year alone saw over 1,000 children – 1,000 innocent children – imprisoned.”

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Old Bailey: G4S guards found not guilty of manslaughter of Jimmy Mubenga

Jimmy Mubengasource: The Guardian
published: 16 Dec 2014

Three private security guards who restrained the Angolan deportee Jimmy Mubenga have been cleared of manslaughter by a jury at the Old Bailey.

The 46-year-old died after being restrained by the G4S guards on a British Airways flight on 12 October 2010. Terrence Hughes, 53, Colin Kaler, 52 and Stuart Tribelnig, 39, were accused of manslaughter by forcing Mubenga’s head down and restricting his breathing as the flight prepared to take off at Heathrow airport. The jury cleared them of the charges on Tuesday after a six-week trial.

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