Judicial Reviews

What is a Judicial Review?

A Judicial Review can challenge the way a decision has been made, especially if you believe, it was unlawful, irrational, or unfair. It is not about whether the decision was “right”, but whether the law was applied correctly, and the right procedures were followed.

It may seem like Judicial Review proceedings are your only legal option, especially if you have no right of appeal or if your removal or deportation is imminent. This does not necessarily mean it's the right thing to do.

There are times when people may see Judicial Reviews as a way of slowing down the process of removal or deportation. This is understandable when the asylum and immigration system can move so fast, denying you access to justice. A poor application for a judicial review, however, may just speed up the process because a judge may order that no further applications will be considered in respect of your removal.

Unsuccessful claims

Judicial Reviews are proven to be extremely complicated and costly. If you are unsuccessful in your claim for Judicial Review you may have a “litigation debt” applied to you, which means the Home Office can refuse future immigration applications that you make until that debt has been paid.

When should you consider pursuing a Judicial Review?

There are many reasons people apply for Judicial Reviews and some of the most common reasons are:

• If you have been detained unlawfully
• If you are challenging removal from the United Kingdom (this is also known as interim relief or injunction)
• If your immigration application has been refused with no right of appeal and when you have been unable to seek an administrative review.
• If you have been refused permission to appeal at the Upper Tribunal and you still believe you can demonstrate an error of law has occurred in deciding your application.
• If your further submissions have been rejected as not a fresh claim, with no right of appeal.
• If your asylum or human rights claim has been certified by the Home Office, meaning you have no right of appeal within the UK.
• If you have been told your asylum claim will be transferred to another European country under the inadmissibility rules, and you wish to challenge this decision.

The Judicial Review process

The Pre-Action Stage

If you are thinking of pursuing a Judicial Review, you must first notify the Home Office in writing, giving them the opportunity to either review or withdraw their decision prior to the start of legal proceedings.

The letter you write to the Home Office is known as a “Pre-Action Letter” or “Letter before Claim”. A Pre-Action Letter does not hinder the progress of your proceedings, nor does it affect the 3-month time limit to apply for a Judicial Review.

The Permission Stage

To proceed with a Judicial Review Hearing, you need to obtain permission first. When completing the application for permission for Judicial Review, you need to explain the remedy you are seeking in applying for a judicial review.

This needs to be one of the following:

• Mandatory order: this makes a public body do something the law says it must do
• Prohibiting order: this stops a public body from taking an unlawful decision or action it has not yet taken
• Quashing order: an order which overturns or undoes a decision already made.
• Injunction: a temporary order requiring a public body to do something, or not do something, while waiting for a decision to be made in your case.

Upon submitting your application, you should notify the Home Office and provide them with a copy of all your documents that you will be relying upon. You must then inform the Upper Tribunal with a written statement of when and how a copy of your documents were served on the Home Office. Failure to do this will result in your application being cancelled.

The Permission Decision

A judge will usually look at the application and other documents you have made in your permission application and use those to decide whether to grant you permission to proceed or not with the judicial review.

It is quite common for such application to be refused. This decision is usually made by a Judge who has read through your documents and has decided not to list the matter for a hearing.

If your application for permission is refused you may be able to apply to renew the decision. This means you are asking the court to reconsider the decision - in an oral hearing rather than on the papers

If permission is refused on the papers and the case is deemed as “totally without merit”, you do not have the right to apply to renew the decision. It is possible to apply to the Court of Appeal to challenge your case.

If you are granted permission to proceed with the judicial review, the Home Office may accept and agree to settle the case out of court.

A consent order will set out the agreement that has been reached. In these circumstances, you will not proceed to a full hearing and the Home Office will usually offer to withdraw their decision and make a new decision.

The Hearing Stage

If permission is granted, a substantive hearing will take place where a judge will consider the claim in detail.

The Judge will go through all your documents and hear arguments from both parties; you and the Home Office. The judge will usually reserve his or her judgement and seek to notify you in writing at a later date.

The Outcome

If you win your judicial review hearing, the court will not substitute what it thinks is the correct decision. The case will normally go back to the Home Office, or the court if they have been found to have made an error of law.

The Home Office or court may be able to make the same decision again, but this time make the decision following the proper process or considering all relevant case law or evidence reasonably.

If you are applying for emergency relief to stop a removal and are successful, the court will issue an injunction to prevent that removal from taking place for a certain period.

If you are not successful in a judicial review, it is possible to ask permission to appeal the decision at the Court of Appeal.

Time Limits

Applications for Judicial Reviews must be made as soon as possible and no later than three months after the decision that you are trying to challenge was made.

If you are seeking to pursue Judicial Reviews against an Upper Tribunal decision to refuse permission to appeal a First-tier Tribunal decision (also known as a Cart Judicial Review), the time limit is only 16 days.

Application Fees

The court fees for such proceedings are as follows:

• The fee for applying for permission for a Judicial Review is £154
• If you are refused permission, and you apply for reconsideration at a hearing of the decision on permission the fee is £385
• If you are granted permission, the fee for proceeding with the judicial review is £770

Why choose Westridge Legal?

Judicial Review matters can become very complicated very quickly and it is important that you obtain legal advice prior to pursuing any applications of this nature. Our team of Immigration lawyers are aware of the sensitivity and complexity involved in such matters. We understand that every individual requires different care and are here to support you.

Our highly experienced lawyers will guide and support you every step of the way to ensure that the best outcome is achieved with minimal disruption to your life.

If you wish to speak about your options directly with our specialist staff, please contact us on 0121 724 0302 to book a consultation today.