Natasha Barnes, led by Robin Tam QC, appeared for the Secretary of State in the Court of Appeal concerning the status of 10,000 asylum appeals heard under the ultra vires 2005 Fast Track Rules. Those rules were in force between 2005 and 2014, and governed the procedure by which detained individuals could appeal against the refusal of their asylum claim.

The Court of Appeal found for the Secretary of State on all issues, dismissing TN’s appeals and her judicial review claims. In so doing, the court ruled that appeals heard under ultra vires procedure rules were not automatically rendered a nullity. The fact that procedure rules created an “unacceptable risk” of unfairness did not necessarily mean that ever case decided pursuant to those ultra vires rules were unfair. Rather, the Court had to assess whether there was unfairness on the facts of an individual case.

The Supreme Court has now granted TN permission to appeal. More information and previous judgments available in the original news item here.