Growing backlog of asylum appeals will be handled by new body of professionally trained adjudicators to relieve pressure on First-tier Tribunal (IAC)
In a major announcement today, the Home Office has said it intends to implement "some of most significant changes to the asylum system in decades" in order to clear a growing backlog of asylum appeals.
As part of the forthcoming fast-track asylum process revealed by the Sunday Times earlier this month, the Home Office said today that a new independent body of professional adjudicators will be set up to deal with asylum appeals instead of judges in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).
The Home Office explained: "The new body will be fully independent of government with safeguards to ensure high standards and is expected to use the expertise of independent professionally trained adjudicators focusing particularly on asylum appeals, and will allow capacity to be surged so cases can be cleared. It will have statutory powers to prioritise cases from those in asylum accommodation and foreign national offenders."
Increasing numbers of asylum claims and increasing numbers of asylum decisions have pushed the backlog of asylum appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (IAC) to more than 50,000. In total, the Tribunal now faces a backlog of over 100,000 cases.
Although the number of sitting days in the First-tier Tribunal (IAC) has increased, the Home Office says it still cannot keep pace with fluctuating and growing demand. Therefore, an alternative approach is needed to provide broader and more flexible capacity.
In addition, the Home Office announced today that ministers are introducing a new legal requirement for appeals from individuals receiving asylum accommodation support, as well as appeals from foreign offenders, to be decided within a 24-week timeframe.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper MP described the asylum system as being "in complete chaos" when Labour took power, citing the large backlog of cases and a slow appeals process that leaves many people in the system for years. She said the Government is taking steps to restore control and order, including reducing the backlog of initial asylum decisions by 24% since the election and increasing returns of failed asylum seekers by 30%.
She added: "But we cannot carry on with these completely unacceptable delays in appeals as a result of the system we have inherited which mean that failed asylum seekers stay in the system for years on end at huge cost to the taxpayer. Overhauling the appeals system so that it is swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place, is a central part of our Plan for Change."
Further details of the new fast-track asylum appeals system will be set out in the autumn.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticised the proposed changes as "minor tweaks" that "go nowhere near far enough". Philp added that a Conservative government would "repeal the Human Rights Act for all immigration matters and deport all illegal immigrants immediately upon arrival".
A number of experienced immigration lawyers recalled on social media that immigration judges were called adjudicators prior to the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004, and that a fast-track system for asylum appeals was introduced by the previous Labour government in the early 2000s. That fast-track system was found to be unlawful by the courts, as the time limits made it impossible for there to be a fair hearing of appeals in a significant number of cases.