How are restrictions on asylum seekers appeal rights justified?
One of the major problems for asylum seekers is that the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly held that the guarantees of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights does not apply to asylum decisions, on the basis that the right to asylum is not a ‘civil right’ within the meaning of Article 6(1) (see eg the judgment of the Grand Chamber in Maaouia v France 5 October 2000). This has led the government to introduce fast-track procedures, non-suspensive appeals, and restrict appeal rights (see eg the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002). Most notoriously, as part of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004, the government tried to include a clause ‘ousting’ the jurisdiction of the higher courts to judicially review the decisions of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. However, this clause was defeated in Parliament following strong opposition from JUSTICE and others, including the Bar Council and the
