MPs study performance of immigration and asylum tribunals
The cross-party Justice Committee is to investigate the work of tribunals which hear cases about the rights of people to enter or remain in the UK, including after claiming asylum.
The session will look at the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and the higher body which hears appeals against rulings made by the First-tier Tribunal, the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). The Committee will take evidence from lawyers and judges working in the two tribunals.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to reduce the backlog of asylum application cases pending at the Home Office. In December 2022 there were more than 160,000 asylum seekers awaiting a Home Office decision on their claims. Reducing the backlog of those in the Home Office queue could increase the workload of the tribunals.
On current trends, around three-quarters of the applications to the Home Office for asylum will be granted. Of those that are refused by the Home Office and subsequently appealed, around half will see the Home Office’s original decision overturned by tribunal judges. However, it is currently taking over a year for asylum appeals to be heard.
Likely areas of questioning
The MPs are expected to ask the witnesses about tribunal capacity and the new digital system for processing cases which is replacing a paper process. There may also be questions about the performance of the Home Office and the potential impact on the tribunals and the immigration legal sector of measures in the Nationality and Borders Act and those proposed in the Illegal Migration Bill. The sustainability of the immigration legal aid sector may also be considered.