News

Robin Tam QC defends foreign national prisoner detention claims
12 March 2010

Robin Tam QC has successfully defended the Home Secretary against claims for unlawful detention arising out of the operation of an unpublished policy for detaining foreign nationals who had been convicted of serious crimes and who were subject to deportation action. The Court of Appeal held that the policy could lawfully include a presumption of detention, reversing a 2001 High Court decision. The Home Secretary had been unlawfully operating the policy for two reasons: it was inconsistent with and less favourable than his published policy, and for part of the time some such prisoners were subject to a policy of blanket detention. Nevertheless, the Court of Appeal held that in order to succeed, the individuals would have to show that their detention had been caused by the unlawfulness. As it had not, their claims failed.