News

Supreme Court decision in ZO (Somalia)
28 July 2010

Robin Tam QC was leading counsel for the Home Secretary in an appeal concerning whether the EU Reception Conditions Directive applies only to those making a first application for asylum, or also to failed asylum seekers who made further submissions on asylum grounds that they should be allowed to remain in the United Kingdom. In reaching its conclusion that failed asylum seekers also benefit from the Directive, the Supreme Court looked at the Directive in the context of an interlocking web of EU legislation on asylum, and reached the view that the interpretation compelled by that legislation overrode the interpretative difficulties inherent in the Directive itself.