1. The application of the benefit of the doubt is nothing more than an acknowledgement that age assessment cannot be concluded with complete accuracy, absent definitive documentary evidence, and is in the case of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who may also have been traumatised, unlikely to be supported by other evidence. On that basis, its proper application is that where, having considered the evidence, the decision maker concludes there is doubt as to whether an individual is over 18 or not, the decision-maker should conclude that the applicant is under 18.
2. The benefit of the doubt is not of use where a specific date or age has to be determined except insofar as it requires a sympathetic assessment of the evidence as indicated in R (CJ) v Cardiff City Council [2011] EWCA Civ 1590.
3. Human teeth develop as an individual progresses through childhood and into adulthood; that much is clear. How, and to what extent, the stages of that development are indicative of age (and the extent to which it can been assessed by a dental examination) is a matter of significant debate as was noted in R (on the application of ZM and SK) v The London Borough of Croydon (Dental age assessment) [2016] UKUT 559 (IAC).
4. In addition to the issues considered by ZM and SK the Mandibular Maturity Markers (MMMs), Root Pulp Visibility (RPV) and Periodontal Ligament Visibility (PLV) are unreliable.
Citations:
[2017] UKUT 446
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Immigration
Updated: 02 April 2022; Ref: scu.601004