UTIAC 1. Appeals can be brought under section 83 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (so called ‘upgrade’ appeals’) only on the grounds that removing the appellant from the United Kingdom would breach the United Kingdom’s obligations under the Refugee Convention (see section 84(3)) or that the appellant is entitled to humanitarian protection (see FA (Iraq) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWCA Civ 696).
2. Such appeals are decided on the basis of a hypothetical return at the date of the decision/ hearing.
3. The wider range of grounds permissible in appeals under section 82 of the Act is not available in section 83 appeals and the Tribunal has no power to entertain them.
4. The ‘best interests of the child’ are relevant in section 83 appeals only to the extent that they illuminate a claim that the appellant is a refugee or entitled to humanitarian protection.
5. The Tribunal is unlikely to be assisted by hearing the evidence of a child who is 12. Whenever a judge is considering hearing evidence from a child the issues should be explored with the advocates and the responsible adult accompanying the child and the guidance in the Senior President’s Practice Statement of 30 October 2008 ‘Circumstances Under Which a Child Vulnerable Adult or Sensitive Witness May Give Evidence’ applied.
6. A judge should alert the advocates where minded to depart from a favourable assessment of credibility made by the UKBA (as noted by the AIT in WN (Surendran; credibility) DRC [2004] UKIAT 213.)
Blake J P, Perkins UTJ
[2013] UKUT 292 (IAC)
Bailii
England and Wales
Immigration
Updated: 14 November 2021; Ref: scu.511232
