The Court of Appeal hands down its judgment in Jagdeep Kaur v SSHD

The Court of Appeal hands down its judgment in Jagdeep Kaur v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWCA Civ 1101. The Court of Appeal considered issues arising from the retention of the passports by the Secretary of State for the Home Department in immigration cases. The Appellant sought to argue that the retention of her passport by the Secretary of State for the Home Department was unlawful and resulted in unfairness.

The Court of Appeal, in summary, held that: (1) There was no "causal connection" between the immigration decision and the retention of the passport, and therefore the appeal was "doomed to fail", although, in principle, the First Tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal had jurisdiction to consider the point. (2) The unreported decision in Marcellana identified no issue of principle and was confined to its own particular facts. (3) The decision to retain the Appellant's passport was lawful and there were not "exceptional circumstances". (4) In order to retain the passport, the Secretary of State for the Home Department need only "suspect" that the person in question "may" be liable to removal, and this would cover the situation of the Appellant, although she was lawfully residing in the United Kingdom and had leave to remain under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971.

Zane Malik appeared for the Secretary of State for Home Department.

Full judgment is available here.