Case No. UKUT-00156-(IAC)

v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 42; [2017] Imm AR 1299, because his presence in the United Kingdom was necessary for the preparation of an assessment and report in respect of his children, J and RN. 3.On 31 March 2018, the Upper Tribunal (Lane J, President; Upper Tribunal Judge O’Connor) had stayed the present judicial review proceedings. At that point, the proceedings challenged not only the respondent’s decision to maintain the section 94B certificate in respect of the applicant but also the respondent’s refusal to facilitate the applicants return from Jamaica. The decision to stay the proceedings is reported as R (on the application of Watson) v (1) Secretary of State for the Home Department and (2) First-Tier Tribunal (Extant appeal; s.94B challenge: forum) [2018] UKUT 00165 (IAC); [2018] Imm AR 1094. In so deciding, the Upper Tribunal followed the guidance in AJ (s.94B: Kiarie and Byndloss questions) Nigeria [2018] UKUT 00115 (IAC); [2018] Imm AR 976. The guidance explained that it is for the First-tier Tribunal to apply the step-by-step approach derived from the judgment of the Supreme Court in Kiarie and Byndloss in order to determine whether an applicant can have an effective appeal, unless he or she is in the United Kingdom.4.In the event, as I have mentioned, although the First-tier Tribunal found that the applicant could have such an effective appeal, the Upper Tribunal concluded that the First-tier Tribunal had erred in law. 5.On 29 April 2019, the applicant applied to lift the stay. On 7 May 2019, Upper Tribunal Judge O’Connor decided that this application should itself be stayed, in the light of the terms of the Upper Tribunal’s order in appeal HU/22903/2016, directing the appellant’s return for the purposes of his appeal being re-made in the Upper Tribunal; and that the application for judicial review in the present proceedings should remain stayed pursuant to the decision of 31 March 2018. 6.On 18 June 2019, the applicant was returned to the United Kingdom. On 9 January 2020, a hearing took place in the Upper Tribunal (Lane J, President; Upper Tribunal Judge O’Connor) in respect of the re-making in the Upper Tribunal of the decision in the applicant’s appeal in HU/22903/2016. The applicant was present at this hearing. In a decision of 24 February 2020, the Upper Tribunal re-made the decision in the applicant’s appeal by dismissing it. 7.The applicant applied to the Upper Tribunal for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal against the re-made decision. The Upper Tribunal refused permission.8.On 7 January 2021, the Upper Tribunal (Lane J, President) refused a new application by the applicant for permission to lift the stay on the judicial review proceedings and to amend the relief sought. The Upper Tribunal explained that the reasons why the stay had originally been imposed continued to apply, in that the appeal proceedings were still extant, since the applicant had made a renewed application for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal. Although the application to amend the grounds presented them as minor in nature, they were far from being so. They would have materially enlarged the scope of the challenge by covering the human rights of the minor children of the applicant. The children were sought to be added as parties, although it did not appear at the time that legal aid for this was currently available. 9.Permission to appeal was refused by Laing LJ in the Court of Appeal on 21 June 2021. Following that refusal of permission, the Upper Tribunal (Lane J, President; Upper Tribunal Judge O’Connor) ordered on 10 November 2021 that the stay on the judicial review should be lifted. The applicant was given permission to bring judicial review proceedings. The applicant was also given permission to amend his grounds, in order to contend that the Upper Tribunal did not have power under section 25 of the 2007 Act to direct the respondent to make provision for the applicant’s return to the United Kingdom. That ground was also held to be arguable.10.Although the present judicial review was brought against decisions of both the respondent and the First-tier Tribunal, Immigration and Asylum Chamber, the applicant’s amended grounds no longer seek to challenge any decision of that Tribunal.