Judgment addresses lawfulness of fresh asylum claims where applicant has not lost an appeal before an immigration judge

Mr Justice Morris recently handed down judgment determining an important human rights issue – namely the question of whether paragraph 353 of the Immigration Rules, which prevent applicants from re-applying for asylum if their asylum submissions are not significantly different from the material that has previously been considered, applies just to asylum seekers whose applications have failed in front of a judge or also applies to asylum seekers whose applications have merely been refused by the Home Office.

In a detailed judgment covering the extensive caselaw in this area, Morris J firmly concluded that paragraph 353 of the Immigration Rules operates to prevent asylum seekers from making a fresh claim for asylum if their application is not significantly different from either a previous application refused on appeal by a judge or if their application is not significantly different from a previous application refused by the Home Office and not appealed.

Nicholas Ostrowski appeared for the Secretary of State – the judgment is available here