The High Court (Murray J) has held that the Home Office’s policy for deciding applications for leave to protect victims of human trafficking is unlawful.
The Secretary of State’s policy provided that victims of trafficking who claimed asylum would not have their application for leave on trafficking grounds determined until after their asylum cases were considered. The policy meant that victims were left in situations of uncertainty and with limited financial and social support for long periods. Chris Buttler was instructed by Deighton Pierce Glynn to represent two victims of trafficking who were affected by the policy.
The judge found the policy to be incompatible with the Anti-Trafficking Convention and with Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. He quashed the offending part of the policy and directed an assessment of the claimants’ claim for damages.