Rupert Junior Geddes v Secretary of State for the Home Department
[2024] EWHC 66 (Admin)
Audi Dama Masozera Johnson v Secretary of State for the Home Department
29 February 2024
[2024] EWCA Civ 182
Court of Appeal
A man was held in the UK while the government tried to deport him. Even though they couldn't send him anywhere because he wasn't a citizen of any country, the court said the order to deport him was legal, and most of his time in detention was also legal. The court mostly considered the paperwork about his case, and they decided he had enough chances to explain his situation and his detention was reasonable overall.
Key Facts
- •Audi Johnson, a non-British citizen, was detained from February 16, 2014, to June 19, 2015, under the UK Borders Act 2007.
- •Johnson was convicted of aggravated burglary and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment.
- •A deportation order was made under section 32(5) of the 2007 Act.
- •An attempt to remove Johnson to Uganda failed because Ugandan authorities did not recognize his citizenship.
- •The respondent conceded unlawful detention between March 17, 2014, and April 10, 2014, due to a lack of required review.
- •Johnson's deportation order was ultimately revoked in December 2019 after it was accepted he was stateless.
Legal Principles
Hardial Singh principles for lawful detention: (1) intention to deport, (2) reasonable detention period, (3) cessation of detention if deportation is improbable, (4) reasonable diligence in removal.
R (Hardial Singh) v Governor of Durham Prison [1983] EWHC 1 (QB), R (I) v Secretary of Home Department [2002] EWCA Civ 888, R (Lumba) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] UKSC 12
Automatic deportation of foreign criminals under section 32 of the UK Borders Act 2007.
UK Borders Act 2007
Deportation order under section 5 of the Immigration Act 1971.
Immigration Act 1971
Interpretation of statutes to avoid absurd results; considering legislative intent and context.
R (O) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, R (Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] UKSC 3
False imprisonment requires unlawful detention.
R (DN (Rwanda)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 7
Outcomes
Appeal dismissed.
The deportation order was lawful as the appellant was a 'foreign criminal' under section 32(1) of the 2007 Act, regardless of his statelessness. The detention (excluding the conceded unlawful period) complied with the Hardial Singh principles. The judge's factual findings were not unsafe.
Deportation order deemed lawful.
The court interpreted section 32 of the 2007 Act literally, finding no exception for stateless individuals. The fact that the order was later revoked due to practical impossibility of removal did not render it initially unlawful.
First Hardial Singh principle satisfied.
The judge's finding that the respondent intended to deport and only used detention for that purpose was upheld.
Second and third Hardial Singh principles satisfied.
The judge's assessment of the reasonableness of detention periods, considering all relevant factors, was upheld. The court found no error in the judge's weighing of evidence or reasoning.
Evidential issues dismissed.
The appellant did not challenge primary factual findings, and the judge's evaluation of the evidence was deemed sufficient despite the delay in judgment.