FMA & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department

27 June 2023

[2023] EWHC 1579 (Admin)

High Court

A former interpreter for British and US forces in Afghanistan applied to come to the UK but was refused because the government said he was a security risk. He sued, but the court sided with the government, saying they had good reason to believe he was a risk.

Key Facts

•FMA, an Afghan national who worked as an interpreter for British and US forces, applied for entry to the UK under the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP).
•The Home Secretary refused his visa application three times, citing that his presence in the UK was not conducive to the public good due to national security concerns related to his conduct and character.
•The concerns stemmed from allegations that FMA released sensitive information and threatened to kill coalition forces.
•FMA challenged the Home Secretary's decisions through judicial review.
•The case involved closed material proceedings under the Justice and Security Act 2013, with Special Advocates representing FMA's interests regarding classified information.

Legal Principles

Anxious Scrutiny

R(YH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] 4 All ER 448

Wednesbury Unreasonableness and Tameside Obligation

Secretary of State for Education and Science v Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council [1977] AC 1044

Article 6 ECHR

Secretary of State for the Home Department v AF (No.3) [2010] AC 269

Outcomes

Permission to apply for judicial review granted.

The Claimants' grounds of challenge were arguable.

Claim for judicial review dismissed.

The Home Secretary's decisions were found to be lawful. The court did not find the Home Secretary's actions to be in breach of policy or the Tameside obligation and rejected the Article 6 challenge.

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