Caselaw Digest
Caselaw Digest

OAM, R (on application of) v Sheffield City Council

24 October 2024
[2024] EWHC 2671 (Admin)
High Court
A young man challenged a council's decision saying he was an adult, not a child. The court said the council's assessment was fair, even if not perfect, and the young man didn't prove he was a child. The court refused to overturn the council's decision.

Key Facts

  • •The claimant, an Eritrean national, claims a date of birth of 20 May 2007, but the Home Office assessed his age as 20 May 1997.
  • •Sheffield City Council conducted a brief age assessment concluding the claimant was over 18.
  • •The claimant challenged the assessment on procedural unfairness grounds and the factual correctness of the age determination.
  • •The challenge included allegations of interpreter issues, insufficient reasoning, and failure to consider relevant evidence.
  • •The claim sought declarations, a quashing order, a mandatory order, and a declaration specifying the claimant's date of birth.

Legal Principles

Two elements to age assessment challenges: traditional judicial review grounds and the factual issue of age.

R (on the application of Pishtian Karimi) v Sheffield City Council [2024] EWHC 93 (Admin)

Permission for judicial review requires an arguable ground with a realistic prospect of success.

The Administrative Court, Judicial Review Guide 2024

In age assessment cases, the court considers whether the material raises a factual case that could not properly succeed in a contested factual hearing (Croydon test).

R (FZ) v Croydon LBC [2011] EWCA Civ 59

Sufficient reasons must be given for an age assessment decision.

AS v Croydon [2011] EWHC 2091 (Admin)

Outcomes

Permission to apply for judicial review was refused.

The court found the claimant's arguments lacked a real prospect of success. The procedural challenges were deemed fact-specific and not indicative of general unfairness. The factual challenge to the claimant's age failed to meet the Croydon test.

Interim relief, including accommodation as a child, was refused.

This followed the refusal of permission for judicial review and considered factors such as lack of swift application and weighing of public interest.

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