Rapheael Olufemi Oluponle v The Home Office
[2023] EWHC 3188 (KB)
Ebou Jasseh v The Home Office
12 January 2024
[2024] EWHC 31 (KB)
High Court
The government wrongly kept a man in jail for a long time because they couldn't send him back to his home country. The judge said the government made excuses and acted unfairly, so they have to pay him money.
Key Facts
- •Claimant, Ebou Jasseh, sought a declaration that he was falsely imprisoned/unlawfully detained by the Home Office during two periods of immigration detention.
- •First period: 15 September 2019 – 3 August 2020 (324 days)
- •Second period: 28 June 2021 – 15 September 2021 (80 days)
- •Claimant was convicted of rape in 2016 and sentenced to six years' imprisonment.
- •Detention was pending deportation to The Gambia, but there were no enforced removals or Emergency Travel Documents (ETDs) available for Gambia for several years.
- •The Home Office's policy on detention of foreign national offenders (FNOs) and the Hardial Singh principles were central to the case.
- •The Home Office's internal reviews and Case Progression Panels' recommendations were inconsistent and often ignored.
Legal Principles
Hardial Singh Principles (Four principles for determining the lawfulness of detention pending deportation)
R v Secretary of State for the Home Department, ex parte Hardial Singh [1984] 1 WLR 704; R (Lumba) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2012] 1 AC 245
Article 5 ECHR (Right to liberty and security of person)
Article 5 ECHR
Home Office Policy: Enforcement Instructions and Guidance (Version 26)
Defendant’s document “Enforcement Instructions and Guidance”, version 26
Home Office Policy: Detention Case Progression Panels
Defendant’s policy “Detention Case Progression Panels”, published 20 May 2020
Court as primary decision-maker on reasonableness of detention
R (A) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2007] EWCA Civ 804
Outcomes
Unlawful detention from 30 January 2020 to 3 August 2020 (187 days)
Breach of Hardial Singh principles (ii) and (iii); no realistic prospect of deportation within a reasonable time after 16 January 2020; inadequate Home Office response to release referrals; adverse inference drawn from failure to call key witnesses.
Unlawful detention from 28 June 2021 to 15 September 2021 (80 days)
Breach of Hardial Singh principle (i); detention for unlawful purpose (release arrangements); breach of Hardial Singh principle (iii); no realistic prospect of deportation; high-handed and oppressive conduct in delaying accommodation arrangements.
Claimant entitled to substantial compensatory damages for both periods of unlawful detention.
Unlawful detention; failure to demonstrate lawful exercise of power.
Claimant entitled to aggravated damages for the second period of detention.
High-handed and oppressive conduct of the Home Office in frustrating the securing of accommodation; significant delays and contradictory actions.
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