Judical Review

The Judicial Review process is a process which is different from the appeal process but it does have some similarities.  

If a state body such as the UK Border Agency refuses a person’s application they may have a right of appeal before the Immigration Tribunal or they might have the right to Administrative Review. However, in some cases they will not have the right of appeal. This could happen, for example, if the person did not have immigration leave when they made the application of if they still had leave when the decision was made.  

If a person’s application has been refused and they think the decision was wrong but they have no redress against the UK Border Agency then they have the right to apply for Judicial Review. The application is made in most cases to the High Court.

It is not enough to apply for Judicial Review on the basis that the applicant disagrees with the decision. The applicant must give reasons for saying that the decision was based on error or was unlawful or was taken incorrectly in some other way.

If the High Court Judge agrees that the decision may have been wrong in some way they will most typically not overturn the decision and make their own decision (as very often happens with an appeal case). In most cases the Judge will “quash” the decision (ie make the decision of no effect) and order the UK Border Agency to re-take the decision, but this time to take it in the correct way.