Legal Update: Court Report - Age assessments for asylum seekers

Case name R (ota of Kadri) v Birmingham City Council [2012]
Case number EWCA Civ 1432
Judge Master of the Rolls and LJJ Sullivan and McFarlane
Location Court of Appeal (Civil Division)

Three asylum seekers who claimed to be children were subject to age assessments. In each case their local authority found them not to be children, while the Immigration Tribunal accepted that they were. The asylum seekers appealed to the Court of Appeal claiming that the local authority was bound by the finding of the tribunal. The issue before the court was whether, as a matter of EU law, a local authority is bound to accept and apply the decision of the tribunal. 

The appellants argued that under Directive 2005/85/EC (“the Procedures Directive”) the Immigration Tribunal’s finding should be binding on other state bodies and the directive would be under­mined if the local authority was entitled to make an independent age assessment.

The court disagreed, holding that the local authority and the Immigration Tribunal assess age for different ends. The local authority does so to decide the applicant’s eligibility to benefits; the tribunal does so to decide the applicant’s eligibility to asylum. The distinction between the bodies’ functions means that the Immigration Tribunal decisions do not bind the local authority and in turn, the local authority does not in any way assume the authority of the Immigration Tribunal over asylum applications by independently assessing the applicant’s age. The applicants’ appeal was dismissed.