Appeals to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber)

An error of law occurs when the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) reaches its decision by applying the law incorrectly or by failing to follow proper legal procedure. This typically happens when the tribunal applies the wrong legal test under the Immigration Rules or human rights law, or when it fails to consider important evidence that was submitted by the appellant. Other common instances involve the misinterpretation of country guidance or country-of-origin evidence, as well as making findings that are irrational or entirely unsupported by the evidence. Furthermore, an error may be identified if the tribunal provides inadequate reasoning for its conclusions or conducts the hearing in a procedurally unfair way. In such cases, the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) does not re-hear the case from the beginning; instead, it specifically examines whether such a legal error affected the final outcome of the decision.

In most cases, Upper Tribunal appeals focus on legal arguments rather than new factual evidence. The tribunal primarily examines whether the First-tier Tribunal made a legal error when assessing the evidence that was already before it. However, in limited circumstances the tribunal may allow additional evidence, particularly where it is relevant to demonstrating the legal error or where procedural fairness requires it. The tribunal has discretion to determine whether such evidence should be admitted.

If the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) concludes that the Firsttier Tribunal made a material error of law, it will normally set aside the original decision. The tribunal will then decide how the case should proceed. In some situations, the Upper Tribunal will remake the decision itself based on the existing evidence. In other cases, the matter will be sent back to the First-tier Tribunal for a completely new hearing before a different judge. The approach taken depends on the nature of the legal error and whether further factual findings are required to determine the case.