In a statement today, the Law Society has called on the Government to abandon its plans to replace the First-Tier Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber with a new, independent appeals body staffed by adjudicators.
The Law Society has formally called on the UK Government to abandon its proposal to replace the First-Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) with a new independent appeals body staffed by non-legally qualified adjudicators – warning the move could seriously undermine access to justice for vulnerable asylum seekers.
The Government first signalled this change in November 2025 through its policy paper Restoring Order and Control, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood providing further detail to the Commons Justice Committee in January 2026. Despite the announcement, the Lady Chief Justice confirmed last month that the judiciary had still not been informed of any clear plan, timeline, or proposals.
The Home Office opened a call for evidence on 23 March 2026 and this week extended the response deadline from 24 April to 6 May 2026 – a move acknowledged by the Law Society, though it cautioned that more meaningful consultation is still needed.
The numbers tell the story
The Law Society pointed to troubling Home Office data to back its concerns:
- Only 52% of Home Office decisions met its own quality standard in 2023/24
- The National Audit Office found that 42% of sampled asylum decisions in the year to May 2025 contained significant errors
- 45% of asylum refusals reviewed by the tribunal in the year to March 2025 were overturned
Law Society President Mark Evans drew attention to past failures of systems using non-legally qualified adjudicators, which were ultimately scrapped as “not fit for purpose.” He argued the Government should instead focus on improving the quality of initial Home Office decisions, increasing efficiency within the existing tribunal framework, and securing adequate legal aid funding.
The Law Society also criticised the original four-week consultation window – which fell over the Easter holidays – as wholly inadequate. Evans warned that rushing such decisions risks repeating past mistakes or creating entirely new ones.
Separately, immigration charity Right to Remain announced it will host an online workshop on Wednesday 29 April, examining the Government’s proposed appeals body and the implications of the new 24-week timetable for certain asylum appeals.
Lawsentis View
At Lawsentis, we strongly support the Law Society’s position. The Immigration and Asylum Tribunal plays a critical role in ensuring that vulnerable individual – many fleeing persecution – receive a fair and legally sound hearing. Replacing experienced judges with lay adjudicators, without a clear framework or transparent timeline, raises serious rule-of-law concerns.
The data speaks for itself: nearly half of all asylum refusals reviewed by the tribunal are overturned. This is not a case for dismantling the existing system – it is a case for fixing what goes wrong upstream, at the Home Office decision-making stage. We urge the Government to engage meaningfully with legal professionals before proceeding any further.
Have questions about immigration or asylum law? Get in touch with our team.