Asylum in the UK: Changes to the international protection regime under the Nationality & Borders Act

This webinar was brought to you by members of the Garden Court Chambers Immigration and Public Law Teams. Garden Court Chambers is recognised as the pre-eminent set of barristers in the UK specialising in immigration law. This event was aimed at immigration and public law practitioners who represent asylum-seekers and migrants, as well as those in the NGO and Migrant Support sectors. 

To view the presentation slides, please click here.

Many statutory provisions within the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 entered into force over the summer of 2022, bringing with them radical changes to the assessment of international protection claims, including:

• The rejection of the EU law regime and new domestication of refugee law
• Changes to the standard of proof, the UK’s refugee definition and exclusion from status
• A new statutory scheme for imposing penalties on refugees
• A differential protection regime with new Immigration Rules regarding family reunion and settlement
• New procedures and thresholds for third-country returns
• Abolition of out-of-country rights of appeal and many new UKVI policies addressing every aspect of status determination and international protection procedures.

Our expert panel examined these changes to the assessment of international protection claims. 

Speakers

Mark Symes, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers (Chair)
Mark Symes is recognised by the legal directories as a "real expert on asylum matters" and is a Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal and a fellow of the Refugee Law Initiative at the Institute of Advanced Studies. He is co-author of Asylum Law and Practice (“encyclopaedic... pre-eminent” according to one Supreme Court judge), with the third edition due in mid-2023. Mark is also co-author of the Immigration Appeals and Remedies Handbook (“invaluable … to the armoury of all … a compulsory addition to the library of every immigration judge and practitioner” - President of the Upper Tribunal Mr Justice McCloskey). Both were co-authored with immigration team colleague Peter Jorro.

Mark provides advice and representation in all areas of immigration, asylum, and human rights law, appearing in every court from the Tribunal to the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. He is ranked for immigration in Chambers UK 2022 (Band 1) and the Legal 500 2022. Mark's interests and experience extend to issues of exclusion from refugee status and subsidiary protection. Mark is appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission's preferred Panel of Counsel (Panel A).

Raza Halim, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Raza Halim specialises in public law, with an emphasis on refugee law and human rights. He specialises in judicial review and appellate work in the fields of international protection, civil liberties and national security, regularly acting in test case litigation challenging Executive policy, at first instance through to the Supreme Court. 

Hannah Lynes, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Hannah completed pupillage at Garden Court in April 2022 and was supervised by Ronan Toal and Ed Fitzpatrick. She has broad interests including immigration and asylum, housing and public law. Prior to commencing pupillage, Hannah was a Senior Immigration Caseworker at Wilson Solicitors LLP, where she gained experience representing clients in the First Tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal in complex immigration, asylum and criminal deportation appeals. She has worked extensively with vulnerable children and adults, including victims of trafficking, torture and gender-based violence.