Illegal Migration Act 2023 - Part 1 - A New Era of Detention Challenges

This event exposed the sweeping detention powers introduced by the Illegal Migration Act 2023 and what this means for asylum-seekers. We considered the effect of s11 and s12 of the Act, including the codification of Hardial Singh and ‘grace periods’, the new ‘Powers of Detention’, and the impact these changes will have for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

Speakers Bios

Stephanie Harrison KC, Joint-Head of Garden Court Chambers (Chair)
Stephanie is a leading practitioner in the field of public law and immigration & asylum law, with over 30 years of experience in complex cases. She specialises in claims of torture, human trafficking and other forms of serious violence including sex and gender-based violence. She frequently appears in the highest courts in landmark cases concerning the interpretation and application of the Refugee Convention and other related international human rights. 

She has been involved in many of the most significant judicial review challenges to the lawfulness of detention policy and practice relating to vulnerable adults and children. She was lead counsel for a number of Core Participants and Medical Justice in the Statutory Inquiry into Article 3 mistreatment in Brook House IRC. She is an editor of Macdonald's Immigration Law and Practice (1Oth Edition), the leading textbook in the field. She is ranked in Band 1 for Immigration for Chambers & Partners.

Nicola Braganza KC, Garden Court Chambers
Nicola is recognised as a leading barrister specialising in Equality and Discrimination Law, Public Law and Human Rights. Her broad practice spans the areas of Employment, Education, Community Care, Immigration and Asylum Law. She has considerable experience in bringing complex and large-scale challenges against the state, including civil claims for damages on behalf of individuals and groups. She has particular expertise in representing highly vulnerable adults and children, including victims of trafficking and modern slavery, and those held in immigration detention.

Gordon Lee, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Gordon is a leading practitioner in Public Law, Immigration and Asylum, Civil Liberties and Human Rights with an emphasis on all aspects of immigration, deportation and unlawful detention work. He regularly appears in the Tribunals, the High Court and the Court of Appeal in immigration and asylum matters and has appeared before the Supreme Court in leading immigration cases.

Gordon is regularly instructed in Civil claims and claims for Judicial Review challenging the legality of detention in immigration and mental health cases and in claims that straddle the two areas. He has particular expertise in claims challenging the detention of the vulnerable.

Greg Ó Ceallaigh, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Greg specialises in human rights, asylum and immigration, civil and public law. He is ranked in the Chambers UK Bar Guide 2023 and the Legal 500 2023 for immigration. Greg has over 15 years' experience in immigration law and has acted in all kinds of matters ranging from the most complex asylum and human rights claims to Tier 1 Investor cases. 

Greg is highly experienced in immigration detention work and has represented detainees in detention claims at every level from the Administrative Court to the Supreme Court (including Fardous v SSHD [2015] EWCA Civ 92, R (Sathanantham) v SSHD [2016] 4 WLR 128 and R (on the application of) (Hemmati) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] UKSC 56), as well as in civil actions for false imprisonment both in the County Court and the Queen's Bench Division.

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