CAO (Respondent) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant) (Northern Ireland)
Case ID: UKSC 2023/0056
Case summary
Issues
- When making immigration decisions that affect the safeguarding and welfare of children, what is required to comply with section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 and article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights?
- Did the Secretary of State or the First Tier Tribunal make an error of law with respect to section 55 or article 8 when considering the Respondent's asylum application?
Facts
CAO sought asylum in the UK accompanied by two children. Her claim stated that she faced domestic violence at the hands of her husband on return to Nigeria and her daughter would be subject to FGM.
The Secretary of State for the Home Department ('SSHD') did not accept her account of domestic abuse or find it plausible that her daughter was at risk of FGM. CAO appealed to the First-Tier Tribunal ('FTT').
The FTT judge accepted that CAO had been subject to domestic abuse but found that she had not established she was subject to abuse after she moved around Nigeria or that her father-in-law could locate her. She did not prove that CAO's husband wanted to subject the daughter to FGM. The FTT upheld the Secretary of State's decision.
The Upper Tribunal ('UT') upheld the decision of the FTT.
The Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland found that the FTT and the UT had failed to remedy the SSHD's failure to take into account the best interests of CAO's children as required by section 55(3) of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009. Consequently, there had also been a breach of the daughter's article 8 rights.
The Court of Appeal set aside the decision of the UT and sent the case back to the FTT to reconsider.
The SSHD appeals to the Supreme Court.
Judgment appealed
Parties
Appellant(s)
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Respondent(s)
CAO
Appeal
Justices
Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Sales, Lord Hamblen, Lady Rose, Dame Siobhan Keegan
Hearing start date
5 June 2024
Hearing finish date
6 June 2024
| Watch hearing | ||
|---|---|---|
| 5 June 2024 | Morning session | Afternoon session |
| 6 June 2024 | Morning session | |
Judgment details
Judgment date
23 October 2024
Neutral citation
[2024] UKSC 32
- Judgment (PDF)
- Press summary (PDF)
- Judgment on The National Archives (HTML version)
- Press Summary on The National Archives (HTML version)
- Judgment on BAILII (HTML version)
This judgment has been updated on 14th November 2024. The judgment referred to the case "MK (Sierra Leone)"; however, there are two MK cases, both with the same parties, both heard in the Upper Tribunal, and both with the same judge.
The first case in time is MK (Sierra Leone) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] UKUT 223 (IAC); [2015] INLR 563 ("MK (Sierra Leone)"). The second case in time is R (MK) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] UKUT 231 (IAC). The judgment has therefore been updated to correct wrong citations. It has been updated in paragraphs 31, 57, 65 and 70.
| Watch Judgment summary | |
|---|---|
| 23 October 2024 | Judgment summary |