𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is at war with the legal profession over her plan to slash immigration. Ms Mahmood, already battling Labour MPs determined to block key parts of her immigration reforms, has come under fire from lawyers opposing plans to stop judges deciding whether failed asylum seekers can stay in the country. The Law Society argues it is “critical” that independent judges continue to oversee decisions that impact the “safety and liberty” of potential refugees.

The Home Secretary is attempting to cut the backlog of 139,000 people whose request for asylum has been turned down – but are still in the country while they wait for an appeal to be heard. It takes 58 weeks on average for cases to be resolved and the delays are getting worse, with waiting times nine weeks higher now than they were last year.

She has launched a consultation on plans for a new Independent Appeals Body to replace the current tribunal system, which is known as the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTT-IAC).

It would mean that judges are excluded from the process, and replaced by “adjudicators” who will not have the same legal training.

Home Office documents state: “The new Independent Appeals Body will appoint and train its own cohort of independent adjudicators, with qualification and experience requirements designed to ensure fairness, competence and credibility. While some adjudicators may bring legal expertise, the majority will not need to meet the level of legal training or judicial experience currently expected of the FTT-IAC immigration judges.”

But the adjudicators “will be responsible for determining appeals and will exercise decision-making powers equivalent to those currently exercised by judges”, the Home Office says.

The Law Society is arguing that delays in the asylum system are caused by the Home Office making legally unsafe decisions in the first place – leading to a high number of appeals.

Law Society of England and Wales president Mark Evans said: “Rather than establish a new appeals body, the UK government should focus on improving the accuracy of initial decisions as well as efficiencies within the existing immigration tribunal system.

“Our right to a fair hearing benefits all of us and maintains a justice system we can trust. With such fundamental reforms on the table, it is disappointing that the government has not engaged with the legal sector prior to this consultation and has only allowed four weeks for response. Rushed decisions risk repeating mistakes, or creating new ones entirely of the government’s own making.

“If the government is to achieve its goal of a fair and effective asylum system, its focus should be on getting decisions right the first time. The National Audit Office recently reported that for the year ending May 2025, 42% of sampled Home Office asylum decisions had significant errors.

“In these circumstances, when a person’s fundamental safety and liberty is at issue, access to justice and independent judicial oversight, especially of appeals that bring in points of law, are critical.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Secretary is getting the asylum system moving again. The number of people waiting for an initial decision on their asylum claim is down nearly 50% under this government.

“Despite this progress, the appeals system needs reforming to deal with the scale of cases. That’s why this government is introducing an independent appeals body to speed up decisions, and reforming human rights laws to bring an end to bogus repeat applications.”

Labour MPs are opposing the Home Secretary’s plan to double the length of time required to apply for indefinite leave to remain, also known as settlement, from five years to 10. There is particular anger because the change will apply to people already in the UK.

Sir Keir Starmer has hinted that he could force Ms Mahmood to carry out a U-turn on the settlement issue. He stressed last week that “no decision” had been made and said: “I think it’s important to recognise we’re only at the end of the consultation.”