R Ma (Ghana) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Lord Justice Richards |
| Judgment Date | 18 October 2012 |
| Neutral Citation | [2012] EWCA Civ 1541 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Date | 18 October 2012 |
| Docket Number | Case No: C1/2012/2595 |
[2012] EWCA Civ 1541
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE UPPER TRIBUNAL
(IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM CHAMBER)
[APPEAL No: AA/01875/2011]
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Lord Justice Richards
Case No: C1/2012/2595
Ms Monica Carss-Frisk QC and Mr David Chirico (instructed by Wilsons Solicitors) appeared on behalf of the Appellant.
Mr Paul Greatorex (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) appeared on behalf of the Respondent.
This is a renewed application for a stay of removal. The case has a long history which I do not propose to set out in any detail. In short, the applicant claimed asylum on the ground of fear of persecution by reason of his homosexuality if returned to Ghana. The claim was refused. An appeal to the First-tier Tribunal was dismissed in March 2011, the Immigration Judge finding that the applicant's claim to be a homosexual was incredible. Extensive fresh representations were made on his behalf, with a body of further evidence. In January 2012 the Secretary of State refused to accept them as a fresh claim. That refusal was withdrawn when judicial review proceedings were brought, but the same decision was reached with further reasons in a new decision letter dated 24 September 2012. This was rapidly followed by removal directions set for 2 October. Fresh judicial review proceedings were brought in the Upper Tribunal. Permission was refused on the papers on 1 October. This was followed by an oral renewal on 2 October, where permission was again refused, this time by Senior Immigration Judge Gill. The Senior Immigration Judge gave an oral judgment at the time but the written reasons for the decision were not available until 10 or 11 October.
In the meantime the Secretary of State had reset removal directions for 11 October. This prompted an application to the Court of Appeal for a stay pending an application to the Upper Tribunal for permission to appeal against the Senior Immigration Judge's decision. The application to this court was in accordance with the procedure approved or laid down in The Queen on the application of NB (Algeria)v Secretary of State [2012] EWCA Civ 1050. A stay was refused on the papers by Davis LJ who...
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