The immigration courts are part of a larger administrative and judicial process that starts in the Home Office and is sometimes only concluded by an appeal to the House of Lords. This whole system has been subject to a great deal of criticism in recent years, and a number of changes will be made by the 1999 Immigration and Asylum Act. Some proposals have been quite radical: one consultation paper circulating in 1998 suggested that the whole second tier of the court-system could be abolished! Chapters Six and Seven examine how civil servants, politicians and pressure groups have understood the courts as an administrative problem. This chapter gives an overview of how the system worked while I was observing hearings in 1996. It summarises the main stages of decision making, and introduces the occupational groups working in the courts.

Four stages of decision making

Anyone seeking to enter the United Kingdom as an immigrant must apply for Entry Clearance from the British government. Similarly, anyone seeking asylum must apply for recognition as a Convention refugee. These decisions are made by civil servants working for the Home Office, but applicants have a right of appeal to the system of administrative tribunals, which I have been calling the British Immigration Courts.

There are four principal stages of decision making: the initial decision by the Home Office; a review by an adjudicator; a review by ‘The Tribunal’, the second tier of the immigration court-system; and a further review by the higher courts.

The Immigration and Nationality Department

Immigration control is the responsibility of the Immigration and Nationality Department (IND), a sub-division of the Home Office, based at Lunar House in Croydon. Decisions on marriage appeals, which I will be describing in the next chapter, are made by Entry Clearance Officers who work in British embassies and consulates abroad. Unsuccessful applicants are sent a two- or three-page ‘Explanatory Statement’ setting out the reasons why they are being refused leave to enter Britain. Decisions on asylum applications are made by case-officers working in Croydon. Unsuccessful applicants receive a statement in the form of a ‘letter of refusal’ from the Secretary of State.