Court fees hike for immigration cases condemned as barrier to justice

The government’s decision to increase court fees by up to 500 per cent for immigration and asylum cases will act as a barrier to justice, preventing vulnerable people from having their claims heard, warned Catholic charity the Cardinal Hume Centre, writes Rose Gamble.

The decision, announced on 15 September, means that it will cost up to £800 to make an application to the first-tier tribunal dealing with immigration and asylum cases. The sharp increase will prevent applicants from having their appeals heard and could force them to resort to desperate measures to raise the fees, the Centre warned in a written response to the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) consultation on the issue.  

The MoJ has promised to extend its existing exemptions policy so that applicants who have already been assessed as destitute by the Home Office will have their tribunal fees waived. Existing exemptions, such as for those people who already qualify for legal aid, will continue to apply.

The Cardinal Hume Centre said that although the extension “sounds promising” it would make little difference as “84 per cent of applications for fee waivers are refused”. The MoJ said it is government policy that where fees are charged to access public services, they should be set at a level covering the full cost unless there are good reasons not to.
(See www.thetablet.co.uk for full story.)