The Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) was an independent judicial body in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

constituted under the

Immigration Act 1971 The Immigration Act 1971c 77 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning immigration and nearly entirely remaking the field of British immigration law. The Act, as with the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, and that of 1968, r ...

, with

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Ju ...

to hear appeals from many

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, a ...

and asylum decisions. Administered by the Tribunals Service, it was superseded in 2005 by the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal, which itself was superseded in 2010 by the Asylum and Immigration Chamber of the

First-tier Tribunal The First-tier Tribunal is part of the courts and tribunals service of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, enacted in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has sinc ...

created by the

Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It provides for several diverse matters relating to the law, some of them being significant changes to the structure of the courts and fundamental ...

Description

The system of appeals to

adjudicator An adjudicator is someone who presides, judges, and arbitrates during a formal dispute or competition. They have numerous purposes, including preliminary legal judgments, to determine applicant eligibility, or to assess contenders' performance ...

s appointed by the

Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, otherwise known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom. The home secretary leads the Home Office, and is responsible for all national ...

, with the right of appeal to a body then called the Immigration Appeal Tribunal, with members appointed by the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. T ...

, was created by the Immigration Appeals Act 1969. As a result of the

, the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) became an independent judicial body consisting of two tiers: Immigration Adjudicators and an Immigration Appeal Tribunal (IAT). The Adjudicators initially considered appeals against decisions made by Immigration Officers, entry clearance officers and the

, based in permanent centres in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

, London, Hatton Cross,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

Leeds Leeds () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the thi ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

. The Tribunal dealt with applications for leave to appeal and appeals against decisions made by the Immigration Adjudicators, with its main hearing centre in Bream's Buildings, off Chancery Lane in Central London. The Tribunal was headed by a President, who was required to be a barrister or a solicitor of at least seven years' standing. From 1999, a High Court judge was appointed President rather than a member of the IAA. Both lay members and legally-qualified members were appointed to the IAT.

Presidents of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal

* -1997: George Farmer * 1997–1999: David Pearl * 1999–2002: Sir Andrew Collins * 2002–2005: Sir Duncan OuseleyLord Chancellor's Department, ''Judicial Statistics, England and Wales, for the year 2003'' (H. M. S. O., 2004), p. 81

Replacement

The two tier structure of the Immigration Appellate Authority was abolished by the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004, which created the single tier Asylum and Immigration Tribunal to replace it. All former adjudicators and members of the IAA became members of the new AIT. The Home Office Adjudicators became known as Immigration Judges, although many of them were not formally qualified as judges. The former 'regional adjudicators' became known as Senior Immigration Judges, mostly involved in reconsidering applications for challenging the outcome of appeals.

References

{{Authority control Immigration to the United Kingdom Former courts and tribunals in the United Kingdom Right of asylum in the United Kingdom Asylum tribunals 1971 establishments in the United Kingdom 2010 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Courts and tribunals established in 1971 Courts and tribunals disestablished in 2010

Description

Presidents of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal

Replacement

See also

References