§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what number of asylum seekers have sought judicial review of their cases in each of the past three years.
§ Mr. Charles WardleI understand from the Lord Chancellor's Department that in 1990 there were 102 asylum-related applications for leave to move for judicial review; in 1991 the figure was 95 and in the first half of 1992, 68. The information before 1990 can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. AllenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what number of cases of exceptional leave to remain given to asylum applicants have been terminated in the past three years; and under what circumstances.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe available information, which may not be fully reliable, is given in the table.
Exceptional leave is given to certain asylum applicants who are found not to be refugees under the 1951 United Nations convention if it would be unreasonable or impracticable in all the circumstances of the case to seek to enforce their return to the country of origin. Leave is usually given initially for a year but applicants may apply for extensions, and for settlement after seven years with exceptional leave status. The decision as to whether to grant an extension is based on the individual circumstances of the case including where relevant, the practicability of removal at that stage.
Refusals of applications for an extension of a grant of exceptional leave made to an asylum applicant, excluding dependants Number 1989 10 1990 3 1991 3