§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs what plans he has to ensure consistency in decision making at adjudicator level if the Immigration Appeals Tribunal is abolished. [143465]
§ Mr Lammy:The majority of appeals within the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal (AIT) will be heard and decided by single immigration judges. In reaching decisions judges must follow case law set by a panel of senior immigration judges and practice directions from the President.
In addition senior immigration judges will be responsible for ensuring consistent standards across the jurisdiction.
§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs (1) if he will set out the hierarchy within the proposed new asylum and immigration appeals system; [143466]
(2) what the ratio of senior immigration judges to immigration judges will be in his proposed hierarchy for asylum and immigration appeals; [143468]
729Wwhat the criteria for selecting senior immigration judges will be; and in what respect their role will differ from that of immigration judges; [143469]
if he will make a statement on the role of senior immigration judges. [143470]
§ Mr. Lammy:The Asylum and Immigration Tribunal will be headed by a President supported by one or more Deputy Presidents. The precise hierarchical structure of the Tribunal, including the selection criteria for senior immigration judges, is the subject of continuing discussions with the judiciary. The intention is to make the best use of the existing judicial complement who will transfer automatically to the new Tribunal. In broad terms, there will be a core body of senior immigration judges to support the work of immigration judges either by way of establishing case law, dealing with applications for review of Tribunal decisions or acting in supervisory positions.
§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas:To ask the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs whether his proposals for a new asylum and immigration appeals system will provide for (a) a review of and (b) an appeal from decisions that can be shown to be incorrect because of an administrative error by the Immigration Appeals Tribunal; and whether his proposals will provide an opportunity to challenge decisions if the conduct of the Immigration and Appeals Tribunal judge is questioned [143467]
§ Mr. Lammy:The Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claims, etc.) Bill will make provision for the tribunal to review its decision only if there has been a clear legal error which goes to the heart of the decision. A review will be conducted by reference to written submissions only.
§ Mr. Malins:To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many (a) part-time and (b) full-time immigration adjudicators were in post on 1st October in each of the last four years. [143356]
§ Mr. Lammy:The numbers for fee-paid part-time, and for salaried immigration adjudicators are as follows:
Date Fee-paid Salaried 1 October 2000 143 15 1 October 2001 264 46 1 October 2002 394 80 1 October 2003 399 156 These figures do not include the following posts: 1 Chief Adjudicator, 1 Deputy Chief Adjudicator, 9 Regional Adjudicators and 7 Deputy Regional Adjudicators. In addition, a salaried Adjudicator with responsibility for training matters is in the process of being appointed.