§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what steps he is taking to expedite appeals against(a) detention under the Terrorism Act 2000 and (b) removal of nationality under the Asylum and Nationality Act 1998; how many appeals (i) have been decided and (ii) remain to be decided in each case; and in relation to (ii) what the (A) longest period since the appeal was lodged and (B) the average period since the appeal was lodged was; and when he expects outstanding appeals to be heard. [133061]
§ Mr. LammyThe preparation and listing of appeals takes place under the direction of the Chairman of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), who is an independent member of the judiciary. It is always the intention for appeals to be heard as soon as they can be readied for hearing.
No appeals concerning detention under the Anti-terrorism Crime and Security Act 2001 have been decided by SIAC, although two appeals have been abandoned. No appeals concerning deprivation of citizenship status under the British Nationality Act 1981 as amended by the Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 have been decided.
423W18 appeals concerning detention remain to be decided, including 10 appeals where the hearing has taken place and the judgments are pending. One appeal concerning deprivation of citizenship remains to be decided.
The first six appeals concerning detention were lodged in January 2002 and remain to be decided. The 18 appeals concerning detention still outstanding were lodged an average of 14 months ago. The one appeal concerning deprivation of citizenship has been outstanding for six months.
The current schedule of appeals listed for hearing is as follows:
Month Detained Citizenship November/December 2003 2 — January/March 2004 2 — April 2004 — 1 Later 4 — Total 8 1