Oluponle v The Home Office [2023] EWHC 3188 (KB)
Matthew Howarth was recently before the High Court in the reported decision of Oluponle v The Home Office [2023] EWHC 3188 (KB) on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The matter involved a claim for false imprisonment, in relation to 182 days detention, by an individual subject to deportation proceedings. The Claimant argued that his detention was unlawful and in breach of the Hardial Singh principles. The thrust of his argument was that the entirety of detention was unlawful, however, following a two day hearing, with substantial evidence and submissions on liability and quantum the Judge decided that the Claimant was not initially detained for unlawful reasons.
The finding of the court was that only 60 days detention was unlawful, and this attracted an award of £20,000 basic damages only, as of 13 December 2023. This was despite evidence submitted by the Claimant in support of aggravated and exemplary damages. No doubt this Judgement will be of value to those practitioners working within the field of unlawful detention, when calculating damages.
Mr Howarth has appeared before the High Court on numerous occasions this last year in relation to Asylum Support claims and other matters of importance in relation to immigration litigation
Rapheael Olufemi Oluponle v The Home Office – Find case
R(DK) v SSHD AC-2023-LON-002487
Mr Howarth successfully defended an application for interim relief and a mandatory order in a claim for delay and failure to provide adequate accommodation pursuant to paragraph 9 of Schedule 10 of the Immigration Act 2016. The claim further sought declarations under the ECHR.
R. (on the application of ZOS) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3567 (Admin) [2023] A.C.D. 54
Mr Howarth appeared for the SSHD in the reported case of R. (on the application of ZOS) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3567 (Admin) [2023] A.C.D. 54 initially as sole counsel, and subsequently led by Tom Tabori of 39 Essex Court. In this case the SSHD had been in breach of an order to provide adequate accommodation for an asylum seeker and her two children, including a disabled child, the court made a new order superseding the original order, extending time for compliance. However, the court reprimanded the SSHD for her handling of the case and for breaching her obligations under the original court order. The case is of relative importance with regard to extensions of time for compliance with Mandatory Orders (by making further orders) and regarding applications for contempt for non-compliance.
R(Zubair Ahmad) v SSHD [2022] EWHC 1850 (admin)
Mr Howarth was also before the Honourable Mr Justice Fordham in the matter of R(Zubair Ahmad) v SSHD [2022] EWHC 1850 (admin) on behalf of the defendant. This was one of the first TOEIC cases to be heard before the courts since leading cases of R (Mahmud) v UT [2021] EWCA Civ 1004 and DK v SSHD [2022] UT (25.3.22).
Illegal Migration Act 2023
Mr Howarth is currently instructed in a number of important Judicial Review applications that are due to be heard in the coming weeks. The cases involve a determination on the lawfulness of detention of those individuals detained under the new Illegal Migration Act 2023 whilst the statute is not fully in operation. The cases will highlight the approach of the court to claims for unlawful detention now that the leading precedent in Hardial Singh has been disapplied (in part).
Matthew Howarth is ranked in the Legal 500 publications as a Tier 1 ‘Rising Star’ in Immigration (2023 and 2024), he is a member of the Attorney General’s Panel of Specialist Civil Advocates and mainly specialises in Immigration Public Law cases.