UK
Lady Chief Justice highlights ‘huge’ 82% increase in First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) cases in last quarter
More judges are being recruited but won't be in post until at least autumn 2025
In an evidence session before the House of Commons Justice Select Committee at the end of last month, the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, highlighted that the caseload of the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) (FtTIAC) continues to increase significantly.
Image credit: UK GovernmentEarlier last month in the latest annual report by the Senior President of Tribunals, the President of the FtTIAC, Judge Melanie Plimmer, noted that the FtTIAC had seen a 53% increase in its caseload in 2023/24 over the previous year. Judge Plimmer explained that the increase in asylum appeals mirrored the increase in Home Office decision-making of asylum claims.
On 26 November, Baroness Carr told the Justice Committee that there had been a 'huge' 82% increase in cases in the FtTIAC in the last quarter. The Committee was questioning the Lady Chief Justice about her work and discussing some of the key issues facing the judiciary and the courts.
The Lady Chief Justice highlighted mounting pressures on the judiciary, citing increasing backlogs, chronic underfunding, staffing shortages and a lack of capacity affecting both courts and tribunals.
She told the Committee: "I often think of the judiciary and the courts as a pinch point in an hourglass. We are not like a business. We cannot close for business. We are not like a restaurant that can say, 'Our tables are full, so we won't take any more reservations.' We are completely susceptible to the work that comes in. If the pinch point is like that, you can have however many immigration cases you want or however many criminal cases you want. We only have so many judges, so many courts and so many magistrates to deal with the work. Just because there is more work does not mean that the work can be done."
When asked about increases in the workloads of the tribunals, Baroness Carr drew attention to the huge increase in FtTIAC cases. While more judges are being recruited, it will be many months before they are in position.
The Lady Chief Justice said: "In the last quarter we have seen an 82% increase in cases in First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum). That is huge. What we are doing, as much as we are allowed to, is recruiting new judges, but the numbers are small. We have 150 fee-paid judges who will not be in post, at the earliest, until autumn 2025. We have a competition for some salaried judges as well. Again, I don't see any of those new judges coming online, after training, until well into the autumn of next year. Going back to the hourglass, you can increase the ask, but you are not going to make the width of the hourglass at its pinch point any bigger unless you increase capacity, and that does not happen overnight. I think that is understood by Government. You cannot make these big policy decisions without being acutely aware of the downstream impact."
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