Clause 10 - Unification of appeal system
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Bill
9:10 am
Mr David Lammy (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Tottenham, Labour)
This is the first opportunity that I have had to welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Taylor.
Clause 10 has been the subject of much debate in the House, the press and the country. It is therefore appropriate that, before moving on to the Government amendments, I outline why we believe that it is important to configure our appeal system in this way, balancing fairness and justice against the abuse of process that is perceived in the system. I shall take some time to explain the amendments in the context of the changes that we are making to the appeal system. To do that, it is right for me to return to the fundamentals of our constitutional arrangements, which I suspect will be raised today.
The fundamental question for us when considering the structure of the Immigration Appellate Authority and the Immigration Appeal Tribunal is why we have tribunals in the first place. The reason is set out in Wade and Forsyth's ''Administrative Law'', a book that lawyers or law students will understand. We have tribunals to ensure that people get a speedier, cheaper and more accessible form of justice than they might get in the higher courts. Over time, tribunals establish a deep specialism in their field, enabling them to deal with more cases more expertly and rapidly.
The new system is consistent with those fundamental principles of our tribunal system, which we have had since the war. The great Attlee Government began the process of our tribunal system.