You can make a claim for compensation/damages against the Home Office UKVI if you have been subjected to unlawful immigration detention in the UK during the last 6 years. Unlawful immigration detention is an act by the Home Office UKVI to detain a person where the detention of such a person cannot be legally justified and is outside the bounds of the law. The law attaches supreme importance to the liberty of individuals, and a person who believes that they have experienced unlawful immigration detention may be entitled to claim compensation.
Unlawfully detained by the Home Office UKVI at any time during last 6 years? Our compensation lawyers can help you with your compensation claim on a No Win No Fee Basis.
- Page Contents
- Ask a Question for Free Advice
- Unlawful Immigration Detention
- Free Initial Assessment
- No Win No Fee
- Time Limit For Compensation Claim
- Legal Principles On Detention
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Ask a Question for Free Advice
Our dedicated team of UK immigration solicitors and lawyers in London specialises in compensation claims for unlawful immigration detention. We offer a free consultation to initially assess the circumstances of your immigration detention and the merits of your compensation claim. You can call our free immigration advice helpline, 0044 20 3930 3900, to simply ask a question to our specialist UK immigration solicitors in London for fast and friendly free immigration advice.
What Is The Unlawful Immigration Detention?
Unlawful immigration detention is an act by the Home Office UKVI to detain a person where the detention of such a person cannot be legally justified and is outside the bounds of the law. The law attaches supreme importance to the liberty of individuals, and a person who believes that they have experienced unlawful immigration detention may be entitled to claim compensation.
Your immigration detention may be found to be unlawful by a court in the following circumstances:
- If you have valid leave to remain in the UK at the time of your immigration detention, and the Home Office UKVI has erroneously treated you as an overstayer and a person with no leave to remain;
- If you have Section 3C leave by virtue of a pending application or appeal,l and the Home Office UKVI wrongfully considered you as a person with no leave to remain at the time of your immigration detention;
- If you are exempt from immigration control as an EU national or a family member of an EU national, and the Home Office UKVI treated you under the domestic law and not exempt from immigration control at the time of your detention;
- If Home Office UKVI detained you as a result of an unlawful immigration decision by the Home Office UKVI on your immigration application for leave to remain, which was later set aside by the immigration court, or the Home Office UKVI conceded the decision to be unlawful during the litigation;
- If you were detained by the Home Office UKVI when your removal from the UK was not imminent, and you were not evading immigration control;
- If you are an unaccompanied minor at the time of your immigration detention. An unaccompanied minor must either be under 18 or yet to have their age verified by an age assessment;
- If you have a severe disability at the time of your immigration detention;
- If you have an infectious or contagious disease at the time of your immigration detention;
- If you are a woman who is 24 or more weeks pregnant at the time of your immigration detention;
- If you suffer from a mental illness at the time of your immigration detention;
- If you require constant medical care and you have been detained by the Home Office UKVI;
- If you are a victim of torture or trafficking, and you have evidence to prove the same.
The list above is not comprehensive or exhaustive, and there may be other circumstances in which the court may hold the detention of an immigrant unlawful and award damages for unlawful detention.
Free Initial Assessment
We offer a free consultation to initially assess the circumstances of your detention and the merits of your claim. Should we consider that your claim has a reasonable prospect of success, i.e. 51% or more, we will accept instructions to represent you in your compensation claim. We will enter into a no-win, no-fee agreement with you regarding our legal services.
No Win No Fee For Unlawful Immigration Detention Claim
Our expert team of compensation solicitors can legally represent you in your claim for unlawful immigration detention against the UKVI. We can act on a NO WIN NO FEE basis in your damages claim against the Home Office UKVI for your unlawful immigration detention and will charge up to 25% of the compensation amount recovered from the Home Office UKVI as a success fee in your case.
Time Limit For Compensation Claim
- The limitation period for a claim for Unlawful Detention only is 6 years from the date of detention; therefore, you would need to consider issuing Court proceedings before the end of the six years.
- Any claims based on a breach of human rights (e.g., torture) are limited to one year from the date of the act or detention.
- If you also suffered from any physical/psychological injury due to your detention, claims for personal injury have a limitation period of 3 years from the date of injury.
Our compensation lawyers will consider all aspects of your immigration detention, including any injuries you have incurred, when considering the value of your claim, any potential settlement with the Home Office, UKVI and any deadlines to issue Court Proceedings.
Legal Principles On Unlawful Immigration Detention?
In a claim for unlawful immigration detention, it is for the Claimant to prove that the Home Office or UKVI detained them within the last six years. Once the claimant establishes detention, it is for the Home Office, UKVI (the Defendant) to show that it was lawful in all the circumstances in which detention of the claimant took place.
The common law limits the Secretary of State’s exercise of detention powers. Those limits were set out by Woolf J (as he then was) in R v Durham Prison Governor ex parte Hardial Singh [1984] 1 WLR 704 (“the four Hardial Singh principles”):
“First of all, it [the 1971 Act] can only authorise detention if the individual is being detained in one case pending the making of a deportation order, in the other, pending his removal. It cannot be used for any other purpose. Secondly, as the power is given in order to enable the machinery of the deportation to be carried out, I regard the power of detention as being impliedly limited to a period which is reasonably necessary for that purpose. What is more, if there is a situation where it is apparent to the Secretary of State that he is not going to be able to operate the machinery provided in the Act for removing persons who are intended to be deported within a reasonable period, it seems to be that it would be wrong for the Secretary of State to seek to exercise its powers of detention.”
The Hardial Singh principles were unanimously endorsed in the landmark judgment of R (Walumba Lumba and Kadian Mighty) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] UKSC 12, which reiterated at paragraph [22] the correctness of R (on the application of I) v Secretary of State [2002] EWCA Civ 888, in which Dyson LJ said at paragraph [46]:
“(i) The SSHD must intend to deport the person and can only use the power to detain for that purpose;
(ii) The deportee may only be detained for a period that is reasonable in all the circumstances;
(iii) If, before the expiry of a reasonable period, it becomes apparent that the SSHD will not be able to effect deportation within that reasonable period, [s]he should not seek to exercise the power of detention;
(iv) The Secretary of State should act with reasonable diligence and expedition to effect removal.”
Dyson LJ continued at paragraph [48] of I:
“It is not possible or desirable to produce an exhaustive list of all circumstances that are or may be relevant to the question of how long it is reasonable for the Secretary of State to detain a person pending deportation pursuant to paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 3 to the Immigration Act 1971. But in my view they include at least:
- the length of the period of detention;
- the nature of the obstacles which stand in the path of the Secretary of State preventing a deportation;
- the diligence, speed and effectiveness of the steps taken by Secretary of State to surmount such obstacles;
- the conditions in which the detained person is being kept;
- the effect of detention on him and his family;
- the risk that if he is released from detention he will abscond; and
- the danger that, if released, he will commit criminal offences.”
The four Hardial Singh principles were neatly summarised by Michael Fordham QC (sitting as Deputy High Court Judge) in R(Muhammad) v SSHD [2017] EWHC 745 (Admin) as:
- the purpose principle;
- the duration principle;
- the removability principle; and
- the diligence principle.
FAQs - Compensation for Unlawful Immigration Detention
The following are various Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about claiming compensation for unlawful immigration detention:
Detention becomes unlawful when the Home Office detains an individual without a sound legal basis or fails to follow due process of law. This includes breaches of procedural rules, such as not regularly reviewing the necessity of continued detention, or violating the Hardial Singh principles, which require that detention:
- be for the purpose of deportation/removal;
- last no longer than reasonably necessary;
- be discontinued if removal isn’t imminent, and
- proceed with “reasonable expedition".
Once the claimant proves the Home Office detained them, the burden shifts to the Home Office, UKVI, to justify that the immigration detention was lawful.
The various time limitations for bringing a claim for compensation for unlawful immigration detention are as follows:
- The limitation period for a claim for Unlawful Detention only is six years from the date of detention; therefore, you would need to consider issuing Court proceedings before the end of the six years.
- Any claims based on a breach of human rights (e.g., torture) are limited to one year from the date of the act or detention.
- If you also suffered from any physical/psychological injury due to your detention, claims for personal injury have a limitation period of three years from the date of injury.
Yes. There is no minimum duration requirement for unlawful immigration detention to be eligible for compensation. Even brief periods of unlawful immigration detention, resulting in deprivation of liberty, can lead to damages and a compensation claim.
The step-by-step process for claiming compensation for unlawful immigration detention is as follows:
- You should seek legal advice from our specialist team of immigration solicitors for your compensation claim for unlawful immigration detention. We can act on a No Win No Fee basis for your compensation claim.
- Our immigration lawyers will help you gather supporting evidence to claim compensation for your immigration detention: detention logs, medical reports, witness statements, the UKVI data through Subject Access Request (SAR), etc.
- Our immigration solicitors will prepare and submit a Letter Before Claim, aiming to settle the matter without the need for court proceedings.
- Our immigration solicitors will initiate court proceedings for a compensation claim if the Home Office UKVI denies liability or accepts liability but refuses to pay a reasonable amount of compensation for unlawful immigration detention.
- After the court proceedings have been initiated, our immigration solicitors will strive to reach a settlement or secure a win in court, thereby obtaining compensation.
Most claims are resolved within 3–4 months at the Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter stage, though complex cases may take longer. The cases that do not settle at the Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter stage may take up to 12 months or longer, depending on the matter's complexity and the progress of settlement negotiations.
You may be entitled to compensation for unlawful immigration detention if you were detained unlawfully by the Home Office UKVI, and:
- You held valid leave or were exempt from immigration control (e.g., EU national or family member of an EU national), but you were still detained.
- You were vulnerable—e.g., a minor, pregnant, mentally unwell, or needing medical care.
- Your detention didn’t meet the legal prerequisites under Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
No. Pursuing a claim for compensation for unlawful immigration detention does not prejudice your current or future immigration applications.
You can still bring a claim for compensation for unlawful immigration detention from abroad, as long as it’s filed within the statutory timeframe.
Our expert team of compensation solicitors can legally represent you in your compensation claim for unlawful immigration detention against the Home Office, UKVI. We can act on a No Win No Fee basis in your damages claim against the Home Office UKVI for your unlawful immigration detention, and we will charge up to 25% of the compensation amount recovered from the Home Office UKVI as a success fee in your case.