Written by Mahfuz Ahmed.
A Court Order is an official judgement made by a Judge at the end of a hearing, or in the interim, (prior to a final order being made). The contents of the Order depends entirely on the case presented to the Judge.
There may be exceptional circumstances where a Court Order does not comply with relevant statutory provisions and is therefore invalid. In such cases, can the Court Order simply be ignored?
The Supreme Court has recently considered this and handed down a judgement of constitutional importance in the recent case R (Majera).
R (Majera) (formerly SM Rwanda) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] UKSC 46.
The Appellant was made subject of deportation order in 2012. He was subsequently detained in an Immigration Detention Centre. He made an application for Bail to the First-tier Tribunal which was considered by the Tribunal Judge.
During the Bail hearing, the Respondent (The Secretary of State for the Home Department) sought a condition that should bail be granted, then a condition should be attached, preventing the Appellant from undertaking unpaid work. The Tribunal granted the bail with no such condition and further did not require the Appellant to appear before an immigration officer at a specific time and date, which is not in accordance with paragraph 22(1A) of Schedule 2 to the Immigration Act 1971.
Following the Appellant’s release, the Respondent gave the Appellant a new notice imposing sanctions and essentially ignored the Order made by the Tribunal. The Appellant brought a claim for Judicial Review.
The Appellant’s position was that the Respondent could not impose conditions that the tribunal did not order. The Respondent’s argued that they could impose conditions as the Bail order was invalid and therefore void. The matter was considered by the Upper Tribunal, Court of Appeal and then the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court considered this matter and held that an order of a Court or tribunal, even if invalid must be respected until it has been set aside.
Our comments
This recent decision by the Supreme Court is of great importance as it provides certainty that an order by a court and tribunal must be followed, unless it is set aside or appealed. The reasons for the decision is to ensure that there is legal certainty and respect for the rule of law.
Whether it is the Home Office or an individual, an order by the Court or Tribunal must be adhered too and cannot be simply ignored.
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