Immigration and Asylum Bill 2026: Shocking Amnesty UK Warning. Briefing on Bill’s recommendations on reforms to the immigration and asylum appeals system
There are worries about proposals in the Immigration and Asylum Bill to replace the current immigration and asylum appeals tribunal with a new body. Amnesty International UK produced a short report on the issue last week.
The Bill proposes the creation of a new Independent Immigration Appeals Authority (IIAA) to replace the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) (FTTIAC) as the first tier of appeals against Home Office judgements. The IIAA would also deal with the immigration bail applications.
Amnesty said the planned amendments raised major questions about the professionalism and independence of the new appeals body.
Under the plans decisions would be made by adjudicators not judges. Adjudicators would not have to have professional legal qualifications or experience, Amnesty said, but would be provided with training and legal assistance by the IIAA.
The briefing also raised questions about the anticipated link between the IIAA and the Home Office. It said the new body would be included into the wider immigration and asylum system run by the Home Office and the Home Secretary would have a role in hiring top officials and, indirectly, adjudicators.
Amnesty compared this with the FTTIAC, which is part of the court system and whose judges are not appointed, trained or directed by the Home Secretary.
It said concerns about the independence of the IIAA were particularly significant given the reasons provided for replacing the previous tribunal, including lowering the backlog of appeals and allowing the Home Office to remove more people from the UK and to do so more rapidly. Amnesty stressed that these are both aims of the Home Office.
After briefly outlining the history of the appeals system and noting that previous changes have made the system more independent and more professional, Amnesty warned: “The bill undoes all changes to increase independence and professionalism within the first tier of the appeals system – indeed, it goes further. The lack of professionalism is all the more worrying because the law relating to decision making inside this system has been made more difficult (and this measure would make it more so). The erosion of independence is even the more worrying because the policy arena within which this system operates has become more politically contested.”
Amnesty stated it did not support replacing the FTTIAC with the IIAA or any other organization set up by or inside the Home Office.
The obvious conclusion at the end of the briefing is that the objective of the bill is to remove independence and judicial scrutiny of the department’s decision-making for the convenience of government policy and political ambitions. That encompasses not only the aspirations of the current administration and current Home Secretary – it includes that of any future government and Home Secretary. The effect of this is compounded because the rights of the people affected are usually excluded from the democratic political process but their rights are particularly vulnerable to this political process as is evidenced by the provisions in this bill (including the provisions to remove the independent judicial body that is currently the main guarantor of their rights against error or other violation by the Home Office).