By: tebeasley

Father of Islamic State fighter fails in judicial review claim

19 August 2019 by tebeasley

R (on the application of Abdullah Muhammad Rafiqul Islam) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 2169 (Admin)

In a case that was described as “the first such case to have come on for hearing before this court” and one that shares many similarities with the tabloid-grabbing story of Shamima Begum (discussed on the Blog here), Mr Justice Pepperall refused permission to bring judicial review proceedings on behalf of an Islamic State combatant whose citizenship had been revoked by the Home Secretary.

The Facts

A father (Mr Islam) brought judicial review proceedings on behalf of his son (Ashraf) challenging the Home Secretary’s decision to revoke Ashraf’s British citizenship because of his involvement with the Islamic State / Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (referred to in the judgment as ISIL).

Ashraf was born in London and is a British citizen by birth. He has lived and studied in both Bangladesh and the United Kingdom throughout his life and was studying in Dhaka at the time of his disappearance in April 2015. Shortly after his disappearance, Mr Islam learned that his son had crossed into Syria and joined ISIL.

Child covert intelligence lawful, says the High Court

22 July 2019 by tebeasley

R (Just for Kids Law) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 1772 (Admin)

In rejecting the claim of Just for Kids Law, Mr Justice Supperstone affirmed that the legal framework for deploying juvenile covert human intelligence sources (JCHIS) was lawful and adequately safeguarded the child’s welfare.