Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Court of Appeal (England and Wales) reaffirms high s117C NIAA 2002 threshold: rehabilitation and delay rarely outweigh deportation; UT ordinarily remakes FTT decisions (Majera v SSHD)

Published on: 15 January 2026

Published by a LexisNexis Public Law expert

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Article summary

Majera v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWCA Civ 1597 What are the practical implications of this case?

The Court of Appeal confirms settled authority on the “very compelling circumstances” requirement in section 117C of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (NIAA 2002), engaged where a person sentenced to four or more years’ imprisonment contests deportation. The statutory framework means that only in unusual, exceptional situations will the public interest in removal be overridden. Although a full proportionality analysis is always necessary, rehabilitation will ordinarily carry limited weight, and delay in decision-making will seldom attract significant weight. Consequently, despite the fact-sensitive nature of these appeals, rehabilitation and administrative delay will only infrequently establish very compelling circumstances against deportation in cases involving serious offenders. The Court of Appeal further clarified that, when the Upper Tribunal allows an immigration appeal from the First-tier Tribunal, the usual and proper course is to remake the decision that the First-tier Tribunal ought to have reached, a practice adopted in the interests of justice...

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