Frank succeeded in an Article 8 private life appeal for a Bangladeshi national (“C”).

C’s previous solicitors ceased to act mid-appeal, so Frank was instructed on an urgent basis to help ready the case for the final hearing. He advised on medical and country expert reports, witnesses and background evidence, secured a vulnerable witness direction based on evidence of cognitive decline, and redrafted the ASA. The case was complicated further by a 2019 decision dismissing C’s appeal on human rights and asylum grounds and finding that he was not a credible witness.

The FTT allowed the appeal. It accepted Frank’s submission that the expert evidence was reliable despite being based on an account discredited by the Tribunal in 2019, and it departed from those findings per Devaseelan. It held that there would be very significant obstacles to C’s integration if returned to Bangladesh, and that his interests outweighed those of the state notwithstanding that C had “defied” immigration controls for many years, spoke limited English, was not financially independent, and was a “burden” on the government. The SSHD did not appeal.

Frank was instructed by Mike Booker and Hannah McDonald of Bristol Law Centre.