IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jlawss/v11y2022i2p32-d787577.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Judicial Assessment of ‘Expert Evidence’ in the United Kingdom’s Immigration and Asylum Chamber

Author

Listed:
  • John R. Campbell

    (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, London WC1H 0XG, UK)

Abstract

This paper examines the role of cultural evidence submitted by anthropologists and social scientists to assist individuals seeking asylum in the United Kingdom. Expert evidence is an essential element in the way that Immigration Judges decide asylum claims. The paper begins by looking at the role of experts and the limits of scientific evidence in the legal process. I set out the context in which expert evidence features in the First-Tier Tribunal of United Kingdom’s Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC). I then show how Immigration Judges in the Upper Tribunal of the IAC assess expert evidence in ‘country guidance’ cases decided between 2015 and 2019. Analysis reveals that experts submit a range of different types of evidence, that judges problematically assess this evidence and that there are serious defects in the judicial process. I conclude by suggesting ways to mediate between the very different roles, perceptions and training of experts, lawyers and judges.

Suggested Citation

  • John R. Campbell, 2022. "The Judicial Assessment of ‘Expert Evidence’ in the United Kingdom’s Immigration and Asylum Chamber," Laws, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlawss:v:11:y:2022:i:2:p:32-:d:787577
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/11/2/32/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-471X/11/2/32/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jlawss:v:11:y:2022:i:2:p:32-:d:787577. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.