Immigration

A failure by the secretary of state to comply with her duty to endeavour to trace the family of the claimant when he had applied for asylum at the age of 14 had not rendered the secretary of state’s subsequent decision to refuse his application for asylum unlawful. The general rule was that decision-makers dealing with asylum claims considered them on the basis of the facts and circumstances prevailing at the time of the decision. A decision might be unlawful if it was reached in disregard of a relevant policy. Further, past prejudice suffered in consequence of such an unlawful decision might be a relevant factor to take into account in reaching subsequent decisions, even where the policy had ceased to be applicable.