IA000552017 & Ors.

For the Respondent: Ms N Willocks-Briscoe, Senior Home Office Presenting Officer

This is an appeal against the decision of First-tier Tribunal Judge Boyes, promulgated on 10 July 2017. Permission to appeal was granted by the Vice President of the Upper Tribunal on 22 January 2019.

An anonymity direction was made by the First-tier Tribunal and is reiterated below.

The First-tier Tribunal considered the appeals on the papers because insufficient fees were paid for the appeals to proceed as oral hearings as requested by the appellants in their notices of appeal. The judge concluded the generic evidence from the respondent shifted the evidential burden onto the appellant but owing to the paucity of evidence before him from the appellant, she had not discharged this burden. The appeal was also dismissed under Article 8 ECHR based on the limited information before the judge.

The grounds took issue with the efforts made by the appellants to have an oral hearing, which they say was not acted upon. It was argued that the hearing had been unfair as the first appellant had not been given an opportunity to provide a witness statement or oral evidence regarding the allegation of dishonesty. Both the First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal refused permission to appeal.