Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the deployment of expert non-legal members in the Immigration and Asylum Chamber has been reduced; and, if so, whether they have any plans to recommend a review of the situation following the recent consultations within the judiciary.

In 2014/15 non-legal members have sat for 419 days within the Immigration and Asylum Chambers between 1 April 2014 and 30 June 2014, the most recent reporting period. This is a reduction of 35 sitting days from the same period in 2013/14 when non-legal members sat for 454 days.

The First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal (Composition of Tribunal) Order 2008 provides that composition of Tribunal panels is a matter for the Senior President of Tribunals and that this power may be delegated to Chamber Presidents. The Immigration and Asylum Chambers make available sufficient sitting days for non-legal members required for the panel compositions requested under the Senior President’s delegated powers and there are no plans to recommend a review at this time.