Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) the number of lay members sitting in asylum cases, and (2) the regional distribution of lay members who sit in asylum cases; and what steps they are taking to promote the sitting of lay members in asylum cases, in particular those concerned with appeals by foreign criminals against deportation involving complex assessments of Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

HMCTS does not routinely assess the number of lay members sitting in asylum cases or their regional distribution by either location or appeal type, as the composition of panels is a judicial function.

The First-tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal (Composition of Tribunal) Order 2008 states that the composition of Tribunal panels is the responsibility of the Senior President of Tribunals. The need for non-legal members is continuously assessed by the Immigration and Asylum Chambers and sitting days are made available based on workloads and requirements set out under the Senior President’s delegated powers.

The contribution and deployment of non-legal members is a matter for the Senior President of Tribunals.