Howard Cheng, Solicitor of the Immigration and Public Law departments at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, is representing a national of Somalia in obtaining a reprieve against his removal to Hargeisa, from where the Home Office claims he originates. Somaliland is a self-declared independent state in northwest Somalia, which is currently not recognised by the UK government.
The client maintains that he comes from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, and not Hargeisa, the capital of Somaliland. The Home Office claim to have obtained authority from the authorities of Somaliland to effect the removal, albeit with a different middle name. Although a seemingly trivial detail, the true extent of the difference can only really be fully appreciated if one understands the naming conventions in Somali culture. The significance of the “middle” name in Somali naming convention is that it is usually one’s father’s name, and therefore a different “middle” name would mean that it would be a different person altogether, due to the identification of someone else being named as the father. Duncan Lewis assisted the client in filing a judicial review application to prevent his removal, inter alia on the basis that the authority which the Home Office purported to have received from the Somaliland authorities actually authorised the return of a different individual to the client, due to a difference in the middle name cited. The Home Office
initially defended this aspect of the claim, taking the view that “notwithstanding the possible difference in middle name” it was nonetheless the same person.
The judicial review further challenged the Home Office’s certification of the client’s case, which prevented him from making an in-country appeal against the decision of the Home Office before the First-Tier Tribunal. Through their legal representatives at the Government Legal Department, the Home Office eventually offered settlement, agreeing to withdraw their certification of the matter, allowing the client to appeal against the decision to the First-Tier Tribunal. The case now continues, pending an appeal.
“This case highlights why it is so important for people who regularly work with people from different backgrounds and cultures to have an understanding of those cultures in order to form a fully informed opinion,” Howard observes. This is exemplified by a diplomatic faux pas which hit the news recently, which saw Israel offend the Japanese delegation after a day of high-level meetings by serving dessert from a shoe. Howard Cheng is the lead solicitor in this case and Ellen McCormack, also of Duncan Lewis, assisted with the judicial review application. Howard has extensive experience in matters concerning deportation, unlawful detention, unlawful removals, and assisting vulnerable clients challenging the Home Office.
Contact Howard on 020 7275 2850 or [email protected].
Duncan Lewis Immigration Solicitors
Duncan Lewis holds exclusive legal aid contracts to represent vulnerable clients in
immigration detention matters; detained asylum casework; unaccompanied asylum seeking
children; bringing judicial reviews before the High Court, Upper Tribunal and Court of
Appeal.
