The Home Office has unlawfully failed to protect vulnerable migrants held in immigration detention, a High Court judge has ruled.
Mrs Justice Jefford found that the systems meant to safeguard detainees from inhuman and degrading treatment breached Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. She said the failures had persisted for years and could affect thousands of migrants at risk in detention.
The ruling followed a legal challenge brought by two men from Egypt and Bangladesh who were detained between July 2023 and March 2024. Both were held at Brook House immigration removal centre near Gatwick.
Brook House has previously been the subject of serious concern after undercover BBC Panorama footage in 2017 exposed the abuse of vulnerable detainees by staff, leading to a public inquiry that highlighted systemic risks within the detention system.
The case centred on the use of Rule 35, a safeguard requiring medical professionals in detention centres to alert the Home Office when detainees show signs of vulnerability—such as severe mental illness or suicide risk—that may make detention inappropriate and trigger an urgent review.
The two men experienced deteriorating mental health and engaged in serious self-harm while detained. Both were placed on constant suicide watch under the Assessment, Care in Detention and Teamwork (ACDT) process. Despite this, their continued detention was never formally reviewed under Rule 35.
Mrs Justice Jefford found strong evidence that the system had been failing for years, with many problems known since at least 2017. She raised concerns about a “disconnect” between the number of detainees placed under suicide prevention measures and the very low number of Rule 35 reports issued, particularly those related to mental health and suicide risk.
The judge said the Home Secretary had provided no credible explanation for the lack of reports, especially when set against the high number of detainees under constant supervision.
“Since at least the period covered by the Brook House inquiry, there is a clear and persistent picture of a failure of the system intended to protect the Article 3 rights of adults at risk,” she ruled.
Lewis Kett of Duncan Lewis Solicitors, which represented the two men, said the judgment confirmed not only that his clients’ detention was unlawful but that their experiences reflected long-standing systemic failures.
“This has put countless immigration detainees with serious mental illness or suicidality at real risk of harm,” he said.
Detention charities have renewed calls for existing safeguards to be properly enforced. Emma Ginn, director of Medical Justice, said her organisation continues to see widespread failures to complete Rule 35 reports, even in cases involving suicide attempts.
She warned that such failures could directly contribute to detainees attempting or dying by suicide.
