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Professor Tridimas appears before Supreme Court of United Kingdom

May 2, 2011


Professor Takis Tridimas recently appeared before the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in FA (Iraq) (FC) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, a case raising issues of principle regarding constitutional remedies and the protection of rights granted by European Union law.

The case centers on issues raised in the context of the EU policy on asylum and immigration. EU law provides, in addition to the right to asylum, for a more extended right of “subsidiary” or “humanitarian” protection where there is a substantial risk that, if a person is returned to his or her country of origin, he or she would face a real risk of suffering serious harm, Tridimas explained. The issue in the case is whether immigration rules of the United Kingdom comply with the EU “principle of equivalence” which requires that the procedures and remedies made available for the protection of EU rights by national law must not be less favorable than those available for similar domestic rights.

"The UK rules grant a right to a full appeal when an application for asylum is refused but only judicial review where an application for subsidiary or humanitarian protection is refused," he said. Professor Tridimas, who is one of the most frequently quoted scholars by English courts and the European Court of Justice on matters of EU law, helped guide the Court through complicated case law. He is the Nancy A. Patterson Distinguished Faculty Scholar at Penn State law and is the Sir John Lubbock Professor of Banking Law at Queen Mary College, University of London.
 
“The case illustrates the increasing inter-dependence between national and EU law. It is remarkable how close the classroom and the courtroom can be in some ways. You need to prepare, think, anticipate, explain, and be ready to change direction. It was just like a seminar, only I felt like a student,” he said. 
 
The hearing took place in February, and no date has yet been set for the delivery of the judgment. For more details, see the UK Supreme Court website.

 

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