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Eric Fripp has appeared in many leading cases concerning refugees, immigration, nationality, and human rights.
His practice extends across a wide spectrum covering these areas and he is noted for his thoroughness and skill as an advocate and for the breadth of his supporting interests in international affairs, legal and political philosophy, and history. In addition he is recognised internationally as a particular authority on nationality and statelessness and their interaction with the Refugee Convention 1951 and other protective instruments. He has a particular commitment to good analysis of relevant factual matters and the clear exposition of complex legal issues.
Key cases & testimonials
R (SWP) v SSHD [2023] EWCA Civ 439- Court of Appeal dismissed appeal against exclusion of Toier 2 PBS migrant spouse from Destitution Domestic Violence Concession (‘DDVC’), but also refused Secretary of State’s application to file late evidence on appeal, applying Ladd v Marshall [1954] EWCA Civ 1; [1954] 1 WLR 1489, and reiterating public law defendant’s ‘duty of candour and cooperation with the court’ it being ‘important that the defendant public authority should set out an accurate factual position to the court’. Procedural rigour ‘applies as much to defendant public authorities as it does to claimants’. Public funding granted for application to Supreme Court.
Hussein (Ismail) v SSHD UKSC Ref 2020/0198 [2022] 12 WLUK 664; [2022] Lexis Citation 145; [2022] All ER (D) 13 (Sept) – Supreme Court allowed appeal from Court of Appeal re enhanced protection from deportation of long resident EU national, by consent, SSHD accepting CA erred in accepting reasons of FTT as adequately addressing question of ‘enhanced protection’ from deportation for EEA nationals who had gained permanent residence status and been continuously resident for 10 years
Huseynov v Azerbaijan (European Court of Human Rights application 1/2016) – outstanding application concerning Azerbaijani journalist and human rights activist who sought diplomatic asylum in Swiss Embassy and was permitted to leave Azerbaijani territory for Switzerland only after signing a purported renunciation of nationality- Written Submissions for amicus Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion.
R (AA) v SSHD [2023] UKAITUR JR2021LON000837- UT (Morris J) rejected submission that authority including R (otao ZA (Nigeria)) & Anor v SSHD [2010] EWCA Civ 926; [2011] 1 QB 722 re extent of Part 5 NIAA 2002 – appeal turned on the principle of finality of litigation, or res judicata, but accepting anxious scrutiny as elevated where no previous judicial resolution to claim (§91; ‘…where there has been no previous judicial determination, the burden of anxious scrutiny upon the SSHD is all the greater. Where there has been a previous judicial determination, by, for example, the FTT, then this will carry greater weight with the SSHD than a case where there has been no such previous judicial determination.’)
R (ZU) v Kent County Council [2022] UKAITUR JR015402021- UT (UTJ C Lane) – Credibility assessment erred in failing to consider different features of applicant’s society of origin such as attitudes to chronological age, age assessment set aside and revised (§43; ‘in common with many children or young adults, especially those from societies which do not record or celebrate birthdays, the applicant has no idea how old his parents or siblings are; the ages of much older adults are of little, if any, interest to him’,)
Eric Fripp has appeared in many leading cases concerning refugees, immigration, nationality, and human rights. His practice extends across a wide spectrum covering these areas and he is noted for his thoroughness and skill as an advocate and for the breadth of his supporting interests in international affairs, legal and political philosophy, and history. In addition he is recognised internationally as a particular authority on nationality and statelessness and their interaction with the Refugee Convention 1951 and other protective instruments. He has a particular commitment to good analysis of relevant factual matters and the clear exposition of complex legal issues.Chambers and Partners UK (2023)
His strength is in his exceptional analytical skills and his thorough drafting, especially in the area of deportation and asylum.Legal 500 (2022)
He is highly intelligent, and is able to really break down the technical issues on the law for clients. He is innovative with his arguments, and has amazing knowledge of immigration law.Chambers and Partners UK (2022)
Known for his ‘exceptional analytical skills and his thorough drafting, especially in the area of deportation and asylum.' Legal 500 (2021)
He has one of the biggest brains at the immigration Bar with an encyclopaedic knowledge of human rights, asylum and citizenship matters. Legal 500 (2020)
Further information
Seminars
November 2022, Inner Temple, London, and Foundation for European and Economic Law, seminar in honour of Sir Richard Plender: ‘The Status Today of the Right to a Nationality as reflected in International Human Rights Law and the Sovereignty of States in Nationality Matters’;
November 2022, Refugee Resettlement. This seminar will outline the changing landscape of Home Office resettlement concessions, from the Vulnerable Children’s and Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Schemes (VCRS and VPRS) to the current UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship Scheme (CSS), Mandate Resettlement Scheme (MRS), and Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) focussing on issues of access and remedies. Registration link;
June 2022, Introduction to Statelessness And Nationality, Eric Fripp discusses the topic on Introduction To Statelessness And Nationality;
June 2022, Challenging Deprivation Of British Nationality;
May 2022, TOEIC cases on Judicial Review and Appeal. The speakers review an apparent slow motion collapse of the Home Office position in ETS/ TOEIC cases, with recent further reflections by BBC Newsnight, and look at the seeming overextension of exclusion by DK and RK (Parliamentary privilege; evidence) India [2021] UKUT 61 (IAC).;
July 2021, Amy Childs and Eric Fripp – Judicial Review and Refusal of Naturalisation on Good Character Grounds. Amy Childs and Eric Fripp discuss how to prepare cases and challenge decisions relating to good character in naturalisation and judicial review of refusal of naturalisation. They will focus on the effect of criminality under domestic law, and commission of (or association with) international crimes, terrorism, or other non-conducive activity.;
April 2021, The Uses and Limits of Country Guidance. The institution of country guidance by the tribunal sometimes provides a useful source of standards for individual tribunals. But what are the limits and pitfalls of country guidance? And in any particular case, what should practitioners look for, when should they rely on the guidance, and when should they challenge it?;
September 2019, European Society of International Law (ESIL-SEDI) Annual Conference, Athens, Interest Group on Migration and Refugee Law Pre-conference Meeting: paper ‘The interaction of international refugee law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including in instances of persecutory harms relating to nationality (including statelessness) or identity’;
Sept 2014, Global Statelessness Forum, the Hague, UNHCR/Tilburg University/International Court of Justice: paper ‘The establishment of denationalisation as ‘persecution’, for purposes of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, in the United Kingdom: the extent of current recognition and subsisting questions’;
Feb 2013, High Level Expert Conference on Refugee Law, All Souls’, Oxford – Refugee Studies Centre Oxford & Refugee Law Initiative London with UNHCR ‘Refuge from inhumanity- Enriching refugee protection standards through recourse to international humanitarian law’, paper ‘Inclusion of War Refugees, Combatants and Ex-combatants, and Child Soldiers.’
Introduction to Nationality and Statelessness Webinar
Challenging Deprivation Of British Nationality Webinar
Immigration Law, Human Rights and Adult Dependent Relative Webinar
External Publications
Books:
The Law and Practice of Expulsion and Exclusion from the United Kingdom: Deportation, Removal, Exclusion and Deprivation of Citizenship (General Editor, with Rowena Moffatt and Ellis Wilford, deputy editors) (Hart, Oxford and Portland OR, 2014)
Nationality and Statelessness in the International Law of Refugee Status (Hart, Oxford and Portland OR, 2016)
Article in edited volume:
‘Inclusion of Refugees from Armed Conflict: Combatants and Ex-combatants’ in Refuge from Inhumanity: war refugees and international humanitarian law, David Cantor and Jean-Francois Durieux, eds, Brill/Nijhoff, Leiden, 2014.
Journal articles:
‘Statelessness, Inability or Unwillingness to Return, and the “Country of His Former Habitual Residence” as the Country of Reference for the Purposes of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951’ (2022) 34 International Journal of Refugee Law No 3/4, pending;
‘Nationality, Protection, and the “country of his nationality” as the country of reference for the purposes of article 1A(2) of the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951’ (2021) 33 International Journal of Refugee Law No 2, 300-334;
‘Deprivation of Nationality, “The Country of His Nationality” in Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention, and Non-Recognition in International Law’, (2016) 28 International Journal of Refugee Law No 3, 453-479;
‘Deprivation of Nationality and Public International Law – An Outline’ (2014) 28 Journal of Immigration, Asylum, and Nationality Law No 4, 367-384;
‘International Humanitarian Law and the Interpretation of “Persecution” in Article 1A(2) CSR51’ (2014) 26 International Journal of Refugee Law No 3, 382-403;
‘Conducive Deprivation of British Citizenship Status and Statelessness: Further Problems’ (2013) 27 Journal of Immigration, Asylum, and Nationality Law, No 4, 315-330.
Case Reports:
R (Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens & Ors) v SSHD [2022] UKSC 3; [2022] 2 WLR 343 (2022) 4 Statelessness and Citizenship Review, No 2, 302-308 (with Araniya Kogulathas);
R (Begum) v SIAC; R (Begum) v SSHD; Begum v SSHD ([2021] UKSC 7; [2021] AC 765) (2022) 4 Statelessness and Citizenship Review, No 1, pending;
Secretary of State for the Home Department v E3 and N3 ([2019] EWCA Civ 2020; [2020] 1 WLR 1098) (2020) 2 Statelessness and Citizenship Review, No 1, 167–171;
Selected Review Articles:
‘Research Handbook on Child Migration (review of work ed. by J Bhabha, J Kanics, D Senovilla Hernández (2021) 33 International Journal of Refugee Law No 2, 167-174 (with Araniya Kogulathas);
‘Protecting Migrant Children: In Search of Best Practice’ (eds. M Crock and L B Benson) (2020) 32 International Journal of Refugee Law No 1, 371-375 (with Araniya Kogulathas);
‘At Home in Two Countries’ (P J Spiro) (2018) 30 International Journal of Refugee Law No 4, 817-822;
‘The Child in International Refugee Law’ (J Pobjoy) (2018) 30 International Journal of Refugee Law 2, 396–401.
Appointments & Memberships
Senior Visiting Fellow, Refugee Law Initiative, School of Advanced Study, University of London
Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA)
Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA)
British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL)
European Society of International Law (ESIL-SEDI)
International Law Association (British Branch)
European Network on Statelessness (ENS)