New online asylum appeals may only be available in English or Welsh despite a £1.2bn digital “modernisation” of British justice, HuffPost UK has learned.
A major overhaul of tribunals announced by ministers last year revealed appeals to immigration and asylum tribunal rulings would become largely digital.
But it has emerged the Ministry of Justice, which began piloting the move on “selected asylum appeals” in January, has no immediate plans to make forms available in other languages.
It means asylum seekers and immigrants, the vast majority of whom no longer qualify for legal aid due to austerity, could be asked to fill out vital forms written in a language they cannot understand without help.
The move was branded “an immediate barrier to justice” by the Law Society and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants claimed it “undermines the rule of law”.
Daniel Flury, deputy director of tribunals for HM Court and Tribunal Service, revealed the government’s position during an event with legal professionals in February.
When asked if there were plans to expand the languages available online, he said: “Not at the moment”.
He went on to say, however, he could not give a “definitive answer” that languages would be expanded and the government was exploring the “very sensitive and very complex” issue.
When HuffPost approached HM Court and Tribunal Service, a spokesman said unrepresented appellants who don’t speak English could approach charities for help. They added that the current paper forms are only available in English or Welsh.
“Support services such as Citizens Advice are already available to those who need help completing our online forms and we are looking at extending the number of languages we cover,” they said.
As part of the reforms, the tribunal service will also be asked to do more to help appellants in person.
Satbir Singh, CEO of The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said the news follows charges for immigration and nationality applications steadily rising over the last decade, with some families paying as much as £7,000 in fees.
He said the government had “already put serious barriers in the path of people who are trying to resolve their immigration status”.
He added: “Fifty per cent of the immigration decisions challenged at a tribunal are found to be incorrect and legal aid has been removed from almost all immigration matters.
“Added to huge Home Office fees - with profits of up to 2,000% made on some citizenship applications – these barriers already prevent far too many people from getting the documentation that they are entitled to.
“Making it even harder for people to navigate the legal system by failing to translate court documents denies people’s rights and undermines the rule of law.”
Christina Blacklaws, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, has also sounded the alarm.
She said reforms should include “a commitment to making justice open and accessible to all”.
“To individuals involved in immigration and asylum cases, this means ensuring online applications are easy-to-access and comprehensible from the outset – including for those who do not have English/Welsh as a first language,” she added. “A failure to do so will severely impact on those who do not have access to legal advice, and in many cases, constitute an immediate barrier to justice.”
Labour’s shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon said the news would “further fuel fears that vulnerable people, often facing life-changing decisions, will have their access to justice even more restricted” as part of the reforms.
“Far too often, the government’s so-called courts ‘modernisation’ programme appears to be no more than a smokescreen for staff cuts and court closures that will cause long-term damage to access to justice,” he said. “Cuts, closures and a reliance on online justice are going to fundamentally change the way justice is delivered.”
The move to online appeals processes is part of a drive to cut down on what Justice Secretary David Gauke has called “lengthy paper-based processes and face-to-face hearings” for “simple matters” which has made the service inefficient.