---

Last year, the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court's finding that the Asylum Support Tribunal (AST) can 'look behind' an asylum withdrawal decision when determining an asylum support appeal. This provides a major safeguard for people whose asylum claims are incorrectly withdrawn by the Home Office and are then threatened with subsequent destitution. It comes against the backdrop of a sharp increase in asylum claims being withdrawn by the Home Office during a backlog clearance exercise.  

The Secretary of State applied to the Supreme Court for permission to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision. On 1 May 2026, the Supreme Court refused the application. 

It is therefore now firmly established that the AST has jurisdiction to hear appeals where someone’s asylum support has been refused or stopped on the basis that the Home Office has treated their asylum claim as withdrawn 

A fuller analysis of the High Court case can be found here.  

A huge thank you to all those involved in this case: our pro bono team of Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer, Mike Spencer and Finnian Clarke (Doughty Street Chambers), who intervened on behalf of ASAP in the Court of Appeal; and Duncan Lewis Solicitors, Alex Irena Sabic KC and Alex Grigg (Garden Court Chambers), who acted for MAH (one of the AST lead case appellants) and took the lead in defending the AST and High Court’s decisions.