The High Court has said that an injunction to restrain deportation may be granted where there is a "real and current risk that the applicant will be exposed to some irreparable harm if deported before the application for leave". K v Refugee Tribunal & Ors concerns the application for an injunction restraining the Minister from deporting the claimant, a Pakistani national.
In the judgment Cooke J cited Campus Oil v Minister for Industry and Energy (No 2) which states the basis on which interlocutory relief can be granted. It was held in that case that "interlocutory relief is granted to an applicant where what he complains of is continuing and is causing him harm or injury which may be irreparable in the sense that it may be irreparable in the sense that it may not be possible to compensate him fairly or properly by the award of damages."
The High Court in the present case was asked to find that the claimant did face the risk of "irreversible" harm if deported. However, Cooke J rejected the account given by the claimant as "incredible", as the claimant admitted that he would be protected from the Taliban if he relocated to a different part of Pakistan.
The court held that an injunction may be granted to restrain deportation where "it can only be on the basis of credible evidence that there is a real and current risk that the applicant will be exposed to some irreparable harm if deported before the application for leave is heard......[and in this case] it is necessary to refuse the application for interlocutory relief."
Click here to see the K v Refugee Tribunal & Ors judgment in full.