22
OTHMAN (ABU QATADA) v. THE UNITED KINGDOM JUDGMENT
appellant. In that event, the Secretary of State shall not be required to serve
the material if he chooses not to rely upon it in the proceedings.
71. A search is carried out for “exculpatory material”, that is, material
that will advance the case of an appellant or detract from the case of the
Secretary of State. Exculpatory material is disclosed to the appellant save
where this would not be in the public interest. In that event it is disclosed to
the special advocate.
72. Section 7 of the 1997 Act confers a right of appeal to the Court of
Appeal against a final determination of an appeal made by SIAC in England
and Wales “on any question of law material to that determination”.
B. SIAC’s case law on assurances
73. In addition to Jordan, the Government have negotiated memoranda
of understanding on assurances with Ethiopia, Lebanon and Libya. They
have negotiated a framework agreement for obtaining assurances from
Algeria. SIAC has heard appeals from seventeen individuals whom the
Government sought to deport on the basis of these assurances. SIAC has
considered these appeals on a case-by-case basis but the general approach it
has taken to assurances was set out in BB. v. the Secretary of State for the
Home Department, SIAC determination of 5 December 2006, § 5, where it
found that, before assurances could remove a real risk of ill-treatment, four
conditions had to be satisfied:
(i) the terms of the assurances had be such that, if fulfilled, the person
returned would not be subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3;
(ii) the assurances had been given in good faith;
(iii) there had to be a sound objective basis for believing that the
assurances would be fulfilled; and
(iv) fulfilment of the assurances had to be capable of being verified.
74. Applying that test, SIAC has found assurances to be sufficient for
Algeria (see SIAC’s determinations in G (8 February 2007); Z and
W (14 May 2007) Y, BB and U (2 November 2007); PP (23 November
2007); B (30 July 2008); T (22 March 2010); Sihali (no. 2) (26 March
2010)). It also found them to be sufficient in respect of Ethiopia in the case
of XX (10 September 2010). SIAC found assurances to be insufficient in
respect of Libya, given the changeable nature of the then Gaddafi regime
(DD and AS (27 April 2007)).
75. Jordan’s assurances were also found to be compatible with Article 3
in VV (2 November 2007). SIAC took note of further reports on torture in
Jordanian prisons and considered that those reports confirmed its view that,
without the MOU, there was a real risk of ill-treatment. However, those
reports did not alter its conclusions in the present case that the MOU and
Adaleh’s monitoring role provided sufficient protection.
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