Rishi Sunak handed Rwanda scheme court victory just as he resigns as prime minister

Guidance from ministers that told civil servants to carry out removals to Rwanda in contravention of international law was lawful, the High Court has ruled

Rishi Sunak’s flagship immigration policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda cleared a legal huddle in the High Court just as the prime minister resigned as prime minister.

Sir Keir Starmer, who is celebrating a landslide election victory, has pledged to scrap the plan, which would have seen failed asylum seekers deported to the east African country.

In a decision issued on Friday, the High Court ruled that guidance from ministers which tells civil servants to carry out removals to Rwanda was lawful, despite rulings from Strasbourg.

The FDA trade union, which represents senior civil servants, had brought legal action over the relationship of the Civil Service Code with the outgoing government’s Safety of Rwanda Act.

The union said a new rule that stated ministers can ignore European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and organise flights would put them in conflict of the code.

The Rwanda scheme was centre to the Conservative Party’s failed general election campaign (PA)

Lawyers for the FDA said civil servants are required by their code to comply with measures from the ECHR, “and an instruction from a minister not to do so would override this obligation”.

But in the ruling, prepared prior to the general election, Mr Justice Chamberlain dismissed the FDA’s challenge.

The decision appears irrelevant now, given Labour’s pledge, and not a single asylum seeker has been deported from the UK under the scheme.

The Rwanda policy was unveiled by then-prime minister Boris Johnson and his home secretary Priti Patel in April 2022, but has been bogged down by legal challenges ever since.

The Tory government’s Safety of Rwanda bill gained royal assent in April, legally deeming the east African nation a safe country for asylum seekers.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Chamberlain said that, while civil servants are obligated to refuse to follow instructions that would be unlawful under domestic law, there is no equivalent rule regarding international law.

The judge continued: “Any such rule would make it practically impossible for a minister to act contrary to international law.

“Since the implementation of ministerial decisions almost always requires the assistance of civil servants, it would transform almost every obligation binding on the United Kingdom on the international plane into a domestic constraint on ministerial action.”

In his 33-page ruling, Mr Justice Chamberlain said no application to adjourn the case was made in light of the General Election being announced, with the departing Conservative government having told the court in London that it planned to begin removals on 24 July.