By Thomas Hill – Pupil Immigration Barrister
When a person challenges a call made by a public physique (as occurs in immigration circumstances), it’s usually thought-about a basic characteristic of pure justice and equity that they have to be proven the proof relied on by the decision-maker. In the words of Lord Denning:
“If the right to be heard is to be a real right which is worth anything, it must carry with it a right in the accused man to know the case which is made against him. He must know what evidence has been given and what statements have been made affecting him: and then he must be given a fair opportunity to correct or contradict them […] It follows, of course, that the judge or whoever has to adjudicate must not hear evidence or receive representations from one side behind the back of the other.”
Yet there are circumstances the place this precept – vital as it might be – throws up difficulties. Government selections are sometimes made on the premise of extremely delicate info which, if revealed in open court docket and even simply disclosed to the person affected, are deemed to pose a critical…
