Age assessment

· Case Law

R (on the application of) Liverpool City Council v London Borough of Hillingdon and AK [2008] EWHC 1702 (Admin): on the extent of the duty under the Children Act 1989 towards an unaccompanied asylum seeker child where s/he is moved between two local authorities - click here

Information Note on Lambeth v TK (by her Litigation Friend) and KK, [2008] EWCA Civ 103, where the Court of Appeal held that, in family proceedings, a local authority does not have the final say on the matter of a young person's age and identitiy, and that such a decision should ultimately rest with the court - click here

Information note on The Queen on the application of B v London Borough of Merton, [2003] EWHC 1689 (Admin) (14 July 2003) - click here

R(I&O) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, 27 May 2005 [2005] EWHC 1025 (Admin): On the failure of IND to take into account medical reports by Dr Michie assessing two detained disputed minors as under 18- detention judged unlawful - click here

R (on the application of A) v Secretary of State for the Home Department - The Secretary of State accepted that he was not entitled to detain A as an adult relying on an informal, unreasoned and imprecise assessment of age carried out by an emergency duty social services team, and dismissing a consultant paediatrician's assessment that A was a child. Note on implications of consent order signed by the Secretary of State accepting that he had unlawfully detained a disputed minor, following judicial review proceedings, 8 October 2004 click here

· Guidance

Practice guidelines for age assessment of young unaccompanied asylum seekers - click here

Summary of the Joint Working Protocol on age assessment between Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the Home Office (IND) and the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS), 2006 - click here. For the full document -click here.

Asylum Support Policy Bulletin 33 - Age Disputes - click here

UKBA Asylum Processing Guidance on Disputed Age Cases - click here

· Model letters

Re-issue of ARC card following a resolved age dispute finding the applicant to be a minor: you can use the following model letter to inform the Central Events Booking Unit (CEBU) of the new age and ask for a new ARC card to be issued. Please click here to download the letter

· Other resources

ILPA Research Report, When is a child not a child? Asylum, age disputes and the process of age assessment (Heaven Crawley, May 2007) - click here

UKBA Asylum Policy Instruction on Asylum Registration Cards - click here

House of Lords debates: Written answer by Baroness Scotland of Asthal on age determination, Lords Hansard, Tuesday 7 Sept 2004, Volume No. 664 (Immigration): Written answer age determination or click here to access the answer on the Hansard website

Age Assessment -From Law to Practice, Conference 9th November 2004, Cambridge

Follow the links below to view the presentations of the main speakers:

Presentation by Karen Goodman

Presentation by Steve Liddicott