Pre Action Protocol (PAP) For Judicial Review Against Home Office, UKVI

You should send a pre-action protocol (PAP) letter to Home Office UKVI before filing an immigration Judicial Review (JR) in Court and ask the Home Office UKVI to reconsider its refusal decision within 14 days. Sunrise Solicitors has extensive experience in handling PAP for judicial review. Call us today and get free initial advice from our expert team.

What is Judicial Review?

Judicial Review is a legal process where the courts review the lawfulness of decisions, actions, or failures to act by public bodies including the Home Office. Judicial Review is a remedy of last resort, only available when no adequate alternative remedy (such as a statutory appeal or administrative review) exists.

You can challenge a Home Office decision by Judicial Review on the following legal grounds:

• Illegality: The Home Office acted outside its powers or broke the law.
• Irrationality: The decision is so unreasonable that no reasonable body could have made it.
• Procedural Impropriety/Unfairness: Failure to follow fair process, natural justice, or published procedures.

If you need expert guidance to challenge Home Office decision by Judicial review, we at Sunrise Solicitors can guide you every step of the way. 

What Is A Pre-Action Protocol (PAP)

A Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter is a letter sent to the Home Office, UKVI to resolve disputes before initiating Judicial Review (JR) proceedings against the Home Office UKVI. A Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) letter may also be called a ’letter before claim’ or a ’letter before action’.  All of these terms refer to the same thing. The Pre-Action Protocol, set out in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR), is a mandatory first step before initiating Judicial Review proceedings in immigration, nationality, and asylum cases.  

Purpose Of Pre-Action Protocol (PAP)

The purpose of pre-action protocol (PAP) letter is to identify the issues in dispute and establish whether litigation with the Home Office, UKVI can be avoided. The letter contains the date and details of the immigration decision (the refusal letter), act or omission of the Home Office UKVI being challenged and a clear summary of the facts on which the Judicial Review claim against the Home Office, UKVI is based.

It also contains the details of any relevant information that the applicant is seeking from the Home Office, UKVI and an explanation of why this is considered relevant.

Drafting your PAP letter clearly and concisely will improve your chances of early resolution. When requesting documents or information from the Home Office, always explain why your request is relevant and ensure requests are proportionate.

What Should a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) Letter Contain? 

The letter should contain the proposed defendant’s details, the claimant’s details, any defendant reference details, and the claimant’s legal representative (if applicable). It should also set out the decision being challenged, identify any interested parties, summarise the issues, and state the remedy sought. The letter should include ADR proposals, requests for further information and documents, an address for reply and service of documents, and a proposed response date. 

Submitting a Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) Letter to the Home Office  

The Home Office provides a standard Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) form for Immigration, Nationality, and Asylum cases. 

It is strongly recommended to seek advice from an experienced immigration lawyer before sending your PAP letter. Legal professionals can help ensure all necessary information is included and your claim is as strong as possible. 

The following are the two ways to submit a PAP letter to the Home Office:  

• The PAP letter can be submitted electronically to the official Home Office email address: UKVIPAP@homeoffice.gov.uk.  

• Alternatively, it can be sent by post to: Litigation Allocation Unit, 6 New Square, Bedfont Lakes, Feltham, Middlesex, TW14 8HA. 

Response To Pre-Action Protocol (PAP)

Immigration Judicial Review (JR) proceedings against the UKVI are not normally issued until the proposed reply date given in the letter before claim has passed, unless the circumstances of the immigration case require more immediate action to be taken. Home Office UKVI, should normally respond to letter before action (pre-action protocol letter) within 14 days and Home Office UKVI may face cost implications for failure to respond to pre-action protocol (PAP) letter unless there are good reasons for not responding within that period.

An application for permission to apply for Judicial Review can be filed in the Upper Tribunal or Administrative Court (High Court), as the case may be, if the Home Office, UKVI do not respond to the pre-action protocol letter within 14 days or the Home Office UKVI responds within 14 days but maintains their decision to refuse the immigration application.

The protocol does not affect the time limit specified by CPR Part 54.5(1) namely that an application for permission to apply for Judicial Review (JR) must be made promptly and in any event not later than 3 months after the grounds upon which the claim is based first arose.

What Happens After a Pre-Action Protocol Letter Has Been Sent? 

After sending a PAP letter, the Home Office may overturn its refusal, issue a new decision, or uphold its position. If your issue is not resolved through the PAP process, you can apply for permission to proceed with Judicial Review (provided you comply with the strict time limit) within 14 days.  

An application for permission to apply for Judicial Review can be filed in the Upper Tier Tribunal, as the case may be, if the Home Office, UKVI do not respond to the pre-action protocol letter within 14 days or the Home Office UKVI responds within 14 days but maintains their decision to refuse the immigration application. 

The court may penalise any party including the Home Office or claimant who fails to properly follow the PAP process or consider Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).  

Urgent Judicial Review Applications 

In very urgent cases, such as where removal from the UK is imminent or there is a serious and immediate risk of harm, you may issue a Judicial Review claim without following the usual Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) steps. However, you must still notify the Home Office of the urgency, usually by phone and in writing (email or fax), and provide a draft of the claim form where possible.

You must also inform the court why the PAP could not be followed and, if necessary, make an application for urgent interim relief to prevent the decision from being carried out. It is important to understand that sending a PAP letter or issuing a claim does not, on its own, stop removal or other enforcement action.

Costs, Risks, and Importance of Compliance 

Not following the Pre-Action Protocol (PAP) can result in the court imposing penalties, including costs orders against you, even if you later win your case. The court may also consider non-compliance when making decisions about how your case proceeds and can make adverse case management orders. 

As a general rule, in Judicial Review proceedings, the losing party is usually required to pay the reasonable legal costs of the winning party. This means that if your Judicial Review is unsuccessful, you may have to pay the Home Office’s legal costs. Conversely, if you win, the Home Office may be ordered to pay your reasonable legal costs. However, the court has discretion and may make a different order depending on the circumstances of the case. 

Legal aid may be available for eligible claimants to cover the costs of preparing a PAP letter and obtaining related legal advice, subject to a means and merits test. You can check eligibility and get more information at the Legal Aid Agency. 

How Can We Help?

As specialist immigration solicitors, we can represent you in your pre-action protocol (PAP) letter for Judicial Review (JR) against the Home Office UKVI. Work to be carried out on your pre-action protocol letter by our immigration lawyers may entail the following:

• assessing the Home Office UKVI decision to identify the grounds which render the UKVI decision unlawful and not in accordance with relevant immigration laws;
• discussing the relevant grounds with you and advising you on the prospects of success in your matter;
• advising you about the weaknesses and strengths of your immigration case;
• preparing the pre-action protocol (PAP) representations and discussing the same with you before submitting them to the Home Office UKVI;
• submitting the pre-action protocol representations to the Home Office, Judicial Review Management Unit and liaise with them for a response to your pre-action protocol letter;
• assessing the UKVI response to pre-action protocol letter and discussing the same with you;
• re-assessing the merits of the case upon receiving the UKVI response to find out whether you still have a good case to proceed with the Judicial Review (JR) proceedings;
• advising you on the merits of the case after re-assessing the case in the light of the UKVI response.

How Much We Charge?

Unless your matter is very complicated, our fees for a pre-action protocol (PAP) are as given in the fee table below: