Appendix 2: A Note on "Fresh Claims"

A fresh claim (or more accurately "further submissions on a fresh claim") is a means of re-opening an asylum claim after it has been refused and all appeal rights have been exhausted. It requires new evidence that was not before the original decision makers (i.e. the Home Office and/or the First Tier Tribunal.) Fresh claims typically involve months of work, going through why the original claim was refused and what evidence the client might be able to find that addresses those reasons. Unless you can address all the reasons for refusal, then there may be little point in lodging a fresh claim.

Since credibility is one of the most common reasons for refusal, you will usually need at least some new evidence that is specific to the client rather than to the country they come from. It will be rare that a viable fresh claim will be based solely on internet research.*

*There are some possible exceptions:

• Currently there is a court judgement that indicates all civilians in Libya are at risk. An asylum seeker whos appeal was dismissed before the judgement without their Libyan nationality being disputed would have a viable fresh claim on the back of that judgement alone.
• Very focussed research on specific aspects of a claim may be sufficient in some circumstances. Such research would normally be presented in the form of a report, addressing specific research questions that are relevant to the circumstances of the case.

However, more often than not, a good fresh claim will be made up of a variety of different types of evidence, including witness statements, documents from the country of origin, reports from medical, country or other experts, and evidence sourced online.

To do this you need the advisers name and the name of the firm they work for. If your client does not know these, that may ring alarm bells! If so, check whether your client has a business card or any correspondence from them. Failing that, you can always check for a phone number and ring them to find out.

To check whether they are in fact registered:

• The IAA maintains an online register of the advisers it regulates - they should be listed under the name of the organisation they work for
• You can search for solicitors on the Law Society website - if they are on there, then they should be regulated
• You can even search the Solicitor's Regulation Authority (SRA) website to check their record (i.e. details of any regulatory action that has been taken) - If there is no record and they are definitely regulated, it's a good thing!
• The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has a register of barristers - but it will be fairly uncommon that clients are directly represented by a barrister
• The other regulators should all maintain an online register of the people they regulate. Follow the links above to find it!