Supreme Court of the United Kingdom

R (AAA (Syria) and Others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

On 15 November 2023 the UK Supreme Court handed down a landmark judgment ([2023] UKSC 42) consolidating six separate appeals by asylum seekers from Syria, Vietnam, Iran, Sudan and Iraq against the Home Secretary. The Court ruled that the Home Office must conduct a fully individualized assessment of each claim, applying a clarified risk‑of‑return test consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights. The judgment rejected the blanket application of the Home Office’s ‘safe‑country’ and ‘fast‑track’ procedures in these cases. The decision sets a new procedural benchmark for future asylum determinations in the UK.