This was the central question which arose in the context of an unlawful detention claim, initially dismissed by the High Court in Johnson v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWHC 3120 (KB) and then again in the recently reported appeal in Johnson v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWCA Civ 182.

While deciding a narrow legal point, the judgment is perhaps at its most revealing in describing the anatomy of a removal, and then return to the UK, of a foreign national offender who is not accepted for entry by a receiving state.

Background

Mr Johnson was born in the UK on 1 October 1989, although he was not a British citizen on account of his Ugandan parents.

He was convicted of an offence of aggravated burglary and sentenced to eight years. He already had 17 previous convictions. On 16 February 2014 a deportation order was made. He was detained after his sentence and removal attempted to Uganda on 9 December 2014.

On 10 December, the Ugandan authorities refused to accept Mr Johnson on arrival at Entebbe, with concerns expressed that he may not actually be a Ugandan citizen. The receiving authorities apparently also expressed concern that Uganda was being used as a ‘dumping ground’ for criminals raised in the UK (para 39).

After his return, the Home Office continued to detain Mr Johnson until 18 June 2015 due to an assessed high risk of offending and harm. Ultimately it was accepted that the Ugandan authorities did not consider that Mr Johnson still had Ugandan citizenship and that he was stateless.

Unlawful detention claim