At the Upper Tribunal the report is usually needed once an error of law has been found and the appeal is to be remade, or where updated evidence is admitted. Its scope follows the grounds: it addresses the country issues the First-tier decision got wrong and brings the evidence up to date.
For Tamil appellants the report applies KK and Others (Sri Lanka: Tamil) CG [2021] UKUT 00245 to the appellant's profile and explains any evidence suggesting the risk categories should be read in a particular way.
For Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan, where there is no current country guidance, the tribunal relies more heavily on the expert material in front of it. Reports for these countries set out their method in full so that each conclusion can be followed back to its sources.
Questions solicitors ask
- Is a new report needed when an appeal reaches the Upper Tribunal?
- Not always. If the earlier report is recent and covers the issues in the grounds, an addendum updating conditions may be enough. A fresh report is better where the issues have shifted or conditions have changed significantly.