abstract:The First-tier Tribunal is part of the court system of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, set out in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and has since taken on the functions of twenty previously existing tribunals.
The First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Fees Order 2011 also sets out conditions under which an appellant may be exempt from paying or have the fee refunded.
Lawyers acting for Khan had gone to the Court of Session in Edinburgh after his appeal to a First-tier Tribunal (FTT) against deportation was rejected and he was refused permission to have his case heard at an Upper Tribunal (UT).
Former Labour minister Lord Bach said the government had failed to honour an earlier commitment by former Lord Chancellor Kenneth Clarke to allow support in "point of law" cases at the first-tier tribunal level - the first stage of the tribunal process.