The delay in repatriating the applicants was justified.
The power to detain pending deportation must only be exercised for a reasonable period, R v Governor of Durham Prison ex parte Hardial Singh [1984] 1 WLR 704 (CONSIDERED), R (I) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2002] EWCA Civ 888 (APPLIED)
It was common ground that the 15 Applicants were all illegal immigrants and the Respondents had demonstrated that they were still lawfully detained pending their repatriation, given the restrictions on air travel raised by the COVID-19 pandemic and their active and continuing efforts to effect the repatriation under s 54(2) of the Immigration Ordinance. The delay was for just cause. If the detention continued even after the restrictions on air travel had eased in both TCI and Sri Lanka it would at that point become unlawful.
The legality of the continued detention was not affected by the fact that 6 of the detainees were to be used as prosecution witnesses as long as the prosecution is conducted without undue delay. Should there be undue delay if, as a result, they were not repatriated within a reasonable time their continued detention at that point would be unlawful.
The Respondents had demonstrated on the preponderance of the probabilities that the accommodation arrangements at the IDC were adequate.
No order for costs.