Former Justice Secretary Doubts "Pyjama Injunction" Will Block Rwanda Deportations

Former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland believes it is “very unlikely” that European courts could use an injunction again to stop asylum seekers being deported from the UK to Rwanda now that the revised legislation has passed.

The Safety of Rwanda Bill, legislation designed to allow Rishi Sunak’s plans to deport asylum seekers in to the East African country, passed into law this week following weeks of back-and-forth between the Houses of Commons and Lords. 

Ultimately peers backed down on their demands for an independent committee to monitor the safety of Rwanda, and an exemption for people who have supported British armed forces abroad late on Monday night. Peers did not push the exemption amendment to further vote on Monday evening after Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom said that the government will not remove to Rwanda anybody who is found to have links to Afghan specialist units in a review.

Sunak said on Monday that he hoped deportation flights would be able to take off in the next 10 to 12 weeks, indicating that the first asylum seekers could be sent to Rwanda in the summer.

While Government has been concerned that deportations could still be subject to legal challenges, Buckland, who served as Justice Secretary for more than two years under Boris Johnson, told PoliticsHome podcast The Rundown that he would be “surprised” and “concerned” if a so-called “pyjama injunction” was granted again. The term refers to a late-night rule 39 injunction granted by the European Court of Human Rights in June 2022 to stop the first planned flight to Rwanda leaving,

“The court has already reformed its procedures to to raise the threshold before which such an injunction can be granted,” Buckland explained.  

"I'd be very