Max Davidson successfully represented Ryanair in its appeal against the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s decision to impose a charge upon Ryanair pursuant to section 40 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1996 for the carriage of two passengers who travelled into the United Kingdom on false passports.

The appeal, which was the first such appeal brought in relation to section 40, considered the question of whether the falsity of the passports used by the passengers was “reasonably apparent”. His Honour Judge Lochrane, in allowing Ryanair’s appeal, gave guidance in respect of the meaning of the words “reasonably apparent” and how that objective standard should be assessed. The Judge observed that there was no statutory definition of the words “reasonably apparent” and made comments, which will be of particular interest to airlines and ferry operators, relating to the inconsistent exercise by the Secretary of State of her charging powers under section 40. A transcript of the Judgment is available here.

The Times news article is available by clicking here.