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24 February 2026

Ben Keith represents Secretary of State in Court of Appeal Deportation Appeal

Court of Appeal judgment in Safi v SSHD [2026] EWCA Civ 149: Ben Keith represented the Home Secretary in a significant deportation appeal addressing Articles 2 and 3 ECHR, expert evidence, and the limits of appellate intervention in tribunal fact-finding.

Ben Keith

The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in Safi v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWCA Civ 149, a significant decision concerning appellate restraint and the treatment of expert evidence in deportation appeals engaging Articles 2 and 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ben Keith appeared for the Secretary of State for the Home Department in the appeal.

Background
The case concerned an Afghan national who had arrived in the United Kingdom as a child and was subject to deportation following serious criminal convictions, including aggravated burglary. The First-tier Tribunal allowed the claimant’s appeal against deportation, finding that removal would breach Articles 2 and 3 ECHR in light of extensive expert evidence addressing risk, vulnerability, and the individual’s personal circumstances.

The Upper Tribunal upheld that decision, concluding that there was no material error of law.

The Court of Appeal’s decision
The Secretary of State appealed to the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the appeal. The Court emphasised the limits of appellate intervention in specialist tribunal fact-finding and the importance of properly challenging expert evidence where it is relied upon.

The Court held that where detailed expert material is unchallenged, an appellate court will be slow to interfere with a tribunal’s evaluative conclusions on risk and vulnerability.

Significance
The judgment provides guidance on the approach to Articles 2 and 3 deportation cases, the evidential role of trafficking and mental-health findings, and the principles governing appellate restraint.

 

The full judgment can be read here.

Ben Keith is a leading barrister specialising in cross-border and international matters, regularly instructed in significant appellate litigation involving immigration, extradition, public law and human rights.

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About the Author

Ben Keith
Ben Keith Barrister

Ben Keith is a co-founder of IHR Advisors and an internationally recognised lawyer specialising in INTERPOL Red Notice challenges, extradition, international human rights law and asylum. He is the co-author of Interpol, Law and Practice (Sweet & Maxwell, 2026). He is co-editor of Red Notice Monitor, the leading public resource on INTERPOL Red Notice abuse and the practice of INTERPOL’s Commission for the Control of Files.

Ben represents clients across every region in INTERPOL Red Notice and Diffusion challenges before the Commission for the Control of Files. He has secured the deletion of Notices issued by states including Russia, China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Belarus, Iran and Venezuela, in cases involving journalists, opposition political figures, refugees, human rights defenders and business figures targeted in commercial and political disputes. He is the author of the INTERPOL chapter in The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations (Global Investigations Review, 2026).

Ben has appeared as counsel before the European Court of Human Rights Grand Chamber, the UK Supreme Court, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, and the UN Committee Against Torture. He is a member of the List of Counsel for the International Criminal Court and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.

He regularly acts for politically exposed persons, journalists, human rights defenders and high net worth individuals facing extradition, INTERPOL Notices and other instruments of transnational repression. He provides legal commentary to national and international media including the Guardian, The Times, the Financial Times, The Telegraph, the BBC, Sky News, CNN, CBS 60 Minutes, The Economist, Politico and Al Jazeera.

Ben is ranked Star Individual in Chambers and Partners and a leading individual in The Legal 500 for extradition. He practises from 5 St Andrew’s Hill in London.

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