Speed should not be delivered at the expense of justice, a solicitor has warned after the government announced plans for appeals to be heard by professional adjudicators instead of judges to clear the immigration case backlog.

On Sunday, the Home Office announced that, despite greater investment in court sitting days, the asylum appeal backlog is not being cleared quickly enough. To deal with this, the prime minister is set to announce plans for cases to be heard by a new body of ‘independent professional adjudicators’.

The Home Office said 106,000 cases, including at least 51,000 asylum appeals, are waiting to be heard in the first-tier tribunal and the average wait time has risen to 53 weeks. While the number of asylum seeker waiting for an initial decision has gone down, the number of asylum seekers waiting in the appeal system has grown.

The Home Office said the new body for deciding appeals would be independent of government. The adjudicators would be empowered to prioritise appeals brought by people living in asylum accommodation and foreign national offenders. The first-tier tribunal would be required to determine appeals from those living in asylum accommodation and foreign offenders within 24 weeks.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government was ‘determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels’.

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However, Shaheen Mamun, an immigration solicitor and director at Black Antelope Law, said the government’s plans risk undermining fairness and independence in one of the most sensitive areas of law.

Mamun said: ‘Speed must never come at the expense of justice. Tribunal judges bring vital expertise in assessing complex evidence, credibility and human rights law. Replacing them with a new tier of decision-makers designed to accelerate removals sends the wrong message; that efficiency is valued above safeguarding people’s fundamental rights. Any reform should focus on resourcing the existing tribunal system properly, not hollowing it out.’

Toufique Hossain, director at Duncan Lewis Solicitors, said the plans wrongly suggest the structure of the tribunal system is the reason for delays. The home secretary 'knows she needs to focus more on improving the quality of asylum decisions, so appeals are less likely.'

Hossain said the number of refusals 'where the decisions are woefully incompetent' has grown, 'countless examples' of caseworkers not waiting for critical evidence before refusing, more unrepresented appellants because legal aid lawyers cannot afford to take on complex cases under the current fee regime, and Home Office delays in complying with tribunal directions.