Michael Harwood and Imogen Sadler acted for the successful Secretary of State in KGT & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWHC 2583 (Admin)
Michael Harwood and Imogen Sadler acted for the successful Secretary of State in KGT & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWHC 2583 (Admin), in which the High Court dismissed a judicial review concerning the third tranche of asylum hotel closures, comprising 12 family hotels including Staycity Aparthotel in Lewisham. The remaining grounds alleged breaches of the Public Sector Equality Duty and the Tameside duty of inquiry.
The judgment is significant for its treatment of academic public law claims, including challenges involving continuing statutory duties. Ms Justice Obi held that the fact that the PSED is a continuing duty did not mean that a challenge to an earlier decision retained practical effect once that decision had been fully implemented. The Court also emphasised that the wider public importance of an issue, or the possibility that similar questions may arise again, is not of itself sufficient to justify determining an otherwise academic claim; there must be sufficient wider utility in deciding the particular dispute.
Michael Harwood appeared as second junior for the Secretary of State at the substantive hearing, led by Alan Payne KC and alongside Matthew Howarth of 1 Crown Office Row. Imogen Sadler was also instructed for the Secretary of State and was substantially involved in advising and drafting in the proceedings in advance of the hearing. The team was instructed by the Government Legal Department.
A copy of the judgment can be found here.
