Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration: accountability and influence
This project first establishes the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) within the academic literature as an important accountability forum within the wider administrative justice ecosystem.
The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) is the only official body responsible for the independent scrutiny of Home Office’s asylum and immigration operations, yet the ICIBI is an under-researched institution. ICIBI reports are referenced frequently in the academic literature as a source of information and critique on Home Office actions and policies, and on the state of the UK’s immigration and asylum system, but the ICIBI has never been the subject of academic enquiry itself.
This project first establishes the ICIBI within the academic literature as an important accountability forum within the wider administrative justice ecosystem. Marsons (2023) has identified that a range of administrative justice actors have been under-researched, and the ICIBI is potentially victim to some of the ‘inattentional blindness’ of administrative law scholarship identified by Bell and Fisher (2021). This research helps shine light on the ICIBI within the administrative law scholarship as the foundation of further research.
Secondly, this project explores the Home Office’s statutory duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in its immigration and asylum functions. How does this duty, and children more broadly, feature in the oversight and accountability undertaken by the ICIBI? ICIBI inspection reports give valuable insights into the work of the ICIBI as they provide information as to the rationales and methodologies of inspection, as well as their outcomes and findings. This research deploys a mixed-methods thematic analysis for identifying, analysing and reporting patterns (themes) within these reports. This research focusses on whether children are presented as only being objects of welfare protection or else subjects of human rights protection, rights which ought to be respected, protected, and fulfilled.
This research is supported by a grant by the Socio-Legal Studies Association (SLSA), whose support has made it possible to recruit research assistance
