The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled the Rwanda plan unlawful on 15 November 2023.
The decision is final and the Government cannot appeal. However, it’s important to remember that the judgement is limited to whether Rwanda is a safe country – and not on the lawfulness of the policy in principle.
What could happen next?
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said “this was not the outcome we wanted” but that in his view the Supreme Court has “confirmed that the principle of sending illegal migrants to a safe third country for processing is lawful”.
This suggests the Government may proceed with other agreements with other countries. However, no deal is close to being struck so this is not likely to happen very soon.   
If the Government wants to push through with Rwanda, although that would come at great political risk, they may pursue the Rwanda deal in a different form, such as a treaty which would need to go through Parliament.
There are still risks that people c…