It appears that there is currently no Tribunal Rule nor other Practice Direction issued in the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) dealing with conduct or alleged bias on the part of an Immigration Judge. The Court of Appeal in Singh v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 4, although finding in that particular case that the allegation of bias against an Immigration Judge had not been made out, offered in a postscript, some suggestions stated to be neither prescriptive nor exhaustive on how to address the issues. The Court of Appeal’s view was that if this kind of appeal is to become more prevalent in this context then it would be much better for the Chamber Presidents, with their specialist expertise and their knowledge of the practicalities and in conjunction with the Senior President of Tribunals as appropriate, to decide whether or not to formulate any Practice Direction or Practice Statement or Guidance Note which may be considered necessary or desirable.
In Singh, an appeal reached the Court of Appeal with the argument being focused on an assertion of apparent bias. It was said that the First-tier Tribunal Judge made remarks at the outset of the appeal hearing before him which indicated that he had a closed mind and/or had prejudged the appeal. The argument was that the hearing was in consequence unfair.