Samuel Solomon -v- Secretary of State for the Home Department
Claim number: AC-2025-LON-004377
In the High Court of Justice
King’s Bench Division
Administrative Court
9 December 2025
Before:
The Hon Mr Justice Chamberlain
Between:
The King on the application of
Samuel Solomon
-v-
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Order
On an application by the Claimant for urgent consideration and interim relief
Following consideration of the documents lodged by the Claimant
ORDER BY THE HON. MR JUSTICE CHAMBERLAIN
- Permission to exceed page limit: The Claimant has permission to file the Statement of Facts and Grounds and Annex notwithstanding that these exceed the page limit in CPR 54A PD, para. 4.2(3).
- Interim mandatory injunction:
(a) The Defendant must provide the Claimant with accommodation until (i) the Claimant informs the Defendant in writing that he has secured alternative accommodation or (ii) 48 hours after the end of the hearing referred to at paragraph 4 below, whichever is the earlier.
(b) The Defendant may apply to vary or discharge paragraph 2(a) above, any such application to be served on the Claimant.
THIS IS A MANDATORY INJUNCTION. BREACH MAY GIVE RISE TO PROCEEDINGS FOR CONTEMPT OF COURT. IT MUST BE COMPLIED WITH UNLESS AND UNTIL IT IS SET ASIDE BY A COURT, EVEN IF AN APPLICATION TO VARY OR DISCHARGE IT HAS BEEN MADE UNDER PARAGRAPH 2(b) ABOVE - Abridgement of time and expedition: By 4pm on Monday 15 December 2025, the Defendant must file and serve an Acknowledgement of Service (CPR 54.8) and a document containing (i) her Summary Grounds of Defence and (ii) her response to the application for continuing and/or general interim relief. This is to stand as the Defendant’s skeleton argument for the hearing referred to in paragraph 4 below.
- Hearing:
(a) The applications for permission to apply for judicial review and continuing and/or general interim relief are adjourned to be determined after a hearing on 18 December 2025.
(a) The hearing is to be listed with a time estimate of 3 hours, including submissions by the parties and an oral judgment by the judge.
(b) By 4pm on Tuesday 16 December 2025, the Claimant must file and serve an electronic copy of the Permission Hearing Bundle, prepared in accordance with the guidance on the Administrative Court website and containing the following documents:
(i) the Claim Form, Statement of Facts and Grounds and any evidence or other documents filed with the Claim Form;
(ii) any Acknowledgment of Service, Summary Grounds of Defence, response to the application for continuing and/or general relief and any accompanying documents served by any Defendant;
(iii) this Order;
(iv) any other document the Court would be likely to consider material to its decision on permission to apply for judicial review or the application for continuing and/or general interim relief.
(c) By 4pm on 16 December 2025, the Claimant must file and serve:
(i) a skeleton argument, maximum 15 pages;
(ii) an electronic bundle containing any authorities which the Court needs to read at the hearing (the Authorities Bundle: see para. 22.1.2 of the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide); and
(iii) if requested by the Court, a hard copy version of the Permission Hearing Bundle and Authorities Bundles.
Reasons
(1) Mandatory injunction: At this early stage, and in advance of an answer from the Secretary of State, there is a strong prima facie case that the decision challenged is unlawful on one or more of the grounds identified in the Statement of Facts and Grounds. On the Claimant’s evidence, it is likely that the Claimant will be street homeless imminently unless interim relief is granted. The balance of convenience falls firmly in favour of the grant of short-term interim relief until (at the latest) shortly after the hearing next week.
(2) Interim relief has been granted to other claimants in claims involving similar challenges to the same policy decision: see the orders of Johnson J of 22 October 2025 in R (Abe) v SSHD (AC-2025-LON-003631), Lang J of 31 October 2025 in R (Omer) v SSHD (AC-2025-LON-003752), Sheldon J of 3 November 2025 in R (Helebo) v SSHD (AC-2025-LON-003810), Obi J of 14 November 2025 in R (Dawit) v SSHD (AC-2025- LON-004028) and Kimblin J of 21 November 2025 in R (Agahze) v SSHD (AC-2025- LON-004115).
(3) Abridgement of time/expedition: The directions above will place a degree of pressure on the Defendant. I bear in mind, however, that the Defendant has been considering the similar claims referred to in paragraph (2) for some time, although this appears to be the first claim in which an application for general interim relief (i.e. relief extending beyond the facts of an individual case) has been made.
(4) Hearing: This is the sixth claim challenging the same policy. The Claimant’s evidence indicates that large numbers of others are affected. There is a strong public interest in a swift resolution, one way or the other, of the application for permission to apply for judicial review. It is sensible for permission to be considered in the present case first, since the grounds pursued here build on documents disclosed in other cases. The outcome of the application for permission in this case is likely to affect the proper disposition of the other cases. If permission is granted, or if it is refused and the Claimant applies for permission to appeal, stays may be appropriate in these cases.
(5) Individual interim relief has been granted in each of the previous claims challenging the same policy. It is likely that other similar applications will be made over the vacation. The application for general interim relief may well raise issues of principle as well as practicality. There is, however, a strong public interest in determination of that application before the end of the Michaelmas term.