The UK’s Upper Tribunal (Immigration & Asylum Chamber) ruled Wednesday that the Home Office failed to properly investigate deaths at immigration centers.

Upon finding Oscar Okwurime dead in 2019, the UK Home Office began deportation proceedings against Ahmed Lawal. Ahmed Lawal, a friend of Okwurime, was being held in the same deportation center and could provide evidence regarding the death. However, the Home Office sought to deport Lawal before he could submit evidence.

Lawal brought a legal claim against the Home Office stating they breached Section 2, Article 2.1 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), which is concerned with procedural duty in investigations around death.

The courts halted Lawal’s deportation, which allowed him to subsequently give evidence. The judges held that the decision to deport Lawal before he had submitted evidence was unlawful as they failed to take reasonable steps to obtain evidence and relevant information regarding the death.