The UK government Wednesday published letters regarding how civil servants should follow the Safety of Rwanda Bill. The letters, issued between the Cabinet Office and the Home Office, were published just hours before the House of Commons passed the bill, which seeks to bypass the courts and implement the government’s plan to send some asylum seekers to pursue their claims in Rwanda.

The Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill was introduced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government in response to a UK Supreme Court ruling in November. The Supreme Court held that government’s the previous plan to send illegal immigrants to Rwanda was unlawful because Rwanda was not a safe country. This new bill seeks to declare Rwanda as a safe country, sparking widespread criticism from human rights groups for bypassing sections of the Human Rights Act 1998 along with other international law requirements.

Prior to its third reading in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Director General, Propriety and Constitution Group in the Cabinet Office Darren Tierney sent a letter to Permanent Secretary at the Home Office Sir Matthew Rycroft about the impact of the Safety of Rwanda Bill on the UK’s civil service—specifically clause 5 of the bill. Clause 5 of the bill concerns interim measures issued by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). An interim measure (also known as a “rule 39 order”) is an urgent order issued by the ECtHR where there is a “real risk of serious and irreversible harm.”

The ECHR previously issued an interim measure in June 2022 to prevent an asylum seeker being removed from the UK to Rwanda until a final decision had been made by UK courts.

Under clause 5 of the Safety of Rwanda Bill, courts must ignore interim measures issued “in proceedings relating to the intended removal of a person to the Republic of Rwanda,” unless a Minister of the Crown decides that the UK will comply with it. Civil Servants must therefore follow clause 5 and implement a minister’s decision over the ECHR’s interim measure. This means that when a relevant interim measure is issued by the ECHR, “the Home Office case worker must immediately refer the case for a ministerial decision on whether or not to proceed with removal.” Under clause 5, ministers will have the power to ignore such interim measures, and civil servants within the government will have to follow suit.

The Cabinet Office stated that this guidance will be amended if clause 5 changes prior to the bill becoming law. Following its third reading and passage through the House of Commons, the Safety of Rwanda Bill is now being debated in the House of Lords.