LONDON, March 23 (UPI) -- A British judge said foreign nationals kept imprisoned while the government considered their deportation status were victims of false imprisonment.
Kadian Mighty from Jamaica and Walumba Lumba of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who brought the incident to light, were awarded nominal damages of $1.62.
The U.K. Supreme Court's Lord Dyson ruled the Home Office committed a "serious abuse of power" in 2006 when it established a secret policy of detaining foreign nationals awaiting deportation after their prison sentences were completed, the BBC reported Wednesday.
The policy wasn't published and the Home Office waited two years to go public with its explanation, saying foreign prisoners should expect to stay behind bars until their deportation procedures were completed.
Mighty was detained in 2006 while awaiting deportation but began a legal challenge and was released on bail. That same year Lumba was told he'd be deported but he left voluntarily in February 2011, the BBC said.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 the Home Office had failed to follow its own published rules and the judgment in favor of the men was not on human-rights grounds.
Lord Hope, deputy president of the court, said there had been a "serious abuse of power and it was deplorable."
"The application of the secret policy did not render the detention of the appellants unlawful," said Hope.
"If the published policy had been applied they would have been detained anyway and that, had they challenged their continued detention, they would have had no legitimate expectation of obtaining an order for their release."
"I am pleased that the Supreme Court determined that these individuals should only be awarded nominal damages, which we are advised is typically no more than 5 pounds, ($8.10) but we take on board the court's criticisms of the Home Office's conduct prior to 2008," David Wood of the U.K. Border Agency at the Home Office said.
