A recent case in the court of appeal could have significant implications for hauliers caught up in the clandestine civil penalties scheme.
Chris Tindall reports.
THE COURT of appeal has found that guidance used by Border Force to check whether hauliers have done their best to secure their vehicles from stowaway entry is ‘badly and confusingly drafted’.
The judgment by one of the most senior courts in the UK opens the door for compensation claims by hauliers forced to shell out thousands of pounds in illegal immigrant fines for more than a decade, according to a top transport barrister.
The appeal judgment, by Lord Justice Stuart-Smith, Lady Justice King and Lord Justice Warby, concerned two Polish haulage firms that had been fined by Border Force after stowaways were found in their HGVs entering the UK.
