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A recent and valuable addition to 12 Old Square’s immigration & human rights practice, Jessica Javaherian comes with great experience from the not-for-profit sector. In April Jessica won an important appeal in the Upper Tribunal that has an impact both on Honduran refugee claimants and on wider refugee law.
Jessica’s point of law concerned the definition of a refugee being the ‘particular social group’ reason for the fear of persecution.
In the Upper Tribunal case of AEFP v SSHD (UI-2025-005275), Jessica established that opposition to Honduran gangs constitutes a political opinion although this did not apply to her client.
However, Jessica’s other submission did apply and that was that her client was a member of a ‘particular social group’ being a returnee from Europe and he would for that reason be targeted for extortion.
Moreover, the case established that this characteristic meant he could not escape that risk by relocating elsewhere within Honduras.
You can read the full determination of Jessica’s successful appeal on behalf of her client here:
