My workload was mainly primary-purpose cases, for example about whether someone has married to stay in the country, and also visitor cases. I began to hear asylum cases in 1995 and since then have heard from a number of Iraqi Kurds, Kosovans and eastern Europeans. There tends to be a common thread for each individual country, although some people are more convincing than others. For example, the Kosovans can no longer say that they are oppressed by the Serbs. What you have to do when you're in my position is look at the evidence and the person in front of you and then make the decision as impersonally as you can.
Credibility often comes into question.
Sometimes you do feel that you have their life in your hands, but I always try to make the decision sensibly, based on the facts. I hear appeals about once a week. The workload has gone up this year, while last year, there was quite a shortage of cases in this area. I think that the policy of dispersal has led to there being a lot more now. As well as sitting on immigration adjudication tribunals, I am also a solicitor.