11 GO Justice students support landmark Immigration Bail Observation Project
Published: 28 September 2026
28 September 2026: In partnership with Scottish Detainee Visitors and Justice & Peace Scotland, 11 GO Justice students will observe immigration bail hearings in the first Scottish study of its kind for 10 years.
The GO Justice Centre has partnered with Scottish Detainee Visitors and Justice & Peace Scotland for the first comprehensive examination of the immigration bail process in over ten years.
11 GO Justice students have been selected from a competitive application process to undertake up to 50 hours of fieldwork for this project between September 2026 and March 2027.
Students will begin their in-person training this week with Professor Maria Fletcher, before observing immigration bail hearings online and documenting the process, noting qualitative and quantitative accounts. They will then attend debriefing sessions in which students will collate their observations, identify themes, and offer input on policy recommendations.
In taking part, students will gain valuable experience in empirical and socio-legal research work, an understanding of the operation of the First-tier Tribunal, and their knowledge of social justice lawyering. They will also be invited to write a reflective blog on their experience of the study, to be published on the School of Law blog.
We're excited to partner with two local organisations already active in this space to co-deliver this research.
- Scottish Detainee Visitors is "the only charity visiting people held in immigration detention at Dungavel Detention Centre, offering solidarity, support and human connection to those facing indefinite detention".
- Justice & Peace Scotland is a charitable organisation which calls for 'Dignity not Detention', advocating for an end to the practice of unlimited immigration detention.
The UK is the only country in Europe that doesn't impose time limits on immigration detention.
To learn more about Immigration Bail and other Bail Observation Projects:
Scottish Government's Immigration Bail Guidance
Three published reports of the Bail Observation Project that has run in England for many years
This paper - Loitering with (research) intent: Remote ethnographies in the immigration tribunal - involves observations of remote bail hearings similar to the research undertaken in our project. Read to learn of the ethical, practical and methodological benefits and challenges of this kind of research.
First published: 28 September 2026
<< News