The applicant challenged the decision of the Agency for the Welfare of Asylum Seekers (AWAS) before the Immigration Appeals Board. The challenged decision reversed a previous decision of the AWAS to declare the applicant a minor, following the submission of a “photo of documentation” by the Principal Immigration Officer which showed that the applicant was an adult.

The Immigration Appeals Board declared the case closed noting that the Principal Immigration Officer has no locus standi in age assessment procedures and the AWAS has no competence to review its own decisions on age assessment. The Board concluded that the applicant is a minor, as originally concluded by the AWAS and that he must be released and returned to the Dar Il-Liedna open shelter for unaccompanied children.