Immigration – Deportation. The claimant sought a declaration that his detention pending deportation by the defendant Secretary of State had been unlawful. Dismissing the claim, the Administrative Court held that it was a matter of common sense that if a person obstructed the deportation process and failed to cooperate with the Secretary of State then the 'reasonable' period would be longer and probably much longer. It might cover, if necessary, a number of years, provided the Secretary of State made real and continuous efforts to ascertain where the detainee had come from and should be deported to. In the instant case, the claimant had been obstructive ever since he had first claimed asylum and the Secretary of State had acted reasonable and conscientiously to ascertain the destination. In the period prior to the claimant's release, it had not yet become apparent that the Secretary of State would not be able to effect deportation within a reasonable period, such reasonable period being long enough to enable her to exhaust all inquiries as to the claimant's country of origin. Consequently, the claimant's detention had not been unlawful.