On Friday Lord Justice Sullivan and Mr Justice Burton rules that home secretary Theresa May had tried to avoid the involvement of parliament by introducing the rules — meaning that the limits the Home Office had brought in no longer stand.
On Friday, the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants hailed the decision as a victory of "democracy and the rule of law."
Habib Rahman, the council’s chief executive, said: "The home secretary cannot simply sideline parliament and the requirements it has imposed to check her powers."
However, Immigration Minister Damian Green, said that the government’s plans would continue unabated:
"This ruling is about process not policy — the policy of having a limit has not been found to be unlawful," Green said. "The Court's ruling rests on a technicality, we will set this right in the next few days to ensure we can continue to operate an interim limit.
"We remain firmly committed to reducing net migration to the tens of thousands, and will continue to do everything in our power to prevent a rush of applications before our more permanent measures are in place."
William Foster, Partner at law firm Fragomen, agreed that the caps would probably still be introduced.
"From a technical perspective, the effect of today's decision is that the interim cap has never been lawful," Foster said. "The practical effect of this decision is that it creates considerable uncertainty.
"It is noteworthy, that as the challenge appears to have succeeded on a procedural point, the affect of this decision on the permanent cap is likely to be minimal. "
