Courts / Ireland / Report

Transport Federation's bid for injunction over migrant fisherman is dismissed

Summary

In a High Court hearing on 7 December 2018, Mr Justice Tony O'Connor dismissed the International Transport Workers Federation's (ITF) application for an injunction against the State over the Atypical Working Scheme for Non‑EEA crew in the Irish fishing fleet. The ITF alleged that the scheme allowed migrant fishermen to be exploited, under‑paid, racially abused, over‑worked and, in some cases, assaulted, and that it facilitated human trafficking. The court accepted that the federation was concerned about serious human‑rights abuses but found that it had not established a strong case of probability that the scheme would cause the alleged mischief. The judge noted that the scheme, introduced in 2016, had safeguards to discourage, investigate and prosecute trafficking, and that suspending it could increase risk for non‑EEA fishermen by removing enforcement powers. Consequently, the injunction was refused, and the case is scheduled for further hearing in February.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Transport Federation's bid for injunction over migrant fisherman is dismissed. Procedural stage: hearing_or_decision

When:

• 2018-12-07 Publication

Why: The judge also said that he did not accept evidence on behalf of the federation that the scheme could be amended in order to accommodate those workers who benefit from it. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Hearing Or Decision

Read the original CNI report