The High Court has rejected a judicial review challenge by Pakistani national Shaheen Javed to Ireland’s deportation procedure, ruling that the process did not breach her constitutional rights or her rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Javed came to Ireland in May 2011 on a 90-day visitor visa. Her daughter, son-in-law and two granddaughters lived in Cork. She sought several extensions of permission to remain, saying her daughter’s back and leg pain made it difficult for her to care for the children and that she needed her mother’s help. The Minister granted a number of short extensions but refused a request to change Javed’s immigration status from Stamp 3 to Stamp 4.
In March 2013, the Minister refused a further request for visitor permission and told Javed to arrange her departure. A month later, the Minister notified her of a proposal to make a deportation order because her permission had expired and she remained in the State. The notice gave her 15 working days to make written representations, leave before a decision, or consent to a deportation order. Javed did not use those options and instead brought judicial review proceedings.
Her challenge focused on what would happen if the Minister rejected representations based on her family circumstances and human rights. She argued that the law should allow her to leave voluntarily after an adverse decision, before a deportation order was made. She said the prospect of an order deterred her from making representations because it could prevent her from returning to see her family. The Minister argued that the challenge was premature and that the statutory process was sufficient to consider any relevant rights.
Justice Barr held that a person affected by the Minister’s decision had a constitutional right to fair procedures, including the right to make representations. He said the process under section 3 of the Immigration Act 1999 provided an appropriate opportunity for Javed’s circumstances to be considered before a deportation order decision.
The judge acknowledged that an unsuccessful applicant could face a deportation order without a further option to leave voluntarily, and that this possibility might deter some people. But he held that the consequence did not unlawfully interfere with the right to make representations. The court did not decide whether Javed’s family circumstances gave her a substantive right to remain in Ireland. It refused the reliefs sought, including the requested challenge to the procedure; it did not itself make a deportation order.