The High Court has certified two points of law for appeal to the Court of Appeal in a challenge involving removal and exclusion orders made against an anonymised applicant.
Mr Justice Conleth Bradley delivered the judgment on 1 November 2024. The application sought a certificate to appeal an earlier High Court judgment, delivered on 29 May 2024, which had refused the applicant’s challenge to a reviewed decision by the Minister for Justice.
That ministerial decision, made on 23 March 2023, affirmed earlier decisions of 27 January 2023 to make removal and exclusion orders under the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015. The judgment says the orders were made under Regulations 20 and 23 respectively.
The court considered whether the proposed questions met the statutory test: whether they involved points of law of exceptional public importance and whether an appeal was desirable in the public interest. The judge concluded that two variations of questions raised by the applicant met that test.
The first certified question asks whether, when assessing the lawfulness of a removal or exclusion order, the court may consider a notification, related correspondence or other written communication supplied by the Minister to the addressee about the requirements for removal or exclusion. The question specifically includes notifications under Regulations 21(4)(b) and 23(6)(b).
The second asks whether the Minister may specify a period in which the addressee must arrange to leave the jurisdiction, instead of setting a single date for removal or the start of exclusion.
The judge noted that related issues had been addressed by the Supreme Court in deportation cases, and said the certified questions had systemic importance for removal and exclusion orders as they may apply to EU citizens in Ireland. The court certified the two questions under section 5(6)(a) of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000, as amended.
The order certifies the questions for appeal. This judgment does not determine the answers to them.