The High Court refused an injunction sought by Moeen Akram to stop his removal from the State after he was refused entry at the frontier. At the time of the hearing, he was detained near Dublin airport and due to be removed to Cyprus that afternoon.
In an ex tempore judgment delivered on 25 October 2017, Mr. Justice Richard Humphreys considered the application under the criteria set out in Okunade v. Minister for Justice and Ors. He said the applicant’s case was arguable, but it had not yet been shown to be very strong.
The judge said the orderly implementation of measures that were prima facie valid weighed against granting an injunction. He also said that allowing the High Court to act as an appeal tribunal for immigration officers’ decisions at the State’s borders would make orderly border control significantly more difficult. He noted that appropriate challenges could still be brought.
On the consequences for Mr. Akram, the judge recorded that counsel for the applicant acknowledged there was no protection issue. The proposed destination was Cyprus, rather than a third country outside the EU, and the applicant could pursue his judicial review from there. The respondents submitted that damages might be an appropriate remedy given that the trip in question was more in the nature of a holiday; the judge said this weighed against an injunction.
The timing also counted against the application. Mr. Akram had been arrested on 21 October. The application was first moved after 11am on 25 October, but the papers were not then in order; it was properly launched at about 12.30pm. At 2.33pm, the scheduled departure was 3.20pm. The judge described the plane as being “on the tarmac” and said the State was entitled to an effective immigration system.
The court refused the injunction. A question of conditional release was raised, but the judge said it would arise only if an injunction had been granted and did not arise given the proposed removal within about 45 minutes. The judgment records no ruling on the substantive judicial review.