The High Court has refused Y.Y. leave to appeal a judgment dismissing his challenge to a deportation order and a decision not to revoke it. The court also discharged the stay on his removal, while continuing a reporting restriction on the country of origin under specified conditions.
In a judgment delivered on 24 March 2017, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys considered Y.Y.’s application under section 5 of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000. The application proposed 15 questions said to involve points of law of exceptional public importance.
The judge concluded that none met the statutory test. He said most failed threshold requirements, including that a question must arise from the decision, be decisive to its outcome, and significantly transcend the facts of the case. He also found that the one question potentially capable of consideration did not raise real doubt requiring appellate clarification.
The underlying case concerned a deportation order and a refusal by the Minister for Justice and Equality to revoke it. The earlier judgment, delivered on 13 March 2017, had dismissed Y.Y.’s challenge. It considered issues including the risk of serious harm on return, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal’s assessment, and the Minister’s reasons for departing from it. In the present application, the judge said the applicant had received an independent and effective review of the Minister’s decisions. The leave application did not reopen the underlying challenge.
The court separately found that allowing an appeal would not be in the public interest, referring to matters it described concerning the applicant’s conduct and immigration history. It said that this assessment was separate from its conclusion that no qualifying point of law had been raised. The judge also stated that the applicant’s conduct had not been used to dismiss his Article 3 claim on discretionary grounds in the earlier case.
The order refused leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal and discharged the stay on deportation forthwith. The reporting restriction on the country of origin continues until removal and for two months afterwards, or until a decision is made not to remove Y.Y. If removal or a decision not to remove occurs, the Minister must inform the court in open court of the date. The judgment says the judge would consider approving an unredacted version of the earlier judgment if the restriction is lifted.