The High Court has restrained the enforcement of a deportation order against a Nigerian woman until a decision is made on a Zambrano application, if one is made within a month of her child’s birth. It also declared that the Minister for Justice must consider her prospective EU law position when deciding any application to revoke the order.
The judgment, delivered by Mr Justice Richard Humphreys on 21 October 2019, records that the woman’s revocation application remained undecided. She had applied in January 2019, saying she had become pregnant by the second applicant. The court’s ruling followed a hearing in July and September, with an ex tempore ruling delivered on 4 September.
The court said the case concerned the mother’s right to fair administrative procedure, including having relevant matters considered and receiving a proportionate decision. The judge said the Minister had to consider her prospective position, including any potential EU law entitlement, when dealing with the revocation application. The declaration addressed a dispute about the scope of that duty; it did not determine the revocation application itself.
The applicants had argued that deportation close to the expected birth would threaten human dignity. The judge declined to declare deportation unlawful on that ground, saying there was no personalised medical evidence about the first applicant’s condition or the risk to her dignity. He also rejected an asserted general duty on the State to give an undertaking not to deport, or reasons for refusing one.
The unborn child was not joined as an applicant. The judge said the case did not determine the child’s rights and that the applicants could not assert the child’s rights in these proceedings. The restraint was based on the mother’s position: on the evidence before the court, the judge considered there was a relatively high chance that the Minister might have to readmit her if she were deported before the child’s birth, given the child’s anticipated Irish citizenship and the possible application of the Zambrano doctrine.
The final order declared that the Minister must consider, among other matters, the first applicant’s prospective EU law position in any revocation application. It restrained enforcement of the deportation order until determination of a Zambrano application made within one month of the child’s birth. The judgment did not decide that application or the pending revocation request.