The High Court refused an application for a certificate allowing an appeal in a judicial review case involving a minor whose refugee claim had been refused. The court concluded that the issues raised did not meet the statutory test for certification.
The application followed an earlier High Court judgment on 7 July 2015 refusing the applicant’s request for an order of certiorari. The applicant then sought leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal under section 5(3)(a) of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000. The application was heard by Mr Justice Eagar, who delivered judgment on 31 July 2015.
The applicant relied on two proposed points of law. First, counsel argued that the applicant’s minority should have affected how the Refugee Appeals Tribunal assessed credibility. The applicant had been a minor at the time of the Tribunal appeal, and counsel referred to UNHCR guidance on children, including the benefit of the doubt. Counsel also cited Article 42A, introduced by the Thirty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Act 2012, and argued that guidance was needed on assessing the credibility of minors.
The respondents submitted that the Tribunal had noted the applicant’s age, considered the UNHCR guidance and recorded that he was prepared to give evidence without a guardian. They argued that the credibility complaint was tied to the facts and medical evidence in this case, and did not raise a general legal question of exceptional importance.
The second proposed point concerned the applicant’s prior recognition as a refugee in Guinea, after claiming status from Sierra Leone. His counsel argued that a receiving state should give regard to an earlier grant of refugee status, referring to international materials and principles of comity or legal reciprocity. The respondents said the issue had not been raised before the court in that form: the pleaded complaint concerned whether the applicant could return to Sierra Leone, including whether he might have acquired Guinean citizenship.
The court found that the Tribunal had adequately dealt with the applicant’s minority. It noted that Article 42A was not part of Irish law when the Tribunal made its decision, and found no exceptional point of law on that issue. On prior refugee status, the court held that the issues were bound up with the particular facts and did not extend beyond the parties. It also found no basis to conclude that an appeal was desirable in the public interest.
The court therefore refused the certificate. The ruling addressed only the application for certification; the earlier refusal of certiorari remained the underlying decision.