The High Court has set aside a decision to revoke Muhammad Imran’s permanent residence card, ruling that the Minister for Justice had not assessed whether revocation was proportionate. The matter was remitted to the Minister for further consideration.
Mr Justice Barr’s judgment, delivered on 22 June 2023, did not decide whether the disputed receipts were genuine or whether Imran’s card should ultimately be revoked. The court also rejected the Minister’s request to dismiss the judicial review because of omissions from the application for leave. It found no culpable lack of candour by Imran.
The Minister’s review decision of 13 December 2021 found that Imran had relied on false or misleading information to obtain a permanent residence card. The finding concerned a receipt book containing 92 receipts for childminding services said to have been provided by his former wife, E.L., between December 2015 and May 2016. The Minister relied in part on submissions made for Imran in February 2021 stating that E.L. had left Ireland in January 2016 and had not returned.
Imran did not challenge the finding that he had submitted information known to be false or misleading. His judicial review argued that the Minister had to assess proportionality before revoking the card. In a January 2022 letter, his solicitor said Imran had given an incorrect departure date and believed E.L. had left in mid-2016, though he could not recall the exact date. The letter maintained that the receipts were genuine.
The court held that Article 35 of the EU Citizens’ Rights Directive and Regulation 27 of the 2015 Free Movement Regulations required a proportionality assessment. It said the Minister had not considered Imran’s personal circumstances or whether a lesser sanction might be appropriate. The judge also noted that the issue of E.L.’s presence in Ireland in 2016 had not been put to Imran for comment before the review decision.
The judgment discussed material that might bear on the dispute, including tax submissions referring to income attributed to E.L. and documents containing her authenticated signatures. The judge said those matters could support further examination, but made no finding that the receipts were authentic. He said Imran should have an opportunity to address the fraud allegation.
The court rejected a separate challenge to the adequacy of the Minister’s reasons, finding the decision’s reasoning clear when read as a whole. It ordered the 13 December 2021 decision set aside and the matter remitted. The parties were given two weeks to make written submissions on the final order and costs, with a mention listed for 11 July 2023. The judgment does not state the final terms of the order or costs outcome.