The High Court dismissed a judicial review by an Algerian man challenging the Minister for Justice and Equality’s refusal to revoke a deportation order. The court also discharged an injunction that had restrained his deportation, effective from the oral delivery of judgment, and adjourned the matter to allow any application for leave to appeal, which must include proposed questions and written submissions.
The applicant sought asylum after arriving in Ireland in July 2001. His claim was refused in May 2002 and was not appealed. A deportation order was made in March 2004. He later sought residence based on his marriage to a Hungarian woman; that application and a subsequent review were refused. The judgment says the woman left Ireland in 2008 and had no contact with him. The court made no finding that the marriage was entered into to defeat immigration rules.
In June 2012, the applicant applied under section 3(11) of the Immigration Act 1999 to have the deportation order revoked. The Minister refused the application in a decision notified in April 2015. This was the second set of judicial review proceedings. An injunction against deportation had been granted in May 2015 and continued by agreement pending determination of the case.
The applicant argued, among other things, that the Minister had not adequately considered country information about Algeria, the risk he might face on return under the 2009 exit-visa law, factors listed in section 3(6) of the 1999 Act, his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights, and the effect of the long delay in executing the deportation order. He also argued there was no continuing intention to deport him.
The judge found the country information had been adequately considered and that the applicant had not shown a real basis for concluding that applying the exit-visa law to his circumstances would put him at risk. Section 3(6) concerns decisions to make deportation orders and did not require a fresh assessment at the section 3(11) revocation stage, although the Minister had to consider the applicant’s submissions. The court found no basis to quash the decision over the ECHR arguments or delay. It held that the deportation order and the refusal to revoke it supported an inference that the Minister’s intention to deport continued; the passage of time alone did not displace that inference.
The judgment records that the applicant had been convicted of a criminal offence in May 2012, but gives no details of the offence or sentence. It also says the Minister had positive affidavit evidence of an ongoing intention to deport him and was awaiting a final response from Algerian authorities. The court’s order dismissed the application, discharged the injunction and adjourned the matter for possible appeal applications.