The Court of Appeal has allowed the Minister for Justice and Equality’s appeal against a High Court order that quashed the revocation of an Egyptian man’s residence card.
In a judgment delivered on 18 December 2019, Ms Justice Baker said the Minister’s decision was based on uncontroverted evidence about the man’s estranged wife’s work history. The court held that her continued receipt of social welfare payments did not determine whether she was exercising EU Treaty rights under the European Communities (Free Movement of Persons) Regulations 2015.
The man’s permission to remain in Ireland had been granted in 2013 on the basis of his marriage to a Slovenian Union citizen, identified in the judgment only as Ms C. The couple married in December 2012, have since separated and are not divorced. His residence claim depended on her rights as a Union citizen residing in Ireland.
Ms C had worked in Ireland for six months in 2013 and had received social welfare payments, including jobseeker’s allowance. The Minister concluded that the evidence did not show she met the Regulations’ conditions for retaining worker status after leaving employment. The Court of Appeal said the Minister was entitled to make that assessment separately from any action by the Department of Social Protection, and was not required to determine whether the welfare payments were correctly made.
The Minister’s October 2018 decision said Ms C had not been resident in Ireland in conformity with the Regulations since 2013, so the man’s derived right to reside had ceased. The High Court had quashed that decision in May 2019, finding the Minister had not adequately reconciled it with the apparent position of the social protection authorities.
On appeal, the court found the man had not produced evidence contradicting the work-history account or raising a factual basis to doubt the Minister’s assessment. It also rejected the argument that the Minister had to disclose social protection records in these circumstances, noting that the man had lived with Ms C until 2017 and could have advanced evidence about her work, study or other circumstances.
The Court of Appeal concluded that the Minister’s decision was sufficiently reasoned and reasonable on the evidence before him. It allowed the appeal, reversing the High Court’s order quashing the revocation. The judgment did not decide whether Ms C was entitled to the welfare payments.