The Supreme Court decided to hear an appeal challenging a deportation order even though the Minister for Justice had revoked the order before the appeal was heard. The Court held that the appeal was technically moot, but that the circumstances justified exercising its discretion to proceed.
The proceedings began as a judicial review challenge to a deportation order made against Gideon Odum on 21 June 2016. The applicants argued that the Minister had not properly assessed his family and private life rights under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. The High Court refused judicial review in November 2021 and refused leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal in February 2022.
In June 2022, the Supreme Court granted leave to appeal, finding that the case raised an issue of general public importance and exceptional circumstances warranted an appeal. The issue identified concerned how constitutional family rights are affected by the absence of a “meaningful involved relationship” in deportation decisions.
Separately, Odum applied under the Regularisation of Long Term Undocumented Migrants Scheme. The Minister granted him permission to remain in the State for two years from 15 July 2022 and, by an order dated 14 July 2022, revoked the 2016 deportation order. The judgment said that this application and decision appeared to have occurred independently of the court proceedings and appeal.
The Minister argued that revocation made the appeal moot. The Chief Justice agreed that the deportation order no longer had force or effect in Odum’s daily life and that the appeal no longer presented the same live controversy. The applicants, however, argued that the order and their alleged failure to comply with it could still affect future immigration decisions. The Chief Justice considered that concern realistic, while finding that the appeal was moot in law because the order the applicants sought to quash no longer existed.
The Court nevertheless decided to hear the appeal. The decisive factor was that it had already granted leave on a general public importance issue and the appeal was ready for hearing. Dismissing it would leave the High Court decision in place and the law unsettled, potentially requiring similar cases to proceed through the courts before the Supreme Court could address the issue. The Court also considered that the parties remained prepared to argue the legal question and that deciding it would not amount to an advisory opinion.
The judgment determined only that the appeal would proceed despite the order’s revocation. It did not decide the substantive challenge to the deportation decision or grant the requested order of certiorari. The judgment was delivered on 2 February 2023.