The High Court has made no order as to costs in judicial review proceedings brought by Nigerian citizen F.A.A. after the Minister for Justice withdrew a deportation proposal that had been issued in error.
F.A.A. arrived in Ireland in 2012 and was later granted permission to remain based on his marriage to an EU citizen. He subsequently held an independent Stamp 1 permission and, from May 2023, a Stamp 4 permission which remained valid when the disputed deportation proposal was issued.
In January 2024, the Minister made a finding that F.A.A.'s marriage was one of convenience and revoked his EU Treaty Rights permission. On April 17, 2024, the Department proposed deporting him on the basis that he was in the State without permission.
That premise was wrong because his separate Stamp 4 permission had not been revoked. F.A.A. began judicial review proceedings on April 26, and leave was granted in July.
The Minister eventually wrote on February 7, 2025 confirming that the deportation proposal had resulted from an administrative error and had been rescinded. That left the proceedings effectively moot, with the remaining dispute concerning legal costs.
Mr Justice Sean Gillane declined F.A.A.'s request for his costs. The judge noted that a proposal to deport is normally only the start of a statutory process and can usually be answered by making representations to the Minister rather than immediately seeking judicial review.
The court found that F.A.A.'s pre-litigation letter had not clearly told the Minister that he held an extant Stamp 4 permission. It had also requested a response within five days, but proceedings were issued before that period expired.
For those reasons, the judge found the case had been commenced prematurely.
However, the original mistake was the Minister's, and it took until February 2025 to correct it despite the proceedings having been underway for months. The court therefore also refused the Minister's request for costs, leaving each side to bear its own.