The High Court quashed the Minister for Justice and Equality’s refusal to revoke Ivan Seredych’s deportation order, after finding that refusing to let him return to pursue a permitted international protection application would frustrate the statutory process.
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys directed the Minister to reconsider and decide the matter in accordance with the judgment. He said there was no discretion over the outcome: the power to revoke the deportation order could be exercised only in Mr Seredych’s favour. The court did not quash the refusal of a visa or make a separate declaration at this stage.
Mr Seredych, who had left Ireland under the deportation order, received a positive decision from the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT) on 11 February 2019. The tribunal set aside the International Protection Office’s recommendation against allowing him to make a further protection application. The Minister then consented to a subsequent application, but required him to attend the office within ten days. He was in Ukraine and did not attend.
The Minister refused to revoke the deportation order on 1 April 2019 and declined a visa for Mr Seredych to return later that month. He brought the present judicial review, for which the court granted leave in July 2019. The hearing took place on 22 and 29 October.
The State argued, among other points, that the consent to reapply did not itself give Mr Seredych a right to enter or remain in Ireland, and that he had left voluntarily. The judge rejected that characterisation: Mr Seredych had been required to leave under the deportation order. Although the 2015 Act did not expressly provide the relevant right of readmission in his circumstances, the judge held that public law required the Minister not to frustrate the protection process after IPAT’s positive decision. The ten-day period for making the substantive application would run from his actual readmission.
The judge did not decide the European Union law issues because he found for Mr Seredych on domestic law grounds. Nor did he determine whether he would ultimately qualify for protection; the court said any disqualification based on serious crime would have to be considered in the protection application itself.
The final order extended time, quashed the 4 April 2019 refusal to revoke the deportation order and remitted the matter to the Minister with a direction to reconsider it in accordance with the judgment. It awarded Mr Seredych his costs, including reserved costs. The remittal and costs orders were stayed for 28 days, with further stays if appeal proceedings were initiated within the stated periods. The judgment did not quash the visa refusal; the court left open the possibility of further relief if needed.