The High Court has refused a judicial review challenging the Minister for Justice and Equality’s decision not to revoke a deportation order against an anonymised applicant, finding that he had not shown he needed to re-enter Ireland to pursue family law proceedings concerning his daughter.
In a judgment delivered on 11 November 2016, Ms Justice Stewart said the applicant’s claim that the District Court proceedings had been struck out because he was absent was not supported by the hearing transcript. The District Judge had struck out the applications after the applicant’s solicitor sought an adjournment to pursue judicial review proceedings. The judge did not make an Isaac Wunder order preventing a fresh application.
The High Court said there was no evidence that the District Court had been asked to let the applicant give evidence by video link, or that such a request would have been refused. Evidence from a solicitor for the State said the Dublin Metropolitan District Court had facilities for video evidence in family law matters. The judge considered that evidence could be given remotely, subject to appropriate formalities, and rejected the argument that physical attendance in Ireland was the only way to advance the family case.
The applicant had argued that refusing to revoke the order blocked access to court and disproportionately affected his and his child’s rights. He also challenged the Minister’s assessment of his circumstances, including the possibility he could be a burden on State resources, and argued that the decision-maker had misapplied legal principles.
The judge found that the Minister’s decision contained a thorough assessment of the applicant’s circumstances, court access, family rights and the relevant European and constitutional provisions. She found no error in its reasoning or proportionality assessment. She also said it would be premature to draw conclusions about the consequences for the father-daughter relationship because the extent of the applicant’s rights regarding the child had not yet been established under Irish law.
The court’s ruling concerned the judicial review of the Minister’s refusal to revoke the deportation order. It did not decide the underlying family law application or whether the District Court would permit the applicant to participate remotely. The judge noted that no video-link request had been made there. The application for judicial review was refused.