The High Court refused two Mauritian former students leave to seek judicial review of deportation orders, finding no substantial grounds for contending that the orders were invalid. The court adjourned the matter to allow them to consider an application for leave to appeal; any such application should be made on notice to the respondents.
Mr Justice Richard Humphreys delivered the judgment on 14 November 2016. The applicants had held temporary student permissions, which the court said they later overstayed. The first applicant’s permission was granted in 2008, and the court said he had been in the State unlawfully since September 2012. The second applicant received permission in 2009 and had been unlawfully present since December 2014.
Applying the substantial-grounds test under section 5 of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act 2000, the judge rejected the applicants’ argument that holding immigration permission made them settled migrants for the purposes of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. He said temporary student permission was precarious and afforded minimal Article 8 rights, if any. He also declined to adjourn the case pending an appeal in another matter, noting that deportation orders had already been made in this case.
The applicants also challenged the Minister’s treatment of humanitarian considerations and the reasons given for rejecting their application for leave to remain. The judge said the Minister could conclude that those considerations did not carry sufficient weight to prevent deportation, and found no substantial grounds for the complaints about reasons or proportionality.
He rejected a further argument that the decision had to include a statement that no less restrictive process was available. The judgment said no particular formula was required and that the proportionality tests relied on presupposed interference with rights, which the judge found was not present in this case.
The court refused leave to seek judicial review. It adjourned the matter to give the applicants time to consider seeking leave to appeal and ordered that a copy of the judgment be served on the Chief State Solicitor’s Office within seven days.