The High Court has denied an application for judicial review seeking an order requiring the Minister for Justice and Equality to investigate an applicant’s allegations of sex trafficking and sexual assault. The court held that the Minister had no role in investigating crime, a task for An Garda Síochána, and that the immigration-related duties sought depended on a Garda determination that there were reasonable grounds to suspect trafficking.
The applicant, identified in the judgment as M. R., alleged that he had been brought to Ireland from Morocco for sexual exploitation and that he had been sexually assaulted or faced an attempted assault by the person who sponsored his visa. He sought, among other relief, an investigation and temporary permission to remain in Ireland while any investigation or prosecution was completed. Those were allegations, not findings by the court.
The judgment records that Gardaí attempted to interview the applicant in late 2011 and January 2012. According to an affidavit from a Garda senior officer, those attempts did not produce a full complaint statement, and the officer determined that reasonable grounds to believe the applicant was a trafficking victim had not been established. The applicant did not file an affidavit responding to that account. The judge treated the evidence of unsuccessful interview attempts as uncontroverted, while noting that no written investigation report was before the court.
The court found that the Minister could not be ordered to investigate alleged criminal conduct. It also rejected the challenges concerning assistance and immigration permission, explaining that the relevant obligations arose only after a Garda superintendent or higher-ranking officer identified a person as a suspected trafficking victim under the administrative arrangements then in place.
The judge said the Garda investigation had concluded with no further progress possible without a “fulsome and credible statement of complaint” from the applicant. The judgment noted that this left open the possibility of the applicant resuming engagement with Gardaí. It did not order a further investigation, grant residence permission, or determine whether the trafficking or assault allegations were true. The relief sought in the judicial review proceedings was denied.