These Regulations amend the International Protection Act 2015 (Procedures and Periods for Appeals) Regulations 2017 (S.I. No. 116 of 2017) regarding the processing of appeals applications by the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT).
The Regulations shorten certain time periods connected with the holding of an oral hearing where the appeal is against a report that contains a finding under section 39(4) of the International Protection Act 2015, and the IPAT has decided that it is in the interests of justice to hold an oral hearing. Section 39(4) concerns a situation where, under section 39(3)(c), an international protection officer has found that the applicant should be given neither refugee declaration or a subsidiary protection declaration, and where the international protection officer in their report also makes reference to, inter alia, that the applicant’s country of origin is a safe country of origin, that the applicant has raised only issues that are not relevant or are of minimal relevance to his or her eligibility for international protection, and the applicant made inconsistent, contradictory, improbable or insufficient representations which make his or her claim to be eligible for international protection clearly unconvincing.
The time for sending notice of the oral hearing is reduced to 10 working days in advance of the oral hearing. The time for lodging of additional documents with the IPAT is reduced to 5 working days.
The Regulations also provide a revised appeal application form as well as a new appeal application form for a report that contains findings under section 39 (4) of the International Protection Act 2015.
