Facts:
The applicants were Iraqi and Afghan nationals who were granted refugee status in the State. They each subsequently applied for family reunification for their wives. The Minister for Justice refused the applications on the basis that section 56(9)(a) of the International Protection Act 2015 only provided for refugee family reunification for spouses where the marriage pre-dated the application for international protection. The applicants subsequently instituted proceedings challenging the constitutionality and/or ECHR compatibility of the exclusion of post-flight marriages from the right to refugee family reunification.
Reasoning:
Barrett J declined to follow the decision of Humphreys J in RC on the basis that he was bound to follow the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in Hode & Abdi and accordingly found that section 56(9)(a) of the International Protection Act 2015 was unconstitutional.
Decision: Section 56(9)(a) of the International Protection Act 2015 was unconstitutional. (This decision is under appeal to the Supreme Court)
