NMB v John Ryan (acting as the Refugee Appeals Tribunal) & Ors

emnadmin

Respondent/Defendant:John Ryan (acting as the Refugee Appeals Tribunal) & Ors
Court/s:High Court
Citation/s:[2005] IEHC 13
Judgment Date/s:24 Jan 2005
Judge:Finlay Geoghegan
Category:Refugee Law
Keywords:Refugee, Refugee Law, Refugee Status
URL:https://www.courts.ie/acc/alfresco/60d21a6d-f77f-4ad1-9256-a14b10301891/2005_IEHC_13_1.pdf/pdf#view=fitH

The applicant’s husband, who had been granted refugee status,  had been due to give evidence at the applicant’s oral hearing before the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. The applicant’s husband could not attend due to illness and the Tribunal did not grant an adjournment until such time as the witness might be available. The Tribunal’s decision, which upheld the Commissioner’s negative recommendation, did not issue until in excess of fifteen months after the hearing and it did not appear that the Tribunal member considered country of origin information in the interim. The applicant sought to quash the Tribunal’s decision by way of judicial review.

The High Court granted leave to seek judicial review, finding, inter alia, that the Tribunal Member to whom the appeal was assigned had an obligation to determine the appeal within a reasonable time and that when giving a determination in excess of three months later was obliged to reconsider up-to-date country of origin information.

Principles:

A Tribunal Member to whom an appeal is assigned has a duty to determine the appeal within a reasonable time. A Tribunal is obliged to consider relevant up-to-date country of origin information after an appeal hearing if the Tribunal has not decided the matter in a reasonable amount of time.

Go Back