TF v Minister for Justice

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TF v Minister for Justice
Respondent/Defendant:Minister for Justice
Court/s:Court of Appeal
Citation/s:[2023] IECA 183
Nature of Proceedings:Appeal
Judgment Date/s:20 Jul 2023
Judge:Ni Raifeartaigh U, Allen S, Butler N
Category:Refugee Law
Keywords:Country of Origin Information, Refugee Status (Withdrawal of)
Country of Origin:Romania
URL:https://courts.ie/acc/alfresco/5e6dced8-d446-478c-815b-f7d9bc245133/2023_IECA_183.pdf/pdf#view=fitH

Facts: The appellant was a Romanian national of Roma ethnicity who arrived in Ireland in 2001 and was granted refugee status in 2004 on the basis that he had suffered persecution at the hands of the Romanian police on account of his ethnicity. He became a naturalised Irish citizen in 2015. In 2010, a European Arrest Warrant was issued by … Read More

Principles:In order to make a valid decision to revoke a person’s refugee status there must be an individualised assessment not just of the general circumstances in the country of origin but also of the factors relied upon by the individual at the time they were granted asylum.
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UM v the Minister for Foreign Affairs & anor

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M v the Minister for Foreign Affairs & anor
Respondent/Defendant:The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Passport Appeals Officer David Barry
Court/s:Supreme Court
Citation/s:[2022] IESC 25
Nature of Proceedings:Appeal
Judgment Date/s:02 Jun 2022
Judge: Dunne E.
Category:Citizenship, Citizenship (Loss of), Refugee Law
Keywords:Citizenship, Citizenship (Acquisition of), Citizenship (Loss of), Dependant, Family Member, Refugee, Refugee Status (Withdrawal of)
Country of Origin:Afghanistan
URL:https://courts.ie/view/judgments/489c8348-eefe-4710-ad77-5d07c5900dfe/c6e228ba-8511-496c-bfcf-97e1fb6be228/2022_IESC_25_Dunne%20J.pdf/pdf

Facts: UM was born in Galway in June 2013. His father, MM, an Afghan national, was declared a refugee in in Ireland in 2006. In June 2013, MM was informed by the Department of Justice of an intention to revoke his refugee status on grounds including that he had returned to Afghanistan and stayed there for two months and that … Read More

Principles:Revocation of refugee status has prospective effect. A residence status conferred by the State on a parent based on false or misleading information could, under the terms of the relevant legislation, be included for the calculation of the period required to confer an entitlement of citizenship to their child.
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NA (Somalia) and UM (Afghanistan) v Minister for Justice and Equality

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Respondent/Defendant:Minister for Justice and Equality
Court/s:High Court
Nature of Proceedings:Judicial Review
Judgment Date/s:10 Nov 2017
Judge:Steward C.
Category:Citizenship, Refugee Law
Keywords:Citizenship, Citizenship (Loss of), Refugee, Refugee Status (Withdrawal of)
Country of Origin:Somalia/Afghanistan
URL:https://www.courts.ie/acc/alfresco/2083e39b-b08f-4d17-b54a-a7072cd52580/2017_IEHC_741_1.pdf/pdf#view=fitH
Geographic Focus:Other

Facts: In the first case, the first named applicant, a Somali national, arrived in the State in 2004. She married another Somali national and was granted residence permission based on his refugee status, which he acquired in June 2008. His refugee status was revoked in October 2011 under s.21(1)h of the Refugee Act 1996, on grounds that the information provided … Read More

Principles:

Revocation of a person’s grant of refugee status on the basis of false and misleading information had the effect of rendering that grant void ab initio. It also had the legally unavoidable effect of rendering the grant of Irish citizenship to the children of such persons null and void.[2017] IEHC 741

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Hussein v The Minister for Justice and Law Reform

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Respondent/Defendant:Minister for Justice and Equality
Court/s:High Court
Citation/s:[2014] IEHC 130
Nature of Proceedings:Appeal
Judgment Date/s:18 Mar 2014
Judge:MacEochaidh J.
Category:Refugee Law
Keywords:Asylum, Burden of Proof, Refugee, Refugee (Convention), Refugee Law, Refugee Status, Refugee Status (Withdrawal of)
Country of Origin:Sudan
URL:https://www.courts.ie/acc/alfresco/e69eaf33-1a83-436b-b525-a37986fd1d19/2014_IEHC_130_1.pdf/pdf#view=fitH
Geographic Focus:Ireland

Facts: The appellant was a Sudanese national who had been granted a declaration of refugee status in Ireland by the Minister for Justice on foot of a positive recommendation of the Refugee Applications Commissioner. He claimed that he had fled Sudan for Ireland, arriving in it in November, 2006, after his village was attacked by Sudanese government forces and the … Read More

Principles:

Where a person is appealing a decision of the Minister for Justice to revoke his or her declaration of refugee status, such an appeal can only be successful if the High Court is persuaded that the Minister incorrectly decided to revoke the declaration. The burden is on the applicant to demonstrate that the Minister’s decision was incorrect.

The High Court is entitled to consider whether the Minister’s decision to revoke was correct, having regard not only to the material before the Minister when making it, but also to the evidence adduced by the appellant orally and on affidavit in the appeal.

The High Court must seek to identify false and misleading information and, should such be found, to enquire as to the effect of that on the appellant’s application for refugee status. In order for it to dismiss the appeal, it must be satisfied that the false or misleading information would have produced a negative decision on the application for refugee status.

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Adegbuyi v Minister for Justice and Law Reform

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Respondent/Defendant:Minister for Justice and Law Reform
Court/s:High Court
Citation/s:[2012] IEHC 484, 1 November 2012
Nature of Proceedings:Appeal
Judgment Date/s:01 Nov 2012
Judge:Clark J
Category:Refugee Law
Keywords:Asylum, Geneva Convention & Protocol, Protection, Protection (International), Refugee, Refugee Status, Refugee Status (Withdrawal of)
Country of Origin:Nigeria
URL:https://www.courts.ie/acc/alfresco/e6e0e80d-bd58-4c2a-b34d-b1d7570a590b/2012_IEHC_484_1.pdf/pdf#view=fitH
Geographic Focus:Ireland

Facts The applicant had been recognised as a refugee in 2007. In late 2007 and 2008 information came to the Minister’s attention which caused him concern as to the applicant’s need for international protection. The applicant had originally been recognised as a refugee arising out of a criminal case involving a colleague at Lagos State University (LASU) who, it was … Read More

Principles:

In determining the validity of revocations of refugee status under Section 21(5) of the Refugee Act 1996 the Court is exercising an appellate function and determining whether or not the decision is wrong, and not a review function as to whether or not the decision is lawful. The correct approach to appeals under section 21(5) is to consider the revocation appeal on all of the information put before the court. The court is not confined to the information which was before the Minister. Under section 21(5) the Court may substitute its own reasons for those given by the Minister.

Section 21(1)(h) (and its corresponding provisions in Regulation 11(2)(b) of the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 and Article 14(3)(b) of the Qualification Directive) has no equivalent in the Geneva Convention.   These provisions operate where evidence emerges that the person should never have been granted refugee status, and refugee declaration is invalidated and is void ab initio.

Section 21(1) must be read together with Regulation 11(2) of the 2006 Regulations, which was designed to give effect to Article 14(3) of the Qualification Directive.  Regulation 11(2)(a)  removed the Minister’s discretion to revoke refugee status under Section 21(1), and made revocation mandatory under all sub-sections except Section 21(1)(g).

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Morris Ali v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform

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Respondent/Defendant:Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
Court/s:High Court
Citation/s:[2012] IEHC 149
Nature of Proceedings:Appeal
Judgment Date/s:01 Mar 2012
Judge:O’Keeffe J
Category:Refugee Law
Keywords:Asylum, Refugee, Refugee Status, Refugee Status (Withdrawal of)
Country of Origin:Sierra Leone
URL:https://www.courts.ie/acc/alfresco/ff7c7c81-d0b0-419b-9246-829c0e8cbb47/2012_IEHC_149_1.pdf/pdf#view=fitH
Geographic Focus:Ireland

Facts The applicant was a national of Sierra Leone and had been given a declaration of refugee status in 2002. In 2008 he pleaded guilty to the possession of drugs worth €70 for sale or supply under Section 15 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 (as amended) and of possession of a false instrument, a false South African passport. … Read More

Principles:

Section 21(1)(g) provides that the Minister may revoke refugee status where he considers that a person whose presence in the State poses a threat to national security or public policy (‘ordre public’) and that there are reasonable grounds for regarding him as a danger to the security of the State.  Regulation 11(1)(a) and (b) provides that the Minister may revoke refugee status  where he considers that a person having been convicted of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of the State.

The Minister must consider the separate constituents of the phrases “serious crime” and “particularly serious crime” based on an informed and correct version of the facts and act in a reasonable manner in the preparation of his consideration of revocation, in the conclusions he reaches and the decision he takes in reliance on such analysis and conclusions.

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GS v Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Respondent/Defendant:Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
Court/s:High Court
Citation/s:[2004] 2 IR 417
Judgment Date/s:19 Mar 2004
Judge:Peart
Category:Refugee Law
Keywords:Refugee, Refugee Law, Refugee Status, Refugee Status (Withdrawal of)

The applicant had been granted a declaration of refugee status, but this status was subsequently revoked by the Minister under Section 21(1)(9) of the Refugee Act 1996 i.e. that he was a person whose presence in the State poses a threat to public policy, on the applicant’s return to the State after completing a sentence of imprisonment in Belgium relating … Read More

Principles:

An applicant should be in a position to make his or her best possible case at the leave stage and fairness requires that an applicant have prior to his application for leave the material that has been relied upon in making the impugned decision - subject to the rules of privilege.

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