Irish Supreme Court says failure to deport in time makes detention unlawful

The Irish Supreme Court has ruled in Kadri v. Governor of Wheatfield Prison that the detention of an individual due to be deported was unlawful, and ordered the person’s release in accordance with Article 40 section 4.2 of the Irish Constitution.

The appellant, an Algerian national, lodged a complaint that the total period of his detention exceeded the aggregate period of 8 weeks permitted by section 5(6)(a) of the Immigration Act of 1999. He had claimed asylum but following his “unsuccessful invocation of the asylum process” the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform refused to treat him as a refugee. An order was made to deport the appellant.

A letter was sent to the appellant from the Repatriation Unit of the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service which detailed a actions the applicant had to complete such as presenting himself at the office of Garda National Immigration Bureau to produce certain travel documents. However, the appellant did not comply with these requirements, and was later located at a different address in Dublin.

The appellant was then detained a prison, and brought judicial review proceedings seeking declaratory relief and  an injunction to prevent his deportation. His application was unsuccessful, but the appellant resisted so violently when being transported to the airport that the Detective responsible concluded that the appellant could not be deported, as he would inflict injury on himself. The appellant was then sent to Wheatfield Prison.

The Court relied on the case of Okorafor v Governor of Cloverhill Prison, and Charleton J held that it was unlawful to hold the appellant for more than 8 weeks from the original period of detention (even where there had been a fresh breach of the same grounds of deportation), as section 5 (6) (a) of the Act of 1999 provides that “a person shall not be detained under this section for a period or periods exceeding 8 weeks in aggregate.”  

Click here to read the full Kadri judgment.

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