The Irish Supreme Court has ruled that the Minister for Justice must reconsider a decision to remove an Algerian man from the State with alleged links to Islamic terrorism.
The appellant applied for asylum in Ireland, having been convicted in absentia in Algeria for terrorism related offences. While initially unsuccessful, the man succeeded before the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and he was granted refugee status in April 2000. He subsequently was convicted of multiple terrorism offences in France, where he was refused asylum once released from prison in 2009. In response to this, the Minister for Justice sought to revoke his refugee status on the basis of the provision of false and misleading information. The appellant then applied for re-entry to the asylum process and subsidiary protection, both of which were denied, the latter on the basis that his deportation would not constitute a violation of his rights pursuant to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The appellant’s deportation was ordered in September 2016.
Justice Donal O’Donnell acknowledged that the case threw up “in a stark way, the difficulties created when it is sought to deport an individual who is considered a threat to the security of this state and others but who contends that he will be subjected to treatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights if returned to his country of origin, which in such circumstances is the only country to which he or she can realistically be returned”.
However, Judge O’Donnell was not satisfied that the decision of the Minister for Justice was sufficiently clear to provide a level of assurance that it followed a clear reasoned path or, more importantly, was not flawed in any way. That was not to say that the Minister’s decision was incorrect, however the Court ordered that the matter be remitted for further consideration.
Click here for the decision in YY v Minister for Justice.