The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) appears today before the High Court as amicus curiae (non-partisan friend of the court) in four linked deportation cases. The four cases are judicial review proceedings brought by the Nigerian parents and siblings of Irish citizen children challenging deportation decisions. In January, the High Court granted the IHRC liberty to appear in the cases.
As a matter of law, people subject to a deportation order by the Minister for Justice and Law Reform, are entitled to challenge the order by instituting judicial review proceedings in the High Court. These 4 cases will consider the circumstances in which the State can issue deportation orders and the procedure for challenging deportation orders before the Courts. As such, Constitutional and European Convention on Human Rights standards are at issue. The IHRC will draw the relevant standards to the attention of the Court to assist it in its deliberations. These standards include the right to respect for private and family life and the right to an effective remedy.
Dr Maurice Manning, President of the IHRC said
"The IHRC welcomes the opportunity to draw both those Constitutional and international human rights standards that are engaged in deportation cases to the attention of the High Court as befits its statutory role in such interventions."
Mr Éamonn Mac Aodha, Chief Executive of the IHRC said
"Part of the reason why the IHRC sought liberty to appear in these cases is that deportation continues to be a contested area with a large number of similar cases pending before the Courts. The IHRC hopes that its intervention is timely and will be of assistance to the Court in its deliberations."
Full text of the IHRC’s written submissions
ENDS/
For further information, please contact:
Fidelma Joyce,
IHRC
Tel: 01 8589601
Mobile: 087 7834939
Notes to Editors
Under section 8(h) of the Human Rights Commission Act 2000, the IHRC may, at the discretion of the High Court or the Supreme Court, appear as amicus curiae in proceedings that involve or are concerned with the human rights of any person.
Section 2 of the Human Rights Commission Act, 2000 defines "human rights" to include those rights conferred on or guaranteed to persons under the Constitution and under any agreement, treaty or convention to which the State is a party.
The IHRC first appeared as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court in April 2005 in the case of Dublin City Council v Fennell which involved issues regarding the interpretation and effect of the European Convention on Human Rights Act. Since then it has been granted liberty to appear before the Supreme Court and High Court in thirteen cases. The current proceedings are the ninth time the IHRC will appear before the High Court.
The IHRC was put on notice of these proceedings pursuant to section 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 which requires certain human rights cases to be notified to the Commission.
The IHRC’s Strategic Plan 2007-2011 Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in Ireland addresses highlights the importance of promoting a society that values inclusiveness and diversity through respect for human rights in its Goal 4 including in relation to asylum seekers, refugees, immigrants and migrant workers.
The Constitution sets out the following rights:
Article 40
- 1. All citizens shall, as human persons, be held equal before the law. This shall not be held to mean that the State shall not in its enactments have due regard to differences of capacity, physical and moral, and of social function.
- 3. 1° The State guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far aspracticable, by its laws to defend and vindicate the personal rights of the citizen.
- 2° The State shall, in particular, by its laws protect as best it may from unjust attack and, in the case of injustice done, vindicate the life, person, good name, and property rights of every citizen.
Article 41
- 1° The State recognises the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law.
- 2° The State, therefore, guarantees to protect the Family in its constitution and authority, as the necessary basis of social order and as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and the State.
- 1° The State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack.
The European Convention of Human Rights sets out the following rights:
Article 8 – Right to respect for private and family life
- Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
- There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
Article 13 – Right to an effective remedy
Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child sets out a number of rights including the following:
Article 3
- In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
- States Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures.
- States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.
Article 9
- States Parties shall ensure that a child shall not be separated from his or her parents against their will, except when competent authorities subject to judicial review determine, in accordance with applicable law and procedures, that such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child. Such determination may be necessary in a particular case such as one involving abuse or neglect of the child by the parents, or one where the parents are living separately and a decision must be made as to the child’s place of residence.
- In any proceedings pursuant to paragraph 1 of the present article, all interested parties shall be given an opportunity to participate in the proceedings and make their views known.
- States Parties shall respect the right of the child who is separated from one or both parents to maintain personal relations and direct contact with both parents on a regular basis, except if it is contrary to the child’s best interests.
- Where such separation results from any action initiated by a State Party, such as the detention, imprisonment, exile, deportation or death (including death arising from any cause while the person is in the custody of the State) of one or both parents or of the child, that State Party shall, upon request, provide the parents, the child or, if appropriate, another member of the family with the essential information concerning the whereabouts of the absent member(s) of the family unless the provision of the information would be detrimental to the well-being of the child. States Parties shall further ensure that the submission of such a request shall of itself entail no adverse consequences for the person(s) concerned.