European Communities (Asylum Procedures) Regulations, 2011

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 51/2011
• Year: 2011

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 18th February, 2011.

I, BRENDAN SMITH, Minister for Justice and Law Reform, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving further effect to Council Directive 2005/85/EC of 1 December 20051 , hereby make the following regulations:

Citation and commencement

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Asylum Procedures) Regulations 2011.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on 1 March 2011.

Interpretation

2. In these Regulations, “Act of 1996” means the Refugee Act 1996 .

Amendment of section 1 of Act of 1996

3. Section 1 of the Act of 1996 is amended by inserting the following definition after the definition of "prescribed":

“ ‘Regulations of 2006’ means the European Communities (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 ( S.I. No. 518 of 2006 );”.

Amendment of section 11 of Act of 1996

4. Section 11 (as amended by section 7 (e) of the Immigration Act 2003 ) of the Act of 1996 is amended—

(a) in subsection (2) by deleting "and an interview under this subsection shall, where necessary and possible, be conducted with the assistance of an interpreter", and

(b) by inserting the following after subsection (2):

“(2A) An applicant interviewed under subsection (2) shall, whenever necessary for the purpose of ensuring appropriate communication during the interview, be provided by the Commissioner with the services of an interpreter.

(2B) An interview under subsection (2) shall take place without the presence of family members of the applicant unless the Commissioner considers it necessary for an appropriate investigation to have other family members present.”.

Amendment of section 12 of Act of 1996

5. Section 12 (as amended by section 7 (g) of the Immigration Act 2003 ) of the Act of 1996 is amended—

(a) by substituting the following for subsection (4):

“(4)(a) The Minister may, by order made after consultation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, designate a country as a safe country of origin.

(b) The Minister may make an order under paragraph (a) only if he or she is satisfied that, on the basis of the legal situation, the application of the law within a democratic system and the general political circumstances, it can be shown that, in the country concerned, there is generally and consistently no persecution, construed in accordance with section 2 and Regulation 9 of the Regulations of 2006, no torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and no threat by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict.

(c) In making the assessment referred to in paragraph (b), the Minister shall take account of, among other things, the extent to which protection against persecution or mistreatment is provided in the country concerned by—

(i) the relevant laws and regulations of the country and the manner in which they are applied,

(ii) observance of the rights and freedoms laid down in the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture, in particular the rights from which derogation cannot be made under Article 15(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights,

(iii) respect of the non-refoulement principle according to the Geneva Convention, and

(iv) provision for a system of effective remedies against violations of these rights and freedoms.

(d) The determination as to whether an order under paragraph (a) should be made in relation to a particular country shall be based on, among other things, available information from other Member States, the High Commissioner, the Council of Europe and other relevant international organisations.

(e) Where the Minister considers it appropriate, he or she shall, in consultation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, review a designation under paragraph (a) having regard to the matters specified in paragraphs (b) to (d).

(f) The Minister shall notify the European Commission of the making, amendment or revocation of an order under paragraph (a).”,

and

(b) in subsection (5), by inserting the following definition after the definition of "the Convention against Torture”:

“ ‘country’ includes part of a country;”.

Amendment of section 13 of Act of 1996

6. Section 13 (as amended by section 7 (h) of the Immigration Act 2003 ) of the Act of 1996 is amended by inserting the following after subsection (11):

“(12) If a recommendation under subsection (1) cannot be made within 6 months of the date of the application for a declaration under section 8, the Commissioner shall, upon...