Habte v MJE
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Judge | Dunne J.,O’Donnell J. |
| Judgment Date | 31 July 2019 |
| Neutral Citation | [2019] IESCDET 181 |
| Date | 31 July 2019 |
| Court | Supreme Court |
| Docket Number | Supreme Court record no: S:AP:IE:2019:000047 High Court record no: 2017 No. 569 JR |
[2019] IESCDET 181
An Chúirt Uachtarach
The Supreme Court
DETERMINATION
O’Donnell J.
Dunne J.
Charleton J.
Supreme Court record no: S:AP:IE:2019:000047
High Court record no: 2017 No. 569 JR
AND
RESULT: The Court does not grant leave to the Applicant to appeal to this Court directly from the High Court.
| COURT: High Court |
| DATE OF JUDGMENT OR RULING: 4 th February, 2019 |
| DATE OF ORDER: 11 th February, 2019 |
| DATE OF PERFECTION OF ORDER: 21 st February, 2019 |
| THE APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL WAS MADE ON 14 th March, 2019 AND WAS IN TIME. |
This determination concerns a decision of Humphreys J of the High Court ( [2019] IEHC 47) of 4 February 2019 pertaining to two related judicial review proceedings both brought by the applicant in this matter. Subsequently, Humphreys J dealt with the issue of costs in both judicial review proceedings in a second judgment delivered on 11 February 2019 ( [2019] IEHC 93). It is the second of these judicial review proceedings that is sought to be appealed to this Court by the applicant.
This matter involves a simple error as to the date of birth recorded on the applicant's certificate of naturalisation, but has unfortunately given rise to complex and rather fraught proceedings. In essence, the Ethiopian calendar differs from the Gregorian calendar used in Ireland and across Europe, to the extent that the Ethiopian calendar is approximately seven years behind the Gregorian calendar (such that, at the time of writing of this determination, it is currently the year 2011 in Ethiopia). It is difficult to discern the applicant's correct date of birth in Gregorian terms, but Humphreys J seems to accept that the correct date is 4 October 1982. However, when applying for naturalisation as an Irish citizen the applicant recorded her date of birth as 24 September 1975, and this is the date that appears on the document. Desiring to obtain a driving licence, it became clear that applicant would have to have the correct date on her passport and other identity documents, and was informed that the first step in doing this was amending the date on her certificate of naturalisation. The applicant applied to this effect to the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, and was informed by way of response on 6 September 2016 that “once a certificate of naturalisation has Issued it is not our policy to issue an amended certificate at a later date.” This decision was reiterated on a number of occasions, and the applicant initiated judicial review proceedings, for which she was granted leave on 15 February 2017.
The reasons why a second set of judicial review proceedings was issued to cover this same set of facts is explained in the second judgment of Humphreys J ( [2019] IEHC 93). In brief, these proceedings stem from the fact that subsequent to the issuing of the first judicial review proceedings, the respondent notified the applicant of a proposal that her certificate of naturalisation be revoked. The applicant then sought to amend the initial judicial review proceedings to challenge this proposal. The applicant later decided to issue separate proceedings challenging this proposal, for which leave was granted on 17 July 2017. As Identified by the High Court and in the submissions of both the applicant and the respondent, this matter may become the subject of the report of a committee of inquiry, as provided for by section 19(3) of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956. This provision states as follows:
On application being made in the prescribed manner for an inquiry under subsection (2) the Minister shall refer the case to a Committee of Inquiry appointed by the Minister consisting of a chairman having judicial experience and such other persons as the Minister may think fit, and the Committee shall report their findings to the Minister
Both judicial review proceedings were heard by Humphreys J in late January 2019, and judgment was delivered on 4 February 2019. Humphreys J held that there is an unenumerated right under the constitution to have one's identity properly recorded by the state, and that this right is also protected by article 8 ECHR and article 8 of the Charter on Fundamental Rights of the EU. The respondents submitted that the Minister was not in a position to amend a certificate where an error had been recorded and subsequently sworn by the recipient of the certificate, but the trial judge found that the Minister had jurisdiction to amend the certificate in these circumstances under section 22(3) of the Interpretation Act 2005, holding that “an interpretation of the Act that read in an implied removal of the right to amend the certificate in cases of error...
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Damache v Minister for Justice & Equality and Ors Determinations
...Court considers it relevant to distinguish this determination from the one it handed down in Habte v. Minister for Justice and Equality [2019] IESCDET 181. In that case, an applicant also challenged the constitutionality of s. 19 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 yet her app......