Sarfaraz v Minister for Justice

JurisdictionIreland
Judgment Date03 July 2001
Docket Number[2000 No. 792 J.R.]
Date03 July 2001
CourtHigh Court

High Court

[2000 No. 792 J.R.]
Sarfaraz v. Minister for Justice
Sina Sarfaraz
Applicant
and
The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and The Refugee Appeals Commissioner
Respondents

Case mentioned in this report:-

Fakih v. Minister for Justice [1993] 2 I.R. 406; [1993] I.L.R.M. 274.

Aliens - Immigration - Refugee status - Application - Determination of application - Refusal - Procedures to be followed - Hope Hanlan procedures - Procedures commenced but not completed prior to commencement of Refugee Act, 1996 - Transitory provisions - Whether procedures corresponded to procedures to be taken under Act - Whether decision to refuse refugee status valid under Act - Refugee Act, 1996 (No. 17), ss. 11, 13, 28 - Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Act, 2000 (No. 29), s. 5.

Judicial review.

The facts have been summarised in the headnote and are fully set out in the judgment of Finnegan J., infra.

Pursuant to a statement of grounds dated the 20th December, 2000, the applicant sought leave to apply for judicial review of the decision of the respondents not to grant him refugee status in Ireland.

The application for leave was heard by the High Court (Finnegan J.) on the 19th January and the 2nd February, 2001, and by agreement of the parties was treated as the application for judicial review once the court was satisfied there were substantial grounds for granting leave.

The Refugee Act, 1996, s. 11 provides, inter alia:-

"(1) … where an application is referred to the Commissioner under section 8, 16, 22 or otherwise by the Minister and unless the application is withdrawn or deemed to be withdrawn … it shall be the function of the Commissioner to investigate the application for the purpose of ascertaining whether the applicant is a person in respect of whom a declaration should be given.

  • (2) … the Commissioner shall…direct an authorised officer or officers to interview the applicant concerned … and furnish a report in writing in relation to the application concerned to the Commissioner and the report shall refer to the matters raised by the applicant and to such other matters as the officer or officers consider appropriate …"

Section 28 of the Act of 1996, provides:-

"Where, before the commencement of this Act, a person had made an application to the Minister for asylum but a decision in relation thereto had not been made by the Minister then, the application shall be deemed to be an application under section 8 and shall be dealt with accordingly; any step taken by the Minister before such commencement in relation to the application (being a step required to be taken under this Act in relation to the application under this Act) shall be deemed to have been taken under this Act."

Section 5 of the Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking Act), 2000, providesinter alia, that leave to seek judicial review of a determination in respect of an application for refugee status, will only be granted where there are substantial grounds for contending that the applicant was entitled to the relief claimed.

The applicant applied for refugee status in Ireland in October, 2000. His application was processed under the procedures which were in place at that time, namely the...

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1 cases
  • Sarfaraz v Min for Justice & Refugee Appeals Commissioner
    • Ireland
    • High Court
    • 3 Julio 2001
    ...provisions to assessment stage.. Sarfaraz v. The Minister for Justice, Equality, and Law Reform - High Court: Finnegan J. - 03/07/2001 - [2001] 3 IR 224 The applicant had sought refugee status which had been refused. The applicant sought to challenge the decision on the grounds that the Hop......

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