Irish Supreme Court rules in Kadri v. the Governor of Wheatfield Prison that detention for the purposes of deportation which exceeds 8 weeks is unlawful

Date: 
Friday, October 4, 2013

Ireland:[2012] IESC 27P: Kadri v. the Governor of Wheatfield Prison

The Irish Supreme Court has ruled in Kadri v. Governor of Wheatfield Prisonthat the detention of an individual due to be deported was unlawful, and ordered the person’s release in accordance with Article 40 section 4.2 of the Irish Constitution.
The appellant, an Algerian national, lodged a complaint that the total period of his detention exceeded the aggregate period of 8 weeks permitted by section 5(6)(a) of the Immigration Act of 1999. He had claimed asylum but following his “unsuccessful invocation of the asylum process” the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform refused to treat him as a refugee. An order was made to deport the appellant.
The Court relied on the case of Okorafor v Governor of Cloverhill Prison, and Charleton J held that it was unlawful to hold the appellant for more than 8 weeks from the original period of detention (even where there had been a fresh breach of the same grounds of deportation), as section 5 (6) (a) of the Act of 1999 provides that “a person shall not be detained under this section for a period or periods exceeding 8 weeks in aggregate.” 

For a relevant article on the case please see: PILA: Irish Supreme Court says failure to deport in time makes detention unlawful


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Keywords: 
Delay
Detention
Tags: 
Ukraine