The Irish Human Rights Commission has welcomed the High Court decision to allow them to appear as "amicus curiae" or "friend of the court" in cases concerning deportation of parents of Irish children. Hogan J permitted the IHRC to present the human rights issues in four linked cases involving judicial reviews brought by Nigerian parents and siblings of Irish citizen children challenging deportation decisions.
The IHRC will highlight the lack of an independent appeals mechanism in relation to deportation orders; only judicial review is available, which cannot challenge the merits of a decision. In addition to the "effective domestic remedy" issue under Article 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the IHRC will make submissions highlighting family and children's rights protected under the ECHR and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Chief Executive Mr Éamonn Mac Aodha, said that there are a large number of similar cases pending and "this intervention is timely and should be of assistance to the Court in its deliberations."
This is the twelfth time the IHRC will appear before the Courts as amicus curiae. The importance of this role in public interest litigation was recently highlighted in a PILA seminar where Iain Byrne of Interights emphasised the critical role of amicus curiae in cases where existing human rights standards are under threat or there is potential for human rights standards to be developed. Please also see this Bulletin's article on the landmark MSS case on asylum-seekers and the AIRE Centre and Amnesty International's joint interventions.
Please click here to view the IHRC press release.