The Irish Court of Appeal has quashed a decision of the Minister for Justice and Equality to refuse the citizenship application of a man deemed not to be of 'good character' due to a number of road traffic offences.
The appellant, Irfan Talla, had come to Ireland legally from Kosovo in 2002 aged 14. He worked as a chef in his brother’s restaurant for several years before operating his own takeaway restaurant. He married a Kosovan woman with whom he has two Irish-born children.
In 2011, Mr Talla was charged with two offences under the Road Traffic Acts.In March 2011, he was fined for speeding in a 50km/h zone. He submitted that he did not receive the fixed penalty notice and therefore was unaware of the fine pending. In court, he plead guilty and was fined €380.
In May 2011, Mr Talla was convicted of driving without insurance and had to pay a fine of €400. However, he claimed that he was driving his brother’s car and believed he was covered by his brother’s insurance policy. The insurance provider confirmed Mr Talla was a named driver on the relevant policy but also confirmed he was not insured on the particular car which he was driving.
Mr Talla applied for naturalisation with the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS) on 2 July 2013 but incorrectly answered ‘no’ to the question whether he had committed an offence against the laws of Ireland or overseas. A Garda report furnished to INIS showed this to be false. Detailed explanations were provided to INIS. Nonetheless, Mr Talla was refused naturalisation on the basis that he lacked 'good character' given “a history of non-compliance with the laws of the State”.
Mr Talla’s challenge was dismissed in the High Court as the trial judge was satisfied that the Minister for Justice and Equality had considered and weighed all relevant considerations when making his decision. However, the Court of Appeal found it was not evident that all relevant material had been considered. The Court stated that, in the assessment of the applicant’s character, there was no mention of the submissions made to INIS and the mitigating factors provided.
While road traffic offences may go to an applicant’s ‘good character’, the Court found that in “the instant case it is “the nature of the offences” that led the Minister to refuse the application on the grounds that the appellant was not of “good character”. As noted by Faherty J [Zaigham v MJELR [2017] IEHC 630] not all road traffic offences will debar an application. Minor offences do not necessarily reflect on a person’s “good character”, particularly if balanced against other matters in their favour. It is therefore the case that where there are road traffic offences it is the nature of those offences and the circumstances in which they were committed that will demand more attention”.
Further, the Court emphasised the importance of providing reasons for refusal, particularly outlining why the nature of offences led to the conclusion that the applicant was not of good character.
The Court also noted that applicants must disclose all previous convictions, including spent convictions, and that the Minister may take into account spent convictions when making an assessment as to ‘good character’.
In allowing the appeal, the Court quashed the refusal by the Minister to grant Mr Talla naturalisation and remitted the application to the Minister for fresh consideration.
Click here for the full judgement.