The Irish government expressed its intention to contest a High Court ruling which declared the classification of the UK as a “safe third country” by Ireland as illegal, the court learnt on Tuesday. Last month, Judge Siobhán Phelan determined that the Irish legislation supporting this classification lacked the necessary safeguards outlined by EU law.
The revelation of the plan to oppose the ruling coincided with the government’s endorsement of emergency laws designed to restart the transfer of asylum seekers to the UK who have entered through Northern Ireland. These legislative efforts began following Judge Phelan’s verdict.
The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, established the “safe third country” status, a concept somewhat akin to a protocol among EU member countries, in December 2020 as a reaction to the UK’s departure from the EU. It granted Ireland the ability to reject an asylum application from an individual arriving from the UK. The person could consequently be sent back to the UK for their asylum application or case to be processed there.
The principal challenges to the High Court over this designation focused on assumed threats stemming from a potential onward transfer to Rwanda, however no conclusions were drawn by Judge Phelan regarding the UK’s policy. She detected flaws in the protection provisions defined in Ireland’s International Protection Act of 2015, which served as a foundation for the classification.
Since the judge established that the classification was unlawful according to EU law, she did not feel the need to determine its legality in relation to the alleged risk of mistreatment due to the UK’s ties with Rwanda.
On Tuesday, David Conlan Smyth, the state’s chief lawyer, informed the judge that the Minister for Justice, along with Ireland and the Attorney General will request the court to grant them permission to challenge her verdict. Judge Phelan has set a return hearing on this matter in two weeks.
Separately, Judge Phelan was notified that two applicants from South Africa are looking to contest her rejection of their resistance to the Minister of Justice’s proclamation of South Africa as a “safe country of origin”. This designation allows for expedited processing of asylum applications from South Africa by the Department of Justice officials.
This swift processing set up for safe origins is in place for ten non-EU nations including: South Africa, Algeria, Botswana, Albania, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.