Jim O'Keeffe (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 280: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, further to Parliamentary Question No. 238 of 23 March 2005, the reason he has failed to furnish the information requested seeking information on the number of cases relating to any aspect of immigration which are before the courts; the category into which each case falls; the average length of time that each case is before the courts and if immigration related cases have created a problem for the operation of any court; and if he will provide a response on the public record to this question. [15990/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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I replied to the Deputy by letter dated 5 May 2005, the details of which I repeat hereafter.

The question is very broad and it has proved difficult to identify those cases before the courts which relate to "any aspect of immigration". There are three types of court cases which could potentially fall within the ambit of the question. These are where charges under various laws have been brought against non-nationals in the State, where charges have been brought against non-nationals under specific provisions of immigration legislation and where civil actions have been taken by non-nationals challenging decisions in the refugee or immigration areas.

In regard to the first category my Department cannot identify extant cases where charges have been brought against non-nationals in the State. There is no specific record kept in my Department of criminal cases specifically involving non-nationals and even if there were, it would then be difficult to identify which of those cases, if any, involved an "aspect of immigration".

In regard to the second category there are numerous specific offences created by immigration legislation. For example, section 5(9) of the Immigration Act 2003 provides that a person who obstructs or hinders his or her removal from the State shall be guilty of an offence and on summary conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or to imprisonment for not more than 12 months or to both. Likewise, section 12(2) of the Immigration Act 2004 provides that a non-national who fails to produce a valid passport, identity document or registration certificate when requested, in the absence of a satisfactory explanation, shall be guilty of an offence. In regard to these types of specific immigration related offences my Department does not collect data on cases before the courts.

My Department and offices under its aegis have information in regard to the third category. This category of cases consists mainly of applications for judicial review in the High Court of decisions made by either the Office of the Refugee Applications Commissioner, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal or my Department. It includes judicial review challenges to deportation orders made by me. It also includes a small number of cases appealed to the Supreme Court and applications for inquiries into the detention of persons as provided for in Article 40 of the Constitution.

The following table shows the caseload as at 31 March 2005 broken down by the various offices-administrative areas which are responding to the cases. It should be noted that the caseload shown for each sub-category is not exclusive to that category as several cases involve challenges to more than one aspect of the refugee-immigration processes. Rather, the breakdown into sub-categories reflects the volume of cases with which each office is involved.

The question asks the average length of time that each case is before the courts. It is not possible to state an average time due to the variables involved, including the nature of the proceedings and the complexities of the issues involved. Article 40 inquiries into a person's detention are normally heard and determined within a matter of a few days in view of the urgency of the issues. Some of the more straightforward judicial review cases have been determined within a matter of a few months due to the particular urgency of the case, for example, where an injunction issue was involved. More complex cases have been before the courts for more than 12 months before a final determination is reached. For example, the L and O cases involving issues related to the deportation of parents of Irish born children took 15 months to be finally determined. Furthermore, there are a small number of judicial review cases in hand challenging deportation orders where the proceedings were filed in 2000.