Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 43: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on whether this State's laws governing immigration-related detention do not fully conform with international human rights standards; and, if so, the steps he intends to take to rectify this situation. [15683/06]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I assume the Deputy is referring specifically to section 5(6)(a) of the Immigration Act 1999, which provides that a person who is the subject of a deportation order may, in certain circumstances, be detained for a period not exceeding eight weeks in aggregate. For the reasons set out below I am satisfied that this law fully conforms with international human rights standards.

It is important to point out that persons who are made the subject of a deportation order are first given the opportunity to voluntarily report to the Garda National Immigration Bureau for the purposes of arranging their deportation from the State. Persons who comply with the reporting requirements will not be arrested and detained.

Under section 3(10) of the Immigration Act 1999, as amended, a person who contravenes a provision of a deportation order or a requirement to report to the Garda National Immigration Bureau is deemed to be guilty of an offence. Section 5(1) of the same Act provides that such a person may be arrested and detained for the purposes of deportation. In accordance with the provisions of section 5(6)(a) of the Act, the period of detention may not exceed eight weeks in aggregate. Most persons, however, are detained for periods of less than eight weeks because the sole purpose of the detention is to ensure that the person will co-operate in making arrangements, such as securing travel documents and so forth.

The eight-week detention period can be suspended for a number of reasons, including the challenging of the validity of the deportation order in court proceedings, as provided for in section 5(6)(b) of the Act. In such a circumstance, the court may decide to release the person on condition that he or she resides at a particular address, reports at regular intervals to the Garda Siochána or surrenders any passport or travel document in his or her possession. This ensures that a person will not be left in detention for an extended period awaiting the court's hearing of his or her case.

The Supreme Court has considered the constitutionality of certain amendments to the Immigration Act 1999, including the extended grounds for detention as now provided for in section 5(1) in the Act, as referred to above. The court's decision of 28 August 2000 held, with regard to detention on foot of a deportation order, that "in all the circumstances the safeguards which do in fact exist and which will be outlined further in this judgement are perfectly adequate to meet the requirements of the Constitution.".

The safeguards to which the court referred include the right to challenge, by judicial review, the validity of the deportation order. Moreover, the court held that the extended grounds for detention would not contravene Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

In light of the Supreme Court's findings in this area, I am satisfied that the State's laws governing immigration-related detention are in full conformity with international human rights standards and I do not propose to make any legislative change in this area.