A judge has overturned a refusal to renew a Bangladeshi man’s taxi licence after finding gardaí accessed information about his immigration status from the Department of Justice under a system involving “deliberate and conscious” breach of his personal data rights.
Dublin District Court Judge Marie Quirke said Imral Hassan Shuvo’s licence must be renewed under such conditions as Garda Supt Stephen McCauley considers appropriate within the Taxi Regulation Act, including to protect passenger safety.
There was no legally admissible evidence of findings relied on by Supt McCauley in refusing in late 2022 to renew the licence, which Mr Shuvo obtained in 2018 after sitting an exam and producing certificates from the UK and Bangladesh, she held.
Supt McCauley refused the renewal after finding Mr Shuvo was not a “suitable” person, as defined under the Act, to hold a licence.
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Information from the department contributed to his decision, including allegations that Mr Shuvo, who came here from the UK in 2014, provided “false and misleading” information when seeking residency based on his 2011 marriage to a UK woman, then an EU citizen, the judge said in a recent judgment.
That information was obtained without any legal basis and the system in place for the request and receipt of it constituted a “deliberate and conscious” breach of Mr Shuvo’s EU Charter personal data rights, she found.
Even if the information was accessed lawfully, Supt McCauley had produced no original evidence to ground his findings which the court could have evaluated, she said.
Her decision rested on the “exact facts” of Mr Shuvo’s case, she stressed. She may have reached a different conclusion on the admissibility of the material if a correct legal basis had been stated, and existed in law, when the information was sought; if Mr Shuvo had been informed in a “transparent” way about what was occurring; and if he was asked to give the information voluntarily.
Outlining the background, she noted the licence renewal form, unlike the original licence application form of 2018, included a question about immigration status.
Before his formal refusal, Supt McCauley informed Mr Shuvo he was considering refusal, and outlined the Minister for Justice had in early 2022 revoked his permission to reside here because she was satisfied he had provided “false and misleading” documents in support of his residency and his marriage was of convenience to get an immigration permit to which he would not otherwise be entitled.
Solicitors for Mr Shuvo alleged the superintendent had accessed personal data in breach of Mr Shuvo’s rights. Supt McCauley did not address those claims before the formal refusal issued.
Supt McCauley told the appeal hearing said he must assess suitability of a person to drive a taxi and that includes checks on immigration status.
On foot of a note from the Garda National Immigration Bureau that Mr Shuvo’s status, based on marriage to an EU citizen, had been revoked and he had a temporary permission, queries were made to the department.
It confirmed his permission was revoked in January 2022; a review of revocation was pending; he had a temporary stamp four permission until June 2023 and the Minister was satisfied he had provided false and misleading documents in support of his residency.
The judge concluded there was a breach of Mr Shuvo’s personal data rights under the EU charter and “no legal basis” for the exchange of information with the department at the time the access request was made.
The evidence obtained from the Garda National Immigration Bureau was within the remit of the superintendent as it was information held within the body of An Garda Síochána, she said.
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