The High Court has refused to strike down as unconstitutional a law that allowed the Minister for Justice to deport a man for an indefinite period.
Davit Arabuli, a Georgian national who had been here unlawfully for nearly 10 years, claimed his deportation last November meant he would be separated indefinitely from his Georgian wife and their children, who still live here, thus breaching their family rights under the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Mr Arabuli spent more than eight years deceiving the asylum authorities here and living under an alias before he was arrested by police in Northern Ireland while travelling back from Donegal to Dublin, the court heard. He was returned to this jurisdiction, where a deportation order had been in existence since 2001 and brought a number of unsuccessful legal challenges before he was deported.
The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, yesterday refused an application by the Arabuli family, saying the 1999 Act contained multiple safeguards and a litany of factors which must be taken into account before a deportation order is made.
The Act also withstood “any test” of proportionality as the Minister gave due weight to Mr Arabuli’s circumstances, along with all other factors, when considering the deportation application, the judge ruled.