Tuesday, July 26, 2011

ZAMBRANO UPDATE



The cases in the High Court “Zambrano List” were listed yesterday before Mr Justice Cooke. Counsel for the State indicated that letters had been sent by the Minister to each applicant requesting further information/documents to be submitted in order to fully assess applicants for residency pursuant to the Zambrano case. Mr. Justice Cooke was satisfied with this progression, and the cases were therefore re listed for the 10th October 2011 in the new term.

Our concerns relate to the applicants who have already left or been deported from the State, as they remain separated from their families pending the Minister’s determinations. The difficulties for these parents is that Zambrano assessments are based on the parents involvement in the Irish child’s daily life, which is very difficult to prove when a parent is resident out side the State. These cases are therefore somewhat more complicated. It seems that the applicants who have remained residing with their families in the State and have clear criminal records are now receiving determinations. However, it seems unlikely that determinations on cases where the applicant is outside the State will be reached as soon. We do not think it fair that the applicants who have been unfairly removed from the State should continue to be prejudiced in this way. This is particularly  so given that the the Minister has been on notice of Zambrano since March 2011, and made a public announcement that all applications would be dealt with expeditously. We will continue to request immediate determinations for all our clients. 

Brophy Solicitors
26.7.11

3 comments:

  1. Thanks Brohpy for the best post and information. As for the parents which have unfair determination should be retrieved.Overland Park dui lawyer

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is interesting that two different sources (justice and citizens information board) give two contradictory messages. The CIB gives the view that parents of Irish Born children outside the state are entitled, following the Zambrano ruling, to reside and work in Ireland [“Those parents of Irish citizen children who reside outside of Ireland but were never deported from the State now have the option of entering the State to reside and work. If they are visa required, they must apply online for a visa” - http://whatsnew.citizensinformation.ie/2011/06/15/the-zambrano-case-and-parents-of-irish-citizen-children/]

    But on the justice department site, under the heading “Frequently Asked Questions about the Zambrano Judgment”, the response to question three states “The Zambrano Judgment does not apply to any person who left Ireland of their own volition. Such persons can, of course, apply for a visitor or study visa to visit Ireland but cannot rely on the Zambrano Judgment as a basis to obtain a right of residence in Ireland.”
    It seems to me that that the department of justice is trying to dissuade the parents outside Ireland from coming back as it is non-sensensical to differentiate between parents outside and inside Ireland as the main fact and the reason for the Zambrano judgement remains the same, i.e. an EU child with treaty rights to normal family life within the EU. I have requested clarification on this issue as I am in this position and am waiting for an answer. I think if the DoJ remains on its position there is good ground to contest it legally as their position doesn't seem to be borne out of sound legal argument

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you for your interesting comments. We would agree that the Minister's current policy that the Zambrano judgement does not apply when a parent is outside the State is very questionable indeed. We are certainly contesting this point in a number of visa applications for parents of Irish citizen children who are resident outside the State. A number of these visas were granted initially after the Zambrano judgement, but that was at the time when Minister Shatter's statement on Zambrano included parents outside the State. As outlined in previous blog posts, that statement has since been withdrawn from the INIS website, to be replaced with the current statement which excludes such parents. In one particular case, our client is waiting six months for a determination of the visa application, and we are considering issuing mandamus proceedings to obtain a decision. We will keep you posted.

    ReplyDelete