Decision to deem Kosovan national’s subsidiary protection appeal withdrawn was lawful

Judicial review – asylum and immigration – substantive hearing – leave granted to challenge the Minster for Justice’s proposal to make a deportation order – real issue is the decision of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal to refuse him subsidiary protection - withdrawal and deemed withdrawal of an appeal to the Tribunal - came to Ireland from Kosovo to escape the war - not granted refugee status - father was given a work permit - returned to Kosovo - father returned to Ireland on a work permit - successful application for family reunification with regards to his mother and sister – his application failed because he had attained his majority - threatened numerous times by criminals – robbed - police were unable to assist – commissioner found him to be credible concerning past events - did not accept that those events amounted to serious harm or that substantial grounds had been shown for believing that he would face a real risk of suffering serious harm if returned to Kosovo – appealed – informed the tribunal that he did not wish to have an oral hearing, and instead wished to have his appeal considered on the papers only – stress and anxiety - nothing to suggest that he was unfit to attend the Tribunal – warned of the consequences if he failed to attend, without reasonable cause - appeal will be deemed to be withdrawn – failed to attend - deemed his subsidiary protection refusal appeal to be withdrawn – proposal to deport was made prior to the expiration of the period available to him for seeking an ‘effective remedy’ in respect of his subsidiary protection application - right to an effective remedy – argued that the tribunal misapplied the regulations concerning the withdrawal of appeals – argued that the tribunal failed to consider his reasons for not attending at the hearing – argued that the tribunal erred by determining that he had not provided a ‘subsequent explanation’ – duty to give reasons – reasons given for deeming the appeal withdrawn were inadequate – argued that the tribunal’s statement of opposition was inadequate – pleading – proportionality - relevant provisions – initially indicated that he wished the Tribunal to hold an oral hearing - letter that he wished to withdraw his request for an oral appeal failed to meet the requirement under reg. 8 (11) of the 2013 Regulations that it be given not later than three working days before the hearing date - he had not established that he was unfit or unable (as opposed to unwilling or reluctant) to attend the oral hearing of his appeal - unable to find anything in the correspondence that purports, in terms, to identify a reasonable cause for his proposed non-attendance at the oral hearing - Court did not accept the proposition that the Tribunal was obliged to furnish him with reasons why it was not in the interests of justice to proceed with the hearing of his appeal in his absence rather than to deem his appeal withdrawn - Court rejected the contention that the Tribunal wrongly conflated the issues of whether an oral hearing was in the interests of justice and whether there was reasonable cause for the applicant’s non-attendance at that hearing - no basis in law for the submission that, where an applicant had without reasonable cause failed to attend the hearing, the Tribunal was obliged to consider whether to proceed with the hearing in his absence – argued that the decision to deem his appeal withdrawn was disproportionate in light of the possibility of conducting the oral hearing in his absence - deemed withdrawn by operation of law - direct consequence of his failure to attend the oral hearing without reasonable cause and without providing a reasonable explanation – judicial review refused.