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Court of Appeal dismisses appeal and upholds decision of the High Court refusing to grant an order of certiorari quashing the decision made by the respondent refusing the appellant's application for independent immigration status as a victim of domestic violence, on the grounds that: (a) the respondent was entitled to come to the view that the appellant was not a victim of domestic violence based on the evidence, and the respondent's treatment of the evidence of domestic violence was not insufficient; (b) the respondent was entitled to conclude that the Guidelines had no application to the appellant’s situation; (c) the respondent was entitled to take into account various factors such as the departure of the appellant’s wife, the ending of the abusive relationship, his financial independence and the availability of other opportunities to apply for a residence permit and to weigh them in the balance, together with the evidence tendered, when coming to the decision; and (d) the respondent did not breach the appellant's legitimate expectation that the guidelines would be applied in circumstances when the evidence showed the he engaged with the application.
Power J (nem diss): Judicial review - asylum and immigration - domestic violence - appeal of a decision refusing to grant an order of certiorari quashing the decision of the respondent refusing the appellant's application for independent immigration status as a victim of domestic violence - the Victims of Domestic Violence Immigration Guidelines 2012 ("the guidelines") - s. 4 of the Immigration Act 2004 - the appellant entered the State to undertake certain studies in April 2013 - he did not complete his studies and his permission to reside in the State expired in June 2014 - he married IZ, an EU citizen from Latvia, in February 2015 - on 20 October 2015 the appellant was granted permission to remain as the spouse of an EU national, valid until 19 October 2020 - IZ left the State and returned to Latvia in August 2016 and they have not resided together since - the appellant made an application seeking permission to reside in the State with independent immigration status pursuant to the Guidelines - this was refused by the respondent - whilst there was no appeal permitted under this system, the respondent agreed to have the matter re-examined - following the re-examination, the respondent upheld the original decision - whether the trial judge was correct that the respondent could depart from the terms of the Guidelines and by finding that "the Guidelines do not fetter the Minister’s inherent discretion" - whether the respondent had breached the appellant’s legitimate expectation that the Guidelines would be applied by including an additional criterion to their terms, as published, namely, the existence of ‘immediate and urgent’ domestic abuse - whether the decision was irrational or inconsistent - whether sufficient reasons were given - appeal dismissed
Note: This is intended to be a fair and accurate report of a decision made public by a court of law. Any errors should be notified to the editor and will be dealt with accordingly.
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