Successful applicants in challenge to deportation of Nigerian national are awarded 85% of their costs

Judicial review – asylum and immigration – costs of legal proceedings – High Court granted Nigerian national an injunction restraining his deportation pending the determination of proceedings - High Court granted judicial review of the decision ordering the deportation of a Nigerian national, on the grounds that the Minister for Justice should have considered the prospective legal rights that his Irish citizen child would acquire on birth when determining the application to revoke a deportation order – Nigerian national and family applied for all their costs – Minister sought to limit the costs to be awarded to them – costs follow the event - they succeeded in the primary “event” – State sought the determination of issues which were moot - State applied to have the hearing go ahead and have the issues determined even though they have already become technically moot – Court determined that where the State seeks to have a moot issue determined it is impliedly taking on some responsibility in relation to the costs necessarily incurred by the other party - State appears to accept that the decision involves a matter of general public importance – Minister has appealed the decision to the Supreme Court leapfrogging the Court of Appeal - costs of the injunction are partly related to the issue on which the family prevailed – Court ultimately found that he did not have any entitlement to have the deportation restrained pending the determination of a revocation application - application was not so complex as to bring the Veolia Water doctrine into significant focus - allegation of lack of good faith did not go to the issues to be decided - allegation in relation to delay in the proceedings - took five attempts to get their statement of grounds right.