In Ireland there are four legal challenges possible against a decision regarding international protection.
1. The International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT)
The first appeal against a recommendation issued by the International Protection Officer of the International Protection Office (IPO) is before the International Protection Appeals Tribunal (IPAT). This is a quasi-judicial body specialised only in international protection appeals, established by the International Protection Act 2015 to independently review first instance decisions. The Tribunal must meet the standards required of a ‘court or tribunal’ under Article 267 of the TFEU and is regarded by the CJEU as a court or tribunal of first instance, tasked with performing the judicial scrutiny function provided for in Article 39 of Directive 2005/85 (see Court of Justice of the EU, X v IPAT, C-756/21, 29 June 2023).
The time limit for submitting an appeal before the Tribunal varies between 10 and 15 working days, depending on the type of decision appealed. In cases where an applicant is issued a recommendation that they should not be declared a refugee or beneficiary of subsidiary protection under the regular procedure, the time limit is normally 15 working days. In general, when an application for international protection is declared inadmissible or when an applicant is refused a form of international protection under the accelerated procedure, the time limit is 10 working days.
An appeal lodged before the Tribunal automatically suspends the negative recommendation of the IPO. The applicant has the right to request an oral hearing before the Tribunal and the Tribunal carries out a full de novo and ex nunc examination of the case, in both facts and law.
If an applicant does not submit an appeal to the Tribunal within the applicable time limit, the recommendation issued by the IPO will be examined by the Minister for Justice who will determine whether the applicant should be granted a leave to remain.
2. The High Court
Decisions issued by the Tribunal may be judicially reviewed on a point of law by the High Court.
An application for leave to apply for judicial review of a Tribunal decision is made to the High Court within 3 months from the date when grounds for the application first arose.
The High Court deals with judicial reviews regarding all civil matters, including administrative law, and a number of specialised judges sit in the asylum judicial review list, hearing cases related to international protection, immigration, citizenship and EU free movement. Before the High Court, the applicant must lodge an application for a leave to apply for judicial review and, if successful, the court, following the hearing of the matter, may grant certiorari of the Tribunal decision. Judicial reviews before the High Court do not have an automatic suspensive effect; the court may decide to provide it, by way of granting an injunction, at the request of the applicant for judicial review.
3. The Court of Appeal and/or the Supreme Court
Appeals against decisions of the High Court may be brought before the Court of Appeal and/ or the Supreme Court in certain limited cases.
Judgments from the Court of Appeal may be appealed in cassation before the Supreme Court if they meet specific criteria.
An applicant may be permitted to appeal a decision issued by the High Court directly to the Supreme Court if the Supreme Court is satisfied that the decision involves a matter of general public importance or permitting the appeal is in the interest of justice.
An appeal against a High Court decision to the Court of Appeal or, by way of ‘leapfrog’ appeal directly to the Supreme Court may only be made with leave of the Court and must be brought within 28 days of the perfection (signing by the court registrar) of the order to be appealed. The appeal before the Court of Appeal does not have automatic suspensive effect. However, the Court of Appeal may decide to grant it at the request of the applicant. Cases are heard by 3 judges or, for interlocutory and procedural applications, by one judge. There is no time limit provided by law for the Court of Appeal to pronounce a judgment.
Before the Supreme Court, a request for appeal must be lodged within 21 days from the perfecting (signing) of the order appealed against. The appeal does not have automatic suspensive effect. However, the court may decide to grant it at the request of the applicant. Cases are heard by five judges or, upon request by the Chief Justice, by 3 or 7 judges in exceptional cases. If the appeal relates to the Constitution of Ireland, the case must be heard by a minimum of 5 judges. Similarly, if a bill is referred to the Supreme Court by the President of Ireland, the case must be heard before a panel of 7 judges. There is no time limit provided by law for the Supreme Court to pronounce a judgment.
A decision is considered final once the period for submitting an appeal expires or when the Supreme Court issues a decision in respect of the case. This includes when the Supreme Court issues a decision declaring a case inadmissible. Neither of these three higher courts are specialised asylum courts and all three must grant leave to apply for judicial review/leave to appeal (for information on common law judicial review, see here and here).
Thus, in Ireland, in asylum matters, the appeal before the Tribunal is the only appeal in fact and law; judicial review and appeals against the decisions in judicial review proceedings are limited to matters challenging the decision making processes of administrative bodies and lower courts/tribunals.
The relevant legal provisions concerning the appeal before the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, the judicial review before the High Court and appeals of High Court decisions to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court in asylum related matters are the International Protection Act 2015, the Courts and Courts Officers Acts 1995, The Courts of Justice Act 1924, the Constitution of Ireland 1937, the Superior Courts Rules, the International Protection Act (Procedures and Periods for Appeals) Regulations 2017 and the International Protection Act 2015 (Procedures and Periods for Appeals) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.