The applicant, an Iraqi national, made an application for international protection in Ireland on 3 April 2019 and an Eurodac search revealed that he made an application in the United Kingdom (UK) on 15 February 2019. A take back request was accepted by the UK on 22 April 2019 and a transfer decision was issued on 5 July 2019 by the International Protection Office (IPO). The applicant appealed on grounds related to an alleged failure of IPO to take into consideration Article 17 of the Dublin III Regulation due to legal uncertainty caused by the UK’s withdrawal from the EU and to a request to consider the applicant’s family connections in Ireland.

The High Court rejected the appeal and based its judgement on the case law of the CJEU, namely M.A., S.A. and A.Z. vs International Protection Appeals Tribunal and Others (IE), Case C‑661/17, 23/01/2019. The High Court confirmed the ruling of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal and stated that there is no reason to consider that the UK would not continue to fulfil its obligations under the Geneva Convention and under the ECHR after the withdrawal from the EU or that the withdrawal will result into a real risk of being subject to inhuman or degrading treatment. On the family connections argument, the High Court assessed that the fact that the applicant had cousins residing in Ireland does not render Article 7.3 of the Dublin III Regulation applicable to the case. The High Court noted that the relationship with a cousin is not covered under the definition of “family members” and rejected this claim.