The Supreme Court is to hear an appeal by the State over a finding of unconstitutionality concerning a law preventing recognition, for family reunification purposes, of marriages of refugees which took place after they sought protection here. The Minister and the State later sought a “leapfrog” appeal, one direct from the High Court to the Supreme Court, against his decision. The Supreme Court judges considered the application and, in a determination published on Friday, said the court would hear the appeal on a date to be fixed later. Arising from the State’s arguments that Mr Justice Barrett had declined to follow another High Court decision, the Supreme Court said the appeal also raised questions as to the circumstances in which a High Court judge may depart from a decision of the judge of the same court. In dealing with the human rights convention incompatibility argument, the judge followed a 2013 decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Hode and Abdi v the United Kingdom.

Source: The Irish Times January 17, 2020 16:41 UTC