Refugee Act, 1996
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Leave to enter or remain in State. |
9.—(1) Subject to the subsequent provisions of this section, an applicant, being a person referred to in section 8 (1)(a), shall be given leave to enter the State by the immigration officer concerned. | |
(2) Subject to the subsequent provisions of this section, a person to whom leave to enter the State is given under subsection (1) or an applicant, being a person referred to in section 8 (1) (c), shall be entitled to remain in the State until— | ||
(a) the date on which his or her application is transferred to a convention country pursuant to section 22 , or | ||
(b) the date on which his or her application is withdrawn or deemed to be withdrawn pursuant to subsection (14) (b), or | ||
(c) the date on which notice is sent that the Minister has refused to give him or her a declaration. | ||
(3) The Minister shall give or cause to be given to a person referred to in subsection (2) a temporary residence certificate (in this section referred to as “a certificate”) stating the name and containing a photograph of the person concerned, specifying the date on which the person's application for a declaration was referred to the Commissioner and stating that, subject to the provisions of this Act, and, without prejudice to any other permission or leave granted to the person concerned to remain in the State, the person referred to in the certificate shall not be removed from the State before the final determination of his or her application. | ||
(4) An applicant shall not— | ||
(a) leave or attempt to leave the State without the consent of the Minister, or | ||
(b) seek or enter employment or carry on any business, trade or profession during the period before the final determination of his or her application for a declaration. | ||
(5) An immigration officer may, by notice in writing, require an applicant— | ||
(a) to reside or remain in particular districts or places in the State, or | ||
(b) to report at specified intervals to an immigration officer or member of the Garda Síochána specified in the notice, | ||
and the applicant concerned shall comply with the requirement. | ||
(6) Upon application to the Minister in that behalf by the applicant concerned, the Minister may, as he or she thinks fit, direct the immigration officer concerned to withdraw the requirement concerned or to amend it in a specified manner. | ||
(7) A person who contravenes subsection (4) or (5) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 month or to both. | ||
(8) Where an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána, with reasonable cause, suspects that an applicant— | ||
(a) poses a threat to national security or public order in the State, | ||
(b) has committed a serious non-political crime outside the State, | ||
(c) has not made reasonable efforts to establish his or her true identity, | ||
(d) intends to avoid removal from the State in the event of his or her application for asylum being transferred to a convention country pursuant to section 22 , | ||
(e) intends to leave the State and enter another state without lawful authority, or | ||
(f) without reasonable cause has destroyed his or her identity or travel documents or is in possession of forged identity documents. | ||
he or she may detain the person in a prescribed place (referred to subsequently in this Act as “a place of detention”). | ||
(9) The Minister shall make regulations providing for the treatment of persons detained pursuant to this section. | ||
(10) (a) A person detained pursuant to subsection (8) shall, as soon as practicable, be brought before a judge of the District Court assigned to the District Court district in which the person is being detained. | ||
(b) Where a person is brought before a judge of the District Court pursuant to paragraph (a), the judge may— | ||
(i) subject to paragraph (c), and if satisfied that one or more of the paragraphs of subsection (8) applies in relation to the person, commit the person concerned to a place of detention for a period not exceeding 10 days from the time of his or her detention, or | ||
(ii) without prejudice to paragraph (c), release the person and the judge may make such release subject to such conditions as he or she considers appropriate, including, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any one or more of the following conditions: | ||
(I) that the person resides or remains in a particular district or place in the State, | ||
(II) that he or she reports to a specified Garda Síochána station or immigration officer at specified intervals, | ||
(III) that he or she surrenders any passport or travel document in his or her possession. | ||
(c) If, at any time during the detention of a person pursuant to this section, an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána is of opinion that none of the paragraphs of subsection (8) applies in relation to the person, he or she shall, as soon as practicable, be brought before a judge of the District Court assigned to the District Court district where the person is being detained and if the judge is satisfied that none of the paragraphs of subsection (8) applies in relation to the person, the judge shall release the person. | ||
(d) Where a person is released from a place of detention subject to one or more of the conditions referred to in subsection (10) (b) (ii), a judge of the District Court assigned to the District Court district in which the person resides may, on the application of the person, an immigration officer or a member of the Garda Síochána, if he or she considers it appropriate to do so, vary (whether by the alteration, addition or revocation of a condition) a condition. | ||
(11) Subsections (4), (5), (8) and (10) shall apply only to an applicant who, but for the provisions of this Act, would not be entitled to enter or remain in the State. | ||
(12) (a) Subsection (8) shall not apply to a person who is under the age of 18 years. | ||
(b) If and for so long as the immigration officer or, as the case may be, the member of the Garda Síochána concerned has reasonable grounds for believing that the person is not under the age of 18 years, the provisions of subsection (8) shall apply as if he or she had attained the age of 18 years. | ||
(c) Where an unmarried child under the age of 18 years is in the custody of any person (whether a parent or a person acting in loco parentis or any other person) and such person is detained pursuant to the provisions of this section, the immigration officer or the member of the Garda Síochána concerned shall, without delay, notify the health board for the area in which the person is being detained of the detention and of the circumstances thereof. | ||
(13) (a) A member of the Garda Síochána may detain a person who, in the member's opinion, has failed to comply with a condition imposed by the District Court under subsection (10) in a place of detention. | ||
(b) A person detained under paragraph (a) shall be brought as soon as practicable before a judge of the District Court assigned to the District Court district in which the person is being detained; and subsection (10) shall apply to such person detained under paragraph (a) as it applies to a person detained pursuant to subsection (8) with any necessary modifications. | ||
(c) If a judge of the District Court is satisfied in relation to a person brought before him or her pursuant to paragraph (b) that the person has complied with the condition concerned, the judge shall order the release of the person. | ||
(14) (a) Where a judge of the District Court commits a person to a place of detention under subsection (10) (b) or (13) (b), a judge of the District Court assigned to the District Court district in which the person is being detained may, if satisfied that one or more of the paragraphs of subsection (8) applies in relation to the person, commit him or her for further periods (each period being a period not exceeding 10 days) pending the determination of the person's application under section 8 . | ||
(b) If at any time during the detention of a person pursuant to this section the person indicates a desire to leave the State, he or she shall, as soon as practicable, be brought before a judge of the District Court assigned to the District Court district in which the person is being detained and the judge shall, if he or she is satisfied that the person does not wish to proceed with his or her application for a declaration and wishes to leave the State, order the Minister to arrange for the removal of the person from the State and may include in the order such ancillary or consequential provisions as he or she may determine and the person concerned shall be deemed to have withdrawn his or her application for a declaration. | ||
(15) A person referred to in subsection (1) shall not be given leave to enter the State under that subsection if— | ||
(a) the person is the subject of an order under section 5 (1) of the Aliens Act, 1935 , relating to particular aliens in force for the time being, prohibiting him or her from landing or entering into the State, and | ||
(b) the order aforesaid is made, and is expressed to be made, because the Minister considers it necessary in the interest of national security or public policy (“ordre public”). | ||
(16) Where, pursuant to subsection (15), a person is not given leave to enter the State he or she shall not be entitled to make an application for a declaration without the consent of the Minister. |