The refusal to allow family reunification to immigrants may expose Ireland to sanctions under international law, a conference on refugee law has been told.
Dr Fergus Ryan, head of legal studies in the Dublin Institute of Technology, said yesterday that it is difficult for people who migrate to Ireland to achieve family reunification.
A person must have lived in Ireland for at least two consecutive years before they can apply for family members to come here, and the decision is at the discretion of the Minister for Justice, he told a conference in Trinity College Dublin.
"It is arguable that the overall malaise affecting such persons may be in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is possible that a refusal or failure to effect family reunification in appropriate cases might lead to a declaration of incompatibility [with the convention] and/or damages being awarded," he said.
Dr Ryan pointed out that, although Ireland signed the 1951 Geneva Convention on refugees, it did not enact legislation until 1996. This was because it was felt the number of claims for refugee status did not justify legislation.
The status of asylum seekers in Ireland was therefore determined by a letter from the government to the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Ireland in 1985.