A High Court decision has raised questions about the constitutionality of regulations made by the Minister for Justice under the Aliens Act and about the legality of the detention at Dublin airport of persons seeking permission to land here.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan yesterday gave 19 Moldovan workers permission to challenge the constitutionality of a Government order which gave an immigration officer a right refusing them entry to this State.
They were also given permission to lodge a claim for damages. If they succeed, the out come will have significant con sequences for asylum-seekers.
The men, who are employed in two factories, claimed they were unlawfully detained by an immigration official at Dublin airport last January when they arrived with valid work permits. They sought leave to take judicial review proceedings arising out of the incident.
In a reserved judgment, Mr Justice O'Sullivan said the Moldovans had made out a "substantial argument" to argue that the immigration officer made decisions for which she had no authority.
He gave the men leave to seek a judicial review on the grounds that a 1999 government order, which purported to authorise the decision of the immigration officer, was invalid. If the order was unconstitutional, the men would be entitled to seek to have the immigration officer's decision deleted from the records.
Mr Justice O'Sullivan said the State had referred to Section 2 of the Immigration Act which became law in July 1999, five months after the Minister made the order authorising the immigration officer to refuse the men on the grounds they could not support themselves. The section stated that every order made before the Act was passed would have statutory effect as if it were an Act of the Oireacthas.
The Moldovans had permits to work in the Kildare Chilling Company but were told at Dublin airport the jobs were not available and they could not remain in the State.
The men spent four days in a Dublin prison before the court was told that alternative work had been secured for them.