[2021] IEHC 152 Hossain v Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

Country

Ireland

Title

[2021] IEHC 152 Hossain v Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation

View full Case

Year

2021

Decision/ruling/judgment date

Wednesday, March 03, 2021

Incident(s) concerned/related

Discrimination

Related Bias motivation

Race/Ethnicity

Groups affected

persons of asian origin

Court/Body type

National Court

Court/Body

High Court

Key facts of the case

The applicant, a national of Bangladesh, was initially in Ireland as the spouse of an EU citizen. He held a Stamp 4 on this basis. The marriage subsequently broke down. Prior to the expiry of the applicant’s Stamp 4 permission, he applied for an employment permit. This application was refused on the grounds that at the time of application, he already had a valid Stamp 4 permission.

Main reasoning/argumentation

Central to the case was s. 2 of the Employment Permits Act 2003, as amended, which provides that a foreign national shall not enter the service of an employer except in accordance with an employment permit granted by the Minister under section 8 of the Employment Permits Act 2006. S. 2(10)(d) provides that the section does not apply to a foreign national who is permitted to remain in the State by the Minister for Justice and who is in employment in the State pursuant to a condition of that permission. It was held that the interpretation of s. 2(10)(d) by the Minister was incorrect.

Is the case related to the application of the Framework Decision on Racism and Xenophobia, the Racial Equality Directive?

Key issues (concepts, interpretations) clarified by the case

A person who holds a valid immigration permission is not precluded from applying for an employment permit.

Results (sanctions, outcome) and key consequences or implications of the case

There is nothing in the relevant legislation that explicitly prohibits the Minister from issuing an employment permit to a foreign national who already has a right to work by virtue of their immigration permission.

Key quotation in original language and its unofficial translation into English with reference details

"the Minister is not precluded from considering the applicant’s application for an employment permit due solely to the fact that he is the holder of a Stamp 4 permission. The court is satisfied that the Minister was in error in concluding that the provisions of s.2(10)(d) of the Act precluded a consideration of the applicant’s application. Accordingly, the court will grant certiorari of the review decision dated 20th April, 2020."

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