The International Protection Act 2015 and Family Reunification in Ireland

The International Protection Act 2015 in
the context of family reunification

Introduction:
The International Protection Act 2015 was being passed in 2015 and cane in to effect in 31st
December, 2016. The human rights commission as well as the equality commissions of the
country Ireland are raising repeated worry regarding the changes made in the family
reunification law especially in the context of the migration situation in Europe along with the
enactment of the Irish Refugee Protection Programme.
According to the opinion expressed by the Irish human rights Commission that the elimination of
the right of international protection for beneficiaries to apply for family reunification with
extended family members under the International Protection Act 2015 and the enacted statutory
time limit for 12 months for placing the applications constitutes demoralizing situation for all
those are looking for and are eligible for getting international protection in Ireland1.
The following section of the assignment discusses the possible impact of the changes to family
reunification law on the rights of beneficiaries of international protection.
The different organizations of Ireland like actors association, parliament members, civil society ,
Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights have raised repeated questions regarding
the negative impacts of changes in the reunification of the law. That is why the government has
taken initiatives to reverse the changes brought about by the International Protection Act
2015 .As a remedial measure the Private Members Bill has been brought which is awaiting
Final Stage in Seanad Éireann at the time of writing2.
Body:
An individual who can be of any nationality has the right to enjoy his family life and this right
has long been recognised in the international law, European law as well as in case of domestic
1 Costello, C. (2016). The Human Rights of Migrants in European Law. Oxford University Press
2 Karlsen, E. (2016). Refugee resettlement to Australia: what are the facts?. Parliamentary
Library.

laws of Ireland. The right to family reunification stems from the right to enjoy the family life
with respect to an individual. This the scope of this significant right focuses upon the concept of
the family that has evolved over time from the inevitable experience that a person is alive and
living a healthy life
Protection of the family and the right to family life as per Irish constitution:
As per the Article 41 of the Constitution of Ireland the State recognises that a Family is a natural
primary and bottom level unit group of a Society. Therefore a strong facility is to be essentially
developed for the development of a strong society. The state also recognizes that the right of
enjoying family life is a moral institution possessing unchallengeable and imprescriptibly rights
and this law is the forerunner and advanced to all positive law.
Thus as per the law it is the duty of the State to guarantee to protection of the Family as per the
constitution of the country and also posses the required authority to do so.
Thus the right of an individual to enjoy the family life is the essential base of a well structured
social order and is necessary aspect that must be fulfilled for ensuring the welfare of the Nation
as well as that of the State. However it should be noted that the concept of family is not properly
defined in the Constitution of Ireland. The Supreme Court of the nation Ireland has interpreted
the concept of the family (in Article 41) as family is something that is founded though marriage.
However the concept of marriage was not originally depicted in the Constitution of Ireland; but
currently the supreme court of the country has broadened the interpretation of marriage and now
include the aspects of same-sex marriage following a constitutional amendment that took place
in 20153.
Therefore the individual who have carried out marriage under same sex and has formed couples
will be considered as a family under the constitutional definition generated for the concept of
family.
3 Guild, E., & Groenendijk, K. (2016). Understanding the contest of community: illiberal
practices in the EU?. In Illiberal Liberal States (pp. 23-48). Routledge.

International Act 2015 section 56 (8) states that an application has to be made by the ‘sponsor’
who is the resident of the state within a period of 12 months regarding the identification of the
‘sponsored’ as the family member. Section (9) specifies the relation of the person entering with
the resident or sponsor within the country. The relations has been specified in the act as well in
subsection (a) it states that the sponsors spouse can be considered as family provided the fact that
while the application has been made the couple were married. Subsection (b) states the member
of the family can be a civil partner as well provided that the partnership is present at the time of
making the application. Subsection (c) states that that the parents of the sponsor who is less than
18 years of age is going to be considered as family and sub section (d) states that sponsors with
children less than 18 years of age are also going to be considered as family members4.
Importance of family in Ireland as per Supreme Court and constitution:
The most significant aspect upon which focus should be put is that the constitutional amendment
that took place in 2015 also brought some changes with respect to the Children and Family
Relationships Act 2015 with respect to the rights of unmarried individuals under article 41.1 the
Constitution of the country Ireland
The State (Nicolaou) v An Bord Uchtála on the basis of which a narrow judicial interpretation
has been delivered in relation to the concept of marriage and the subject was put on much
litigation and debate5
Looking at the evolution of the Definition of Marriage as well as family as per the Irish
Constitution and Irish Journal of Family Law the marriage may be defined as a social incident
that should be considered as a contract and the contract should be done in accordance with law
by two persons where the two persons will not be discriminated on the basis of sex.
4 Kaczorowska, A., 2015. Public international law. Routledge.
5 State (Nicolaou) v An Bord Uchtála [1996] IR 567. This narrow judicial interpretation has been the subject of
much litigation and debate, see for example: Bergin-Cross (2015) ‘The Evolution of the Definition of Marriage and
the Family under the Irish Constitution’, Irish Journal of Family Law, 15(2).