Asylum List

Notice to Practitioners

Change of Date for Asylum List

The Asylum List callover will be moved from Mondays to Fridays with effect from the end of the list on Monday 9^th March, 2020.  Thus the list on that date will be the last Monday list, and the next Asylum List after that date will be on Friday 20^th March, 2020.

All matters listed for mention on Mondays after 9^th March, 2020 will be moved administratively to the Friday of the relevant week.  Parties have liberty to apply in any given case if this causes difficulty. 

Practice Direction HC81 will be construed with any necessary modifications, for example parties will have until the Friday in the week following the week in which leave is granted to serve papers (as opposed to Friday of the week itself).

Papers to be sent in Word document format

Practitioners are reminded that all papers sent to asylumsubmissions@courts.ie must be sent in Word Document format.  This includes statements of grounds, opposition, legal submissions, and the 1-page case management form.

From the date of the changeover papers grounding ex parte applications must be sent not later than 1300 on the Thursday preceding the date of the intended application

Format of statement of grounds

The statement of grounds must follow the headings / numbering used in the Rules of Court, Appendix T, form No. 13 as follows :

(a) Applicant’s name: [Note this section must be headed (a) not (1), (i) etc., and so on]

(b) Applicant’s address:

(c) Applicant’s description:

(d) Relief sought:

(e) Grounds upon which such relief is sought:

(f) Name and registered place of business of solicitors for Applicant:

Section (e) should be divided into two parts.  The first part should be headed “Legal Grounds” and the legal grounds of challenge should then be set out in numbered paragraphs, starting with 1.  The second part should be headed “Factual Grounds” and the relevant facts and matters relied on shall be set out in numbered paragraphs, re-starting with 1.  It shall be presumed that, and shall be sufficient compliance with the rules of court, and for the purposes of O 84 r 20(3) if, all legal and factual grounds are relevant to all reliefs, and there is no necessity to specify which relief any given paragraph relates to.

Format of books of papers

The statement of grounds should be the first document in any book of pleadings.

Where the statement of grounds has been amended, the latest amendment shall be the first document in any such book. 

Books of pleadings ideally should be contained in a ring binder of manageable size with a numbered tab dividing each document.   As long as the size of the papers so bound is manageable, the strict page limit in the Practice Direction shall not apply.

Format of written submissions

Submissions shall set out on page 1 the dates of the key pleadings in tabular form as follows

The statement of facts in written submissions shall be a complete chronology including matters such as

• date and place of nationality of each applicant and nationality at birth
• dates of any visa applications to any country
• date each applicant left home country
• travel prior to arriving in the State including dates of arrival/departure from any other jurisdiction
• date of arrival in the State
• date of application for protection if any
• dates of any decisions/ appeals
• dates of any immigration applications/ re-applications
• dates of any outcomes/ appeals
• dates of any significant life events relevant e.g. marriages, birth of children, arrests, releases from custody, criminal proceedings
• date of filing of the proceedings

Where the respondent disagrees with the applicant’s chronology or considers it incomplete, the respondent shall furnish an alternative complete chronology in their submission

Practitioners should also note that cases listed on Mondays subsequent to 16^th March 2020 will be moved to the following Fridays