Taxi licence refusal over sham marriage ‘was right’
GARDAÍ were correct in refusing to grant a taxi licence to a man who was only able to live in Ireland due to a ‘marriage of convenience’, the High Court has ruled.
Judge Garrett Simons said the fraudulent marriage pointed towards the issue of ‘good character’ which the gardaí are entitled to assess. However, in a judgment that will affect many non-nationals who have applied for taxi licences, the judge ruled that a licensing authority could not refuse a taxi licence solely on the grounds of the applicant’s immigration permission being temporary in nature.
Saydur Rahman, from Bangladesh, has since been refused a right of residence in Ireland and is challenging this in a separate case. Judge Simons said regulations made by the National Transport Authority did not impose an obligation on an applicant to give evidence of immigration status. However, he said a licensing
Marriage was dissolved following divorce order
authority – which is An Garda Síochána – cannot grant a taxi licence unless it is satisfied the applicant is a ‘suitable person’.
He said that when assessing this, the authority can consider if the person is of good character. It can also consider the relevance of any convictions they have and whether their health is suitable for the job. A licence, if granted, can be valid for up to five years.
In this case, he said, Mr Rahman had applied for a judicial review of the authority’s decision to refuse his taxi licence.
He noted that Mr Rahman had married an EU citizen in May 2012 and was granted a residence card for Ireland the following year on the basis of that marriage.
His marriage was dissolved following a divorce order in the Circuit Court in January 2018. The very next week, Judge Simons said, Mr Rahman applied to the Minister for Justice for a right of residence in Ireland. This was refused in May 2019; he had the decision reviewed but it was upheld in March 2021.
Judge Simons said the Garda could lawfully take into account that the Minister for Justice maintains that the marriage was a marriage of convenience only, and that Mr Rahman had secured his immigration status by fraud.