European Court of Justice: Metock and Others v. Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform

Abstract

The Metock case deals with one of the core European Union (EU) rights: the right to free movement of persons. In a decision which has caused much controversy, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) had to determine whether non-EU nationals, who after entering an EU country married EU citizens, were required under EU law to be lawfully resident in another EU Member State in order to freely move and reside in the current Member State with the EU spouse. Under EU law-specifically Directive 2004/38 on the free movement of EU citizens-all EU citizens have the right to move and reside in the territory of another Member State. 1 This right encompasses all types of groups, including workers, students and other individuals possessing comprehensive health insurance and sufficient funds so as to not become a burden to the social assistance system of the host country. Significantly for the applicants in Metock, the right of free movement extends to immediate family members, including spouse of an EU citizen who accompany or join the EU citizen, thus allowing the non-EU family members the right to move and reside in the Member States with that EU citizen. In such cases, the host state is required to issue an entry visa or residence card to the non-EU family members. The Metock case centers on the Irish law transposing Directive 2004/38-the national provisions came into effect on 1 January 2007. According to the facts of the case, a number of non-Irish EU citizens who worked and resided in Ireland married asylum seekers from non-EU countries. In each of the four cases, applications by the non-EU spouses for asylum in Ireland were refused. After getting married to EU citizens, the non-EU spouses applied for residence cards, which is a right given to non-EU spouses of EU citizens. These applications were also refused by the Irish Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform because the spouses did not satisfy the requirement under Irish law of prior lawful residence in another EU Member State. After the applications for residence cards were refused, the Irish government initiated deportation proceedings. The applicants sought to challenge the ' 'intent to deport'' notices issued against them by the Minister, and took their cases before the Irish courts.