JUDGMENT
3 APRIL 2013
Immigration law. Refusal of residence permit. Validity of expulsion decision.
A Pakistani family consisting of mother and three children had legal residence in Norway during the period 1986 - 1997. In 2003, the family - now mother and four children - returned to Norway. The family's new applications for residence were finally refused in 2010. At the same time it was decided to expel the mother. The Supreme Court quashed the family's appeal against the Court of Appeal's judgment. The Supreme Court majority concluded that the regard for "the best interests of the child", cf. Article 3 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, had been adequately evaluated and weighed in relation to immigration-regulating considerations as regards the one minor member of the family. The court also relied on the premise that the Immigration Appeals Board (UNE) was aware of the child's earlier stay in this country. Nor could UNE's decision be set aside as grossly unreasonable. The right to respect for private and family life, cf. Article 8 of the ECHR, had not been infringed given that UNE's decision did not result in a splitting up of the family. The same applied to the right to respect for private and family life, the court finding that there was a clear difference between this case and the Butt case (EMD-2009-47017). Given that none of the family members had legal residence in the country, expulsion of the mother could not be regarded as a disproportionate measure vis-à-vis the other members of the family.
Reference HR-2013-704-A, Case no. 2012/886), civil appeal against judgment.
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