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The Supreme Court has reserved judgment on whether or not Pamela Izevbekhai will be allowed to proceed to a final appeal against her deportation.
The Sligo based Nigerian woman was due to have her appeal heard in February last but the Supreme Court raised legal issues arising from a separate High Court judgment last year.
The judgment concerns a person's right to apply for subsidiary protection which gives the Minister for Justice discretion to allow someone remain in the state on humanitarian grounds.
In court today lawyers for Ms Izevbekhai argued that despite the fact that the regulation establishing subsidiary protection came into force after her deportation order had been made, she was still entitled to apply.
In 2008 her application to have her case considered was refused. She later lost a High Court challenge to this decision.
Before her full appeal can begin in the Supreme Court, a judgment must be made on the issue of her eligibility to apply for subsidiary protection.
If the court finds against her on this issue, it will mark the end of a long running legal battle.
Ms Izevebekhai claims her two daughters will be subjected to genital mutilation if returned to Nigeria.
She claims her first born died in 1994 as a result of female genital mutilation.
However, the State says her claims were based on forged documents and that she did not have a daughter in 1994.
Ms Izevbekhai says she had new documents to support her claim and was not aware that the original documents were forgeries.
SOURCE: RTE News
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DATE: 26/04/2010