Swidani's (Ali) Application (Leave stage)
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Scoffield J |
| Neutral Citation | [2022] NIQB 17 |
| Date | 11 March 2022 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2022] NIQB 17
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: SCO11790
ICOS No: 21/085161/01
Delivered: 11/03/2022
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
(JUDICIAL REVIEW)
___________
IN THE MATTER OF AN APPLICATION BY ALI SWIDANI
FOR LEAVE TO APPLY FOR JUDICIAL REVIEW
AND IN THE MATTER OF A DECISION OF
THE NORTHERN IRELAND HOUSING EXECUTIVE
___________
Dennis Hamill (instructed by Housing Rights) appeared for the applicant
Aidan Sands (instructed by Northern Ireland Housing Executive Legal Services) appeared
for the proposed respondent
___________
SCOFFIELD J
Introduction
[1] This is an application for leave to apply for judicial review by Mr Ali Swidani
– although in reality it is brought on his behalf and on behalf of his wife, Nibal Bany
Almargah. The applicant and his family are originally from Syria but fled in 2013
after civil war broke out there. They came to Northern Ireland in 2018 and have been
accommodated by the proposed respondent, the Northern Ireland Housing
Executive, under the Vulnerable Persons’ Relocation Scheme in a property in
Enniskillen.
[2] This application relates to a claim made to the Housing Executive for
‘primary social needs’ (PSN) points under rule 43 of the Housing Selection Scheme.
The application was based on the fact that the applicant and his wife are suffering
flashbacks and, in particular, the applicant’s wife is suffering nightmares as a result
of being accommodated in a house with stairs, which brought back traumatic
memories of their time in Syria. The assertion is that the family lived in a property
with stairs in Syria (likely, an apartment block) and that specific traumatic events
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