Date: 19981029
Docket: IMM-3767-97
BETWEEN:
MOHAMED ABDALLA SALIM
Applicant
- and -
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER
(Delivered from the Bench at Toronto, Ontario on
Wednesday, October 28, 1998, as edited)
ROTHSTEIN J.:
[1] This is a judicial review of a decision of a panel of the Immigration and Refugee Board that found the applicant not to be a Convention refugee. The decision appears to be thorough and includes a number of findings adverse to the applicant based upon credibility and implausibility. Nonetheless, applicant's counsel submits that the panel erred in law by placing an onus on the applicant that was higher than that required by law and by selectively making reference to documentary information.
[2] With respect to the applicant's identity, the argument is that in this case, when the panel said that it was unable to determine the applicant's nationality, that it declined jurisdiction. Indeed, the panel must ascertain the nationality of a refugee claimant to find he is a Convention refugee. In this case, on the basis of the applicant's oral evidence and the written evidence that he provided on which the panel, because of inconsistencies and contradictions, refused to place weight, the panel concluded that it could not determine his nationality. In these circumstances this does not constitute a declining of jurisdiction. Rather, it is simply a finding that the applicant had not satisfied the panel that he was a national of Somalia.
[3] Counsel then argues that the panel placed an onus upon the applicant to prove his identity with written evidence. He says this is an error of law. The panel's reasons do not say that written evidence is required to support identity. The panel's reasons say that the onus is upon the applicant to supply evidence to support his identity. The applicant, on his volition, provided documentation that the panel found was contradictory, unreliable, and untrustworthy. The panel was not impressed with the applicant's credibility. It is apparent that in the panel's opinion the applicant's oral and written evidence was insufficient to establish his identity. I do not see any error of law with respect to this finding.
[4] The panel then went on to make reference to documentary evidence. Counsel for the applicant has demonstrated that the panel did not make extensive reference to the documents before it. Even if the panel was somewhat selective in its documentary reference, the central issue was that it did not believe the applicant with respect to his personal circumstances. Without credible evidence of personal circumstances, for the applicant to succeed, the panel would have to interpret the documentary evidence to the effect that all Bejunis in Somalia are subject to persecution. The documentary evidence does not support such a broad conclusion.
[5] This is not a case for judicial intervention in what appears to be a thorough decision based upon findings of credibility and implausibility. The judicial review is dismissed.
"Marshall Rothstein"
Judge
TORONTO, ONTARIO
October 29, 1998
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Names of Counsel and Solicitors of Record
COURT NO: IMM-3767-97
| STYLE OF CAUSE: MOHAMED ABDALLA SALIM |
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND |
IMMIGRATION
DATE OF HEARING: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 1998
PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO
REASONS FOR ORDER BY: ROTHSTEIN, J.
DATED: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1998
APPEARANCES: Mr. Paul VanderVennen
For the Applicant
Ms. Andrea M. Horton
For the Respondent
SOLICITORS OF RECORD: VanderVennen Lehrer
Barristers & Solicitors
45 Saint Nicholas Street
Toronto, Ontario
M4Y 1W6
For the Applicant
Morris Rosenberg
Deputy Attorney General
of Canada
For the Respondent
FEDERAL COURT OF CANADA
Date: 19981029
Docket: IMM-3767-97
Between:
| MOHAMED ABDALLA SALIM |
Applicant
- and -
| THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION |
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER