Date: 20040930
Docket: IMM-5882-03
Ottawa, Ontario, this 30th day of September, 2004
Present: THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE von FINCKENSTEIN
BETWEEN:
AARON ODURO
Applicant
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
(Delivered orally from the bench and subsequently
written for precision and clarification)
[1] The Applicant is a 38 year-old man from Ghana. As a member of the Aduana Royal
Family, he claims that he was obliged to succeed his uncle as chief of the Kwamang tribe in February 2000. He refused to become chief due to his Christian religious beliefs. As a result, he claims that local kingmakers beat him and later raided his home. On a separate occasion, he claims that police also raided his home, where they beat his wife and threatened to kill him. As a result of these alleged events, the Applicant claims that he went into hiding and later fled to Canada in October of 2000.
[2] In Reasons dated July 7, 2003, Board Member Diane Smith ("the Board") found the
Applicant's claim not to be credible. She concluded that the Applicant had made inconsistent oral and written statements:
- as to where he had lived at the time of the alleged persecution,
- in describing the manner in which the chieftaincy would be passed on to him.
She found the Applicant not to be credible in his claim that he had refused the chieftaincy on religious grounds, yet had acted as an attendant to the Paramount Chief, the leader of the regional chiefs, for the previous 7 years.
[3] The Tribunal record contains overwhelming evidence of contradictions in the Applicant's
recounting of events. The Respondent's Memorandum at pp. 2-3, para 4 (a) to (j) succinctly summarizes ten contradictions.
[4] It is settled law that decisions of the Board which are based on credibility findings are to
be accorded the highest level of deference and can only be overturned if their conclusions are patently unreasonable. As the Court of Appeal stated in Aguebor v. Minister of Employment and Immigration [1993] F.C.J. No. 732
There is no longer any doubt that the Refugee Division, which is a specialized tribunal, has complete jurisdiction to determine the plausibility of testimony: who is in a better position than the Refugee Division to gauge the credibility of an account and to draw the necessary inferences? As long as the inferences drawn by the tribunal are not so unreasonable as to warrant our intervention, its findings are not open to judicial review.
[5] In light of these contradictions there is nothing patently unreasonable about the Board's
conclusions. Accordingly, this application for judicial review will be dismissed.
ORDER
THIS COURT ORDERS that the application for judicial review is dismissed.
"K. von Finckenstein"
Judge
FEDERAL COURT TRIAL DIVISION
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
COURT FILE NO.: IMM-5882-03
STYLE OF CAUSE: AARON ODURO v. THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
PLACE OF HEARING: Ottawa and Toronto
via video conference
DATE OF HEARING: September 28, 2004
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER: The Honourable Mr. Justice von Finckenstein
APPEARANCES:
|
Toronto, Ontario |
FOR THE APPLICANT |
|
Ottawa, Ontario |
FOR THE RESPONDENT |
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
|
Ottawa, Ontario |
FOR THE APPLICANT |
|
Deputy Attorney General of Canada |
FOR THE RESPONDENT |