REFUGEE APPEAL CASE      Use the fact situation as if it were notes from the client interview

Subject:LawPrice: Bought3

Share With

REFUGEE APPEAL CASE    

 Use the fact situation as if it were notes from the client interview. Determine whether the claimant has a case with merit analyzing the case according to the usual issues that are material at a refugee hearing (fear of persecution or need of protection, credibility, state protection). Examine the issues of concern that arise from the fact situation and consider the advice or counsel you would provide to the clients based on your analysis. You will present these findings to the class.

Facts:

Zohal Akbari, a citizen of Pakistan, has to your office on February 15, 2017, and would like to appeal a decision of the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) denying her claim for refugee protection. She has brought in new evidence in support of her appeal. Zohal is asking the RAD to set aside the determination of the RPD and to either find her to be a convention refugee or to refer the matter back to the RPD.

Zohal is a member of the Ahmadi religious minority in Pakistan; she has always experienced difficulty practicing her religion freely. Zohal’s late husband was attacked and killed. Her two sons were attacked, and eventually fled to Canada in 1998. Zohal came to Canada to visit in 2010 and again in 2013. She returned back to Pakistan in 2013 to bury her oldest daughter. Zohal has no other family other than her two sons in Canada. On January 4, 2017, she came to Canada on a visitor visa, and made a refugee claim the following month, February 4, 2017.

Notes from client interview dated February 15, 2017

• What is your address?
  1 Deer Street, Mississauga, ON, M9R 5Y6
• What is your telephone number?
  905-777-8839

·Why did RPD reject the claim?

The decision notes the following:

Zohal’s delay in leaving Pakistan, her travel back and forth from Pakistan to Canada, and then her delay in making an application in Canada are indicative of a lack of subjective fear. The objective basis for fear was fatal to her credibility; and she was not a high-profile Ahmadi, and did not engage in preaching or proselytizing. There was no evidence showing that the authorities in Pakistan were unwilling to provide protection to her. The RPD therefore dismissed the refugee claim under both Sections 96 and 97 of IRPA.

• What is your ( the client) response to this rejection and the reasons for the decision?
   

“I don’t think the decision was made correctly. Persecution of Ahmadi’s in Pakistan are high. I have brought in a copy of newspaper articles, and credible evidence of past harm inflicted on me and my family based on our religion. I also wanted to say that the second time I came to Canada, I wanted to make the refugee claim, but my oldest daughter died in Pakistan, so I had to return to Pakistan to bury her.” Stated by Zohal Akbari

Case Study Questions:

1.      Which Division of the IRB would hear this case?

2.      Who is the Appellant(s)?

3.      Who is the Respondent?

4.      If you were representing this client,

a.       how would you initiate the appeal process? Please refer to the appropriate Rule(s) to support your answer.

b.      For practice: Initiate the appeal using the case study above. Research and then fill out the appropriate form(s).
Note: Information missing, such as last name, address, telephone number, can be created by the student at the discretion of the legal instructor.

5.      Are there any deadlines that must be complied with? Please refer to the appropriate Rule(s) to support your answer.

6.      Who is responsible for preparing the “IRB Record”; what documents would be included in this record, and when is it due?

7.      In your opinion, what would be the IRB’s decision? Please refer to the appropriate Rule(s) to support your answer.

a.       In your opinion, would you represent this client?

b.      Depending on your response above, draft an engagement or a non-engagement letter to the client confirming the facts and the legal issue(s). In addition, confirm the legal position of the client, and your position on the matter.