Y (B) (Nigeria) v Refugee Appeals Tribunal, Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Attorney General and Ireland
High Court, 5/2/2015, Stewart J, [2015] IEHC 60, 2011 No 316 JR
The Applicant in this case was recently successful in their Judicial Review application challenging the decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal refusing to grant them Refugee Status.
The Applicant instituted Judicial Review proceedings seeking an order quashing the Respondent’s negative decision in relation to Refugee Status.
The Plaintiff claims that she is a police woman and has a fear of persecution on grounds of being targeted by criminal gangs. The Plaintiff claims that the tribunal member made credibility findings which were not confined to s 13 (6) (b) Refugee Act 1996 findings that the Commissioner had given.
Ms Justice Stewart held that the tribunal member breached fair procedures by effectively abandoning or ignoring the Commissioner’s findings and then proceeded to make further adverse credibility findings in respect of the Applicant without giving the Applicant the right to be heard and/or have an input into the process.
The decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal was quashed and remitted to the Tribunal for determination de novo by a different member of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.
This is a welcoming decision of the High Court and we wish the Applicant the best of luck when the matter returns to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal.
