On June 19, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) created a new test to determine whether a refugee claimant should be denied refugee status because of involvement in war crimes: it requires claimants to make a “voluntary, significant, and knowing contribution” to an international crime.[1] This is a significant shift from the previous test, …
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) recently granted leave to appeal in Febles v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2012 FCA 324, a case involving a refugee claimant from Cuba. The SCC rarely grants leave in refugee cases.Febles examines inadmissibility and criminality. The certified question answered at the Federal Court of Appeal was: When …
The Refugee Appeal Division (RAD) came into force on December 15, 2012. The level of deference owed by the RAD to decisions from the Refugee Protection Division (RPD) is not yet clear. However, legislation and legal commentary tend to show that “while not a hearing de novo, the RAD would clearly not be expected to …
Seeking leave to appeal asks the court permission to appeal. When appealing any matter to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) and when appealing most matters to a provincial court of appeal, the applicant must first seek leave. Because of the overwhelming number of leave applications, the courts can only hear a small number of …
