Notable Cases
Moradi v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
2025 FC 157
This Federal Court decision involved a judicial review of a cessation ruling against a protected person who briefly returned to Iran to visit her ailing father after becoming a permanent resident of Canada. The Court found that the Refugee Protection Division unreasonably applied the test for reavailment by substituting an objective standard for the required subjective assessment of the applicant’s intent and by treating passport use as determinative of both intention and actual reavailment. The Court also held that the RPD failed to properly consider undisputed evidence of the precautions the applicant took to avoid exposure to risk while in Iran. As a result, the cessation decision was set aside and remitted for redetermination by a different panel. Contact us today if you require strong advocates in cessation litigation before both the Refugee Protection Division and the Federal Court.
X (Re)
2021 CanLII 154020 (RAD)
In this appeal, the Refugee Appeal Division allowed the claim of a Kenyan woman who fled a forced marriage and severe domestic violence by a wealthy and influential husband, overturning the Refugee Protection Division’s finding that a viable internal flight alternative existed. The RAD accepted the claimant’s credibility and found that the RPD failed to properly assess both prongs of the internal flight alternative test by minimizing the husband’s motivation and means to locate her and by ignoring the claimant’s personal circumstances as a single uneducated woman with no family support. Applying the Chairperson’s Guidelines on women refugee claimants, the RAD concluded that relocation within Kenya would be unsafe and unreasonable given widespread police corruption, gender based violence, and the claimant’s vulnerability. The appeal was allowed and the claimant was recognized as a Convention refugee. Our firm has a strong trackrecord in overturning internal flight alternative findings in gender-based violence and domestic abuse refugee cases.
X (Re)
2020 CanLII 124084 (RAD)
This Refugee Appeal Division decision addressed the claim of a Chinese national who practiced Falun Gong and whose refugee claim had been rejected despite extensive testimony and documentary evidence. On appeal, the RAD found that the claimant demonstrated deep and credible knowledge of Falun Gong beliefs and practices, personal spiritual connection, and consistency with country condition evidence documenting systematic persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. The RAD rejected the RPD’s reliance on minor discrepancies and peripheral issues, emphasizing that spiritual expression varies between individuals and that credibility must be assessed holistically. The appeal was allowed and the claimant was recognized as a Convention refugee due to a serious possibility of persecution. Our firm has a proven record of success in religion based refugee claims involving Falun Gong and other persecuted belief systems.
X (Re)
2020 CanLII 122115 (RAD)
This Refugee Appeal Division decision concerned an Iranian claimant who converted from Islam to Christianity and whose claim was initially rejected due to adverse credibility findings related to his motivations for conversion, participation in a house church, and alleged inconsistencies about travel arrangements. On appeal, the RAD found that the Refugee Protection Division erred by engaging in speculation, focusing on peripheral issues such as proof of payment to an agent, and failing to properly assess third party evidence including detailed pastor testimony, baptismal records, and consistent sur place religious activity in Canada. The RAD emphasized that even where some credibility concerns exist, independent corroborating evidence must be assessed on its own merits, particularly in cases involving religious conversion and serious country conditions risks. The appeal was allowed and the claimant was recognized as a Convention refugee based on religion. Our firm has a strong track record in successfully overturning negative credibility findings in refugee claims.
