Baah v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration)
Court headnote
Baah v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) Court (s) Database Federal Court Decisions Date 2004-03-25 Neutral citation 2004 FC 459 File numbers IMM-4623-03 Decision Content Date: 20040325 Docket: IMM-4623-03 Citation: 2004 FC 459 Toronto, Ontario, March 25th, 2004 Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice Campbell BETWEEN: EMMANUEL BAAH Applicant and THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION Respondent REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER [1] In the present case, the Applicant claims refugee protection from future political persecution in Sierra Leone. The Board did not believe the Applicant's evidence that he is a citizen of Sierra Leone based on three findings: the Applicant could not prove, on questioning by the Board, that he was familiar with the street names of the city of his residence in Sierra Leone being Freetown; the Applicant could not prove, on questioning by the Board, that he was familiar with the recent political history of the country due to his inability to provide details of date and names; and, that the basis of the Applicant's subjective fear of persecution was in contradiction to documentary evidence. [2] It is agreed that the means whereby the Board tested the Applicant's knowledge of Freetown is fundamentally flawed; the Board based its conclusion on a map of Freetown which is incomplete. Nevertheless, Counsel for the Respondent argues that, apart from this obvious error, the credibility finding should stand because of the contradiction between the Applicant's ev…
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Baah v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) Court (s) Database Federal Court Decisions Date 2004-03-25 Neutral citation 2004 FC 459 File numbers IMM-4623-03 Decision Content Date: 20040325 Docket: IMM-4623-03 Citation: 2004 FC 459 Toronto, Ontario, March 25th, 2004 Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice Campbell BETWEEN: EMMANUEL BAAH Applicant and THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION Respondent REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER [1] In the present case, the Applicant claims refugee protection from future political persecution in Sierra Leone. The Board did not believe the Applicant's evidence that he is a citizen of Sierra Leone based on three findings: the Applicant could not prove, on questioning by the Board, that he was familiar with the street names of the city of his residence in Sierra Leone being Freetown; the Applicant could not prove, on questioning by the Board, that he was familiar with the recent political history of the country due to his inability to provide details of date and names; and, that the basis of the Applicant's subjective fear of persecution was in contradiction to documentary evidence. [2] It is agreed that the means whereby the Board tested the Applicant's knowledge of Freetown is fundamentally flawed; the Board based its conclusion on a map of Freetown which is incomplete. Nevertheless, Counsel for the Respondent argues that, apart from this obvious error, the credibility finding should stand because of the contradiction between the Applicant's evidence and the documentary evidence. [3] I find that the credibility finding cannot be so dissected. It appears that the Board was careless in its questioning about the geography of Freetown, and I agree with Counsel for the Applicant that this fact contaminates the balance of the decision making. [4] As a result, I find the Board's decision to be patently unreasonable. ORDER Accordingly, I set aside the Board's decision and refer this matter to a differently constituted panel for re-determination. "Douglas R. Campbell" J.F.C. FEDERAL COURT NAME OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD DOCKET: IMM-4623-03 STYLE OF CAUSE: EMMANUEL BAAH Applicant and THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION Respondent DATE OF HEARING: MARCH 24, 2004 PLACE OF HEARING: TORONTO, ONTARIO REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER: CAMPBELL J. DATED: MARCH 25, 2004 APPEARANCES BY: Isak Grushka For the Applicant Rhonda Marquis For the Respondent SOLICITORS OF RECORD: Isak Grushka Toronto, Ontario. For the Applicant Morris Rosenberg, Deputy Attorney General of Canada For the Respondent FEDERAL COURT TRIAL DIVISION Date: 20040325 Docket: IMM-4623-03 BETWEEN: EMMANUEL BAAH Applicant and THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION Respondent REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
Source: decisions.fct-cf.gc.ca