Azcoitia Martinez v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)

Azcoitia Martinez v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration)
Court (s) Database
Federal Court Decisions
Date
2005-01-11
Neutral citation
2005 FC 14
File numbers
IMM-2567-04
Decision Content
Date: 20050111
Docket: IMM-2567-04
Citation: 2005 FC 14
Montréal, Quebec, the 11th day of January 2005
Present: The Honourable Mr. Justice Lemieux
BETWEEN:
ANA LAURA AZCOITIA MARTINEZ
ADRAN GONZALO PEREZ AZCOITIA
Applicants
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP
AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
REASONS FOR ORDER AND ORDER
[1] By a decision with reasons on February 2, 2004, the Refugee Protection Division (the panel) refused to grant refugee status to Ana Laura Azcoitia Martinez (the applicant), a citizen of Uruguay, and her son Adran.
[2] The applicant said she had a fear of her former de facto spouse, whom she lived with between January 1998 and March 14, 2002. She said he first beat her once a week and then it [TRANSLATION] "escalated, fuelled by liquor and jealousy, to a daily occurence".
[3] The panel did not believe the violence the applicant claimed to have suffered from her former de facto spouse, and as in the circumstances this was the basis of her refugee claim and that of her son [TRANSLATION] "considered that her testimony as a whole was not credible".
[4] The panel found the applicant not credible for three reasons:
(1) she had lived at the same place since March 14, 2002, that is near the dwellings where her brother and mother lived [TRANSLATION] "even after her former spouse had threatened to kill her, hit her and tried to abduct her in February 2003";
(2) the lack of any effort to obtain documentary corroboration of her complaints at the police station; and
(3) although the applicant knew of the services offered by the Uruguayan authorities, she testified she did not make use of them.
[5] The courts have held that the panel has full jurisdiction to assess the plausibility of testimony and to weigh the credibility of a story, taking into account the evidence on which it relied in the case.
[6] In the circumstances, the panel's finding is neither perverse nor capricious and is supported by the evidence.
[7] The Court was not persuaded by counsel for the applicant's argument. Essentially, that argument did not shift or challenge the panel's central finding - that the story given by the principal claimant was not credible. I would add that the panel's decision was not based on lack of government protection for women victims of conjugal violence.
ORDER
This application for judicial review is dismissed. No question was submitted for certification.
"François Lemieux"
Judge
Certified true translation
K. Harvey
FEDERAL COURT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: IMM-2567-04
STYLE OF CAUSE: ANA LAURA AZCOITIA MARTINEZ
ADRAN GONZALO PEREZ AZCOITIA
Applicants
and
THE MINISTER OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION
Respondent
PLACE OF HEARING: Montréal, Quebec
DATE OF HEARING: January 10, 2005
REASONS FOR ORDER THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE LEMIEUX
AND ORDER BY:
DATED: January 11, 2005
APPEARANCES:
Anthony Karkar FOR THE APPLICANTS
Lynne Lazaroff FOR THE RESPONDENT
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
Anthony Karkar FOR THE APPLICANTS
Montréal, Quebec
John H. Sims FOR THE RESPONDENT
Deputy Attorney General of Canada
Montréal, Quebec