MPA (Cameroon) and Another v Refugee Appeals Tribunal and Others
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Judge | Ms. Justice Stewart |
| Judgment Date | 19 January 2015 |
| Neutral Citation | [2015] IEHC 31 |
| Court | High Court |
| Date | 19 January 2015 |
[2015] IEHC 31
THE HIGH COURT
BETWEEN
AND
Judicial Review Application – Order of Certiorari – Refugee Appeal Tribunal – Persecution – HIV – UN Convention on the Rights of the Child – Rape – Witchcraft – Incest – Credibility – Practice and Procedures
Facts: This case concerned a telescoped hearing for judicial review seeking orders of certiorari quashing a decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and remitting the matter for de novo consideration by a different tribunal member. The applicants, both nationals of Cameroon claimed to have a well-founded of persecution and discrimination in Cameroon in respect of AIDS/HIV sufferers. It was submitted on behalf of the applicant that the tribunal acknowledged that under reg. 5 of the EC (Eligibility for Protection) Regulations 2006 (S.I. 518 of 2006), it was bound to take into account ‘the individual position and personal circumstances of the protection applicant’ and to have regard to Article 3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1990. The applicant submitted that the tribunal failed to comply with the said regulation in that, by rejecting the applicants” claim on the basis of credibility findings, it failed to give any consideration to the individual circumstances pertaining to the second named applicant, the child. Further, in respect to the child, an assessment of the circumstances of the applicants it was submitted should have included an assessment of what was in the best interests of the child as required by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child 1990. The applicants argue that the claim was exclusively refused by reason of adverse credibility findings made on the basis of conjecture, repeating the adverse credibility findings made by the Commissioner. In sum, the case advanced by the applicants was that the tribunal failed to perform the fundamental task of making an assessment in respect of the evidence before it.
Held by Justice Stewart, having regard to the seriousness of the allegations, the submissions presented and available evidence, that on the basis of the failure on the part of the tribunal member to make findings in respect of parts of the refugee application, the findings in respect of credibility could not stand. He therefore proposed to grant leave and to grant orders of certiorari as sought in the notice of motion. He further made an order remitting the matter for a de novo consideration by a different tribunal member
1. This is a telescoped hearing for judicial review seeking orders of certiorari to quash a decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal dated the 28 th February, 2011, and remitting the matter a de novo consideration by a different tribunal member.
2. The applicants are mother and daughter, and are nationals of Cameroon. The mother was born on the 11 th February, 1982, and the daughter was born on the 12 thSeptember, 2007. The following is the mother's account of the events giving rise to the alleged persecution faced by her and her daughter in Cameroon. The mother states that the second applicant was conceived as a result of the mother's rape by her own father. This was considered an abomination and the mother lived in a shed at her grandmother's home from May, 2007 to April, 2010. The mother's own father committed suicide in February, 2008, and, as a result, she was accused of witchcraft. Her daughter was demanded for sacrifice. The shed where both the mother and daughter lived was burnt down in April, 2010. The mother states that a taxi driver then provided herself and her daughter with shelter for a three-month period during which time he regularly had sexual intercourse with her. The mother and daughter travelled to Ireland by sea with the help of a nun, Sister Mary, and arrived in this State on the 5 th August, 2010, arriving in a southern part of the country. They presented at the offices of the Refugee Application Commissioner in Dublin on the 6 th August, 2010.
3. The mother attended a Dublin hospital on the 2 nd September, 2010 when she was diagnosed HIV positive and is in receipt of regular treatment in respect of same since that time. The Refugee Applications Commissioner interviewed the mother on the 18 th November, 2010, and, by letter and report dated 30 th December, 2010, made adverse credibility findings followed by findings in respect of state protection, internal relocation and a lack of nexus to the Geneva Convention. A notice of appeal was submitted to the Refugee Appeals Tribunal on the 14 th January, 2011, and the hearing in respect of said appeal was held on the 7 th February, 2011. The applicant was advised in a letter dated 28 th February, 2011, and received by the applicant no earlier than 3 rd March, 2011, that the application for refugee status was refused. The decision of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal was enclosed with the letter. The tribunal affirmed the adverse credibility findings made by the Commissioner and further held that the discrimination facing HIV sufferers in Cameroon did not amount to persecution.
4. The reasons for the refusal of refugee status are contained in the decision of the 28 th February, 2011. The applicant's account in regard to the family wanting to sacrifice the baby, her daughter, was held not to be credible or coherent. Further, according to the tribunal member, the country of origin information available in relation to obtaining a birth certificate in Cameroon was not congruent with the first applicant's account of how she obtained the birth...
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M.M. (Zimbabwe) v Minister for Justice and Law Reform and Others
...a Convention reason. 49 49. She distinguished the case from the judgment of Stewart J. in M.P.A (Cameroon) v. Refugee Appeals Tribunal [2015] IEHC 31 where the applicant alleged that the Tribunal had not assessed her core claim of being raped by her father leading to a pregnancy. In that ca......